The Mission District Celebrates The Completion Of The 24th ST BART Mural Restoration
The Mission District Celebrates The Completion Of The 24th ST BART Plaza Mural Restoration On Friday September 8th!
September 8th, 2023
Landmark 24th St BART Plaza Mural Restoration Completed August 2023 by Michael Rios, Carlos Kookie Gonzalez, Lucia Gonzalez Ippolito, Suaro Cervantes.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Francisco, CA
Contact: TODCO Group, todcoplanning@todco.org, 415-896-1880
The Mission District Celebrates The Completion Of The 24th ST BART Plaza Mural Restoration On Friday September 8th!
San Francisco, CA (September 8th, 2023) – The 24th St BART Plaza Mural has officially been restored by Michael Rios, Carlos Kookie Gonzalez, Lucia Gonzalez Ippolito, and Suaro Cervantes. The restoration work on this iconic San Francisco mural, located in the Mission District, was completed during the month of August 2023 and now the community looks to celebrate this monumental project on Friday September 8th, 2023. There will be an 11am Ribbon Ceremony with a mariachi band, refreshments, and a blessing at the location of the mural. Then in the evening there will be a celebration starting at 5pm with live music, art displays, food, refreshments, and fun for the whole family.
This initiative has been committed to revitalizing the cherished BART Plaza Mural, a hidden treasure tucked away amidst the greenery of 24th ST BART Plaza. The restoration of this mural is the result of a collaborative endeavor, with numerous organizations and individuals joining hands to make this project a reality. Supported by Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, orchestrated by the skilled artisans at Precita Eyes Muralists, and generously funded through a grant from TODCO Group, together, these collective efforts united behind Michael Rios to bring new life to the BART Plaza Mural.
The Bay Area mass transit system transformed San Francisco into a corporate and finance headquarters of the Pacific, generating enormous wealth for the powerful. But as it was being constructed here in San Francisco, it threatened the Mission District with bulldozer redevelopment and gentrified displacement of its people.
In 1973 the Latino community arose in response, the Mission Coalition Organization, and other groups, to protest, oppose, and stop that top-down agenda for the future for their Latino neighborhood.
This revolutionary energy ignited a new era of Mission Latino community art and culture still embodied in surviving murals today throughout the neighborhood. The landmark 24th Street Station BART Plaza mural “BART” painted by Michael Rios with Anthony Machado and Richard Montez in 1975 following that seminal year of BART’s birth, powerfully depicts the crushing load of the elite BART vision on the shoulders of the Mezo-American peoples de La Misión.
Michael Rios and associates are now undertaking the mural’s three week full restoration process sponsored by the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, coordinated by Precita Eyes Muralists, and funded by a $140,000 grant from the TODCO Group.
Rios, now 75 years old, and TODCO’s Artist In Residence, was first inspired as a young Latino artist by the great muralists of Mexico, Rivera, Orozco, and Sigueiros. In 1974 he brought his vision for the Mission neighborhood’s new BART station plaza to San Francisco Arts Commission President Ray Taliaferro, and with logistical support from the Commission and a $7,500 grant from the National Endowment For The Arts, Michael and his two colleagues completed the work.
“I wanted to show that without the workers, the people of community whose work supported it, just like the concrete pillars holding up its elevated tracks, BART could never have been possible.” Erik Arguello, President of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District describes the mural’s significance to the Mission community. “The Bart Mural illuminates the indomitable spirit of our people, capturing our unwavering determination and the pivotal role we play within the entire San Francisco Bay Area. The mural depicts the struggle and resilience of our workers and our community as a testament to our unwavering strength and perseverance.” Rios has created murals throughout the Mission District throughout the last 50 years, an early founder of the renowned San Francisco Latino muralist movement.
This powerful mural is just one example of how TODCO is helping to harness the power of artistic expression to build community and unite San Franciscans.
