Urban Art Garden

Project Director: Angela Willetts

Location: San Francisco, CA

Grant Amount: $5,000

The ‘Urban Art Garden’ is a 250’ x 20’ art wall that incorporates 14 murals – 13 created by local artists, and one mural painted by local community members and children. Each mural is painted in an arched alcove. Surrounding the murals is a self-sustaining “living wall” of various plants, mainly grasses. The final wall is intended to serve as a communal outdoor gathering space, and additional programming will aim to educate children, local businesses and residents about environmental art and living architecture though hands-on workshops and presentations.

Through the creation of this living art wall ‘Urban Art Garden’ will showcase the talents of local area and emerging artists, raise awareness of the social and spiritual benefits of creating art, and encourage communities to consider radical alternatives to artistic and urban conventions. This project initially began last October. Eight artists began their murals; however, because no funds were available no anti-graffiti sealant was applied and several of these murals were tagged beyond repair, and artists were unable to return to re-do their work due to prohibitive time and money constraints. For this reason, funding is now being sought and the project is moving forward.

To see images of several of the original murals before they were tagged: http://flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/tags/urbanartgarden/