Designing Our Vision of Justice

Last month, a newly formed Mural Design committee gathered for the McCarthy Center’s first in-person meeting since the Center closed in Spring of 2019. The committee made up of Center students, community partners, staff and faculty, were tasked with conceptualizing a full wall-sized mural to be installed in the Masonic Building Office #103. Precita Eyes Muralists, a pillar of the San Francisco arts community, has been enlisted as our artistic and community partner in this project.

The committee was tasked with identifying themes and imagery that represent the McCarthy Center. Muralists Francisco Franco and Precita Eyes founder, Susan Cervantes led the group in a series of exercises to gather ideas and generate a consensus. The initial prompt and question: Imagine waking up tomorrow to a re-imagined, just world. What does it look like?

Everyone was then asked to illustrate the themes that they had identified. After “sketch time”, each member presented to the group. Reocurring images began showing up in the group’s sketches: the Golden Gate Bridge, City Hall, diversity, community, people power, The Fillmore, revolutionary love. A shared vision among committee members began to emerge—a vision of different pathways all leading to a path toward equity that we are all traveling.

Francisco began mapping out the images on a blank canvas that would ultimately be matched up to the wall. In an hour’s time, a sketch began to appear, incorporating the committee’s work of generating the Center’s values, values that were translated into the images and symbols that will be transferred to our Masonic office’s walls.

We invite you to look closely at the initial sketch and watch the mural materialize over the next 6 weeks. We’ll continue to cover the progress through our social media and here in our blog. Stay tuned!