The Brisbane
mural is a 15' by 75' outdoor painting about the natural and social history of
Brisbane CA, in celebration of San Bruno Mountain and the local community.
The
main image displays the natural setting of Brisbane, within San Bruno Mountain
and its native flora. San Bruno Mountain spans the entire mural, and Brisbane
is nestled within the powerfully large, protective shape of a Mission Blue
Butterfly, a local endangered species.
A series of smaller pictures
within the main mural image show moments in the history of the Brisbane area,
in chronological order. These insets are painted in sepia tones.
The
outside shape of these images changes gradually from a butterfly to a star,
which symbolizes the transformation of a natural setting into a man-made one.
The
first historical image depicts the native Ohlone Indians, eating oysters and
looking across the bay to the shore below San Bruno Mountain as it used to look
like, before the landfills
The second inset shows the cattle ranches of
the early 20th century, derived from a photograph of 1913. The crossroads are
what would become Visitacion avenue and San Bruno Street.
The third
image represents the 30’s, when a sign on Bayshore blvd used to advertise lots
for sale at $100 in Brisbane. In the foreground, the first all-volunteer
Brisbane fire department is shown, along with its first fire engine.
The
following sepia image is set in the 50’s, showing the Western Days festivities,
which included a parade with horses and majorettes.
Moving on to the
right side of the large butterfly image, the next historical inset gives homage
to the engaged initiative of the people of Brisbane who have been actively
involved with their community in the 1980’s – 1990’s. A group of hands,
reaching up are shown open-palm, in protection of their town. The stop signs
show a sampling of development plans that have rallied the people to active
petitioning and discussion. Included are the landfill, the incinerator (prop
H), the truck traffic on Quarry Road, the spread of invasive plants, and the
latest issue_development on the Brisbane acres.
The sixth vignette
represents residential contrasts in present-day Brisbane. Although life in
today’s Brisbane is pleasantly painted in color in the center of the butterfly,
this vignette expands the present with with a more dramatic comparison of life
at the edge of town. Brand new, modern houses on the eastern ridge, a life with
all amenities, is shown in the background while the simple existence of Besh
and Thelma, and their choice to create a home in an ancient oak tree in Owl
Canyon is shown in the foreground.
The last historical paintings
change shape from a star to a book. 15 local children created images about
Brisbane in the future, which become illustrations in an oversized storybook_
the symbolic image of BEST, the organization who nurtured the creation of this
mural.
