
The Market Street Railway Mural
The Market Street Railway mural shows a 180-degree trans-temporal bird's eye view of San Francisco's Market Street, divided vertically into sections corresponding to different decades and historic moments, from the 1920's to the present, and into an imaginary utopian future.
The mural celebrates the vital role of public space in our cities, and it contains lots of detailed references to local street art, activism, and various SF subcultures.
It is a tribute to the urban center as a place uniquely conducive to collective expression, a place where history is made, and politics become physically felt.
It is also an homage to San Francisco in particular, as a place where people have kept inventing new ways of utilizing our shared space to communicate, provoke, and interact, which is what made this a vibrant and engaging place to live.
take a closer look right here! The details are many, and explained in this virtual tour.
This mural underwent a professional conservation effort in late 2017, and Mona is still fixing the last details on it in early 2018. Come by and say hi!
Location
Size: 38 x 12 feet
11,6 x 3,6 meters
Completed: 2004
Funded by a grant from the San Francisco Neighborhood Beautification Fund, and by San Francisco Beautiful.
Nonprofit Fiscal Sponsors: SomArts, CounterPULSE
Design and painting by Mona Caron
Special thanks to:
David Hochschild (initiator)
Chris Carlsson (life inspiration)
Dedication in memory of Dave Pharr
Press
SF Bay Guardian - Jonathan Zwickel article
Market Street Railway Company comments on mural
Podcast tour on Bikescape
FoundSF tour of this mural
This mural was honored with:
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Certificate of Honor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
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California Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition
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2004 San Francisco Beautification Award from San Francisco Beautiful.
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SF Bay Guardian's 2004 "Best Of The Bay" award
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San Francisco Magazine "Best Of The Bay Area" 2005 award
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2005 Precita Eyes Special Recognition Mural Award