Clarion Alley Mural Project

Clarion Alley Mural Project Block Party

Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) is an artists' collective formed in October 1992 by a volunteer collective of six North Mission residents: Aaron Noble, Michael O'Connor, Sebastiana Pastor, Rigo 92, Mary Gail Snyder, and Aracely Soriano. The Mission of CAMP is to support and produce socially engaged and aesthetically diverse public art as a grassroots community-based, artist-run organization in San Francisco.

In June 2016 CAMP launched its first Website, www.ClarionAlleyMuralProject.org that includes an archive of its murals.^[1]

Clarion Alley Mural Projejct

Origins

Clarion Alley runs one block (560 ft long and 15 ft. wide) in San Francisco's inner Mission District between 17th & 18th and Mission and Valencia streets. Inspired by Balmy Alley and other murals and muralists of San Francisco's Mission District, CAMP came together to initiate a mural project on Clarion Alley. At the time, two of the founders were living on the alley, while another had helped found the Balmy Alley project.^[2]

While the Balmy Alley mural project focused on the theme of Central American struggle, the stated goals of CAMP were social inclusiveness and aesthetic variety. CAMP went on to organize projects off site at the ILWU Local 6 SF headquarters (1995), the Redstone Building (1997), Yogyakarta Indonesia (2003), and the Roxie Theater (2012), as well as gallery installations at San Francisco Art Institute, New Langton Arts, and Intersection for the Arts.

Organizers of CAMP and its annual Block Party over the years include Aaron Noble, Rigo 92, Sebastiana Pastor, Michael O’Connor, Mary Gail Snyder, Arcely Soriano, Diego Diaz, Vince Oresman, Carolyn Castaño, Permi Gill, Kate Ellis, Maya Hayuk, Andrew Schoultz, Megan Wilson, Jonathan Parra, Jen Bowman, Jet Martinez, Kelly Ording, Mary Scott, Tauba Auerbach, Ania Wasiutynski, CUBA, Ivy Jeanne McClelland, Antonio Roman-Alcala, K2, Daniel Doherty, Christopher Statton, Jose V. Guerra Awe, Mike Reger, David Petrelli, Erin Feller, Erin Amelia Ruch, Sara Jean Yaste, and Jamila Keba.

Jessica Miller, Clarion Alley Mural Project

Collaborations

CAMP has worked with many talented artists and the work represents a wide range of styles – from folk influenced to spray-can works to conceptual projects. In addition, CAMP has provided space for collaborative youth initiatives that include Oasis For Girls, Horizons Unlimited and the American Indian Movement Youth Council.

In 2003, CAMP collaborated with Apotik Komik, an artists collective in Indonesia, and Intersection for the Arts to organize and present the project Sama-sama/Together, an international collaboration and exchange between community arts organizations and artists from San Francisco (U.S.A.) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia). The project was designed to foster understanding of recent world events and Muslim and non-Muslim cultures between the two communities through the creation of new works, as well as through cross-cultural dialogue between participating artists and the public at large.^[3] Sama-sama/Together artists included: Aaron Noble, Alicia McCarthy, Andrew Schoultz, Carolyn Castaño, Ryder Cooley, and Megan Wilson from CAMP and Arie Dyanto, Arya Panjalu, Nano Warsono, and Samuel Indratama from Apotik Komik.

CAMP also frequently collaborates with community partners that include: Community Thrift, Intersection for the Arts, Redstone Labor Temple, Artists' Television Access (ATA), Project Artaud, LeBeau Market, Rainbow Grocery, the Roxie Theater, La Casa de las Madres, Poor Magazine, Creativity Explored, the San Francisco Print Collective, Horizons Unlimited, Oasis for Girls, American Indian Movement Youth Council, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN), and Hospitality House.

List of Clarion Alley participating artists

Below are some of the artists who have been part of the Clarion Alley Mural Project.^[4]

See also

• Mission School

Notes

References

• Murray, Julie. "Moving Stairway to Heaven" in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo. Jacoby, Annice, ed. NY: Abrams, 2009. p. 126
• Noble, Aaron. "The Clarion Alley Mural Project" p. 113 and "Vatos Mexicanos Locos" p. 122 in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo. Jacoby, Annice, ed. New York: Abrams, 2009.
• Wilson, Megan. "Sama-Sama: Mural Missionaries" p. 170 - 171 in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo. Jacoby, Annice, ed. New York: Abrams, 2009.
• Rapoport, Lynn. "Wall space: The Clarion Alley Mural Project uses public art to paint a home." San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 23, 2002.
• Drescher, Timothy W. "Clarion Alley and Post-modernism."

External links

• Clarion Alley Mural Project Official Website
• Flicker Photo Pool
• Clarion Alley Gallery on Found SF
• Photos from the 2006 Clarion Alley Block Party