"Portola Long View" mural -- now up at Launderland!

Photo courtesy of the artist

From the artist Arthur Koch:

The “Portola Long View” mural is located at 2444 San Bruno Ave SF, CA 94134 on the Silliman St side just off the Silver Ave exit. The location of the scene was a view from Goettingen and Dwight Streets, one of the signature views of downtown from the Portola District at dusk, otherwise known as the magic hour, just after sundown. The concept for the mural originated from a painting I entered in the MUNI Art 2019 contest presented by SFMTA and San Francisco Beautiful in partnership with the Poetry Society of America, which commissioned me to paint 8 scenes with the theme Connecting Our Communities, some of them were matched to poems. The art was printed and displayed on 20 MUNI buses where the ads usually go for a couple of months as a rolling gallery. I painted two scenes of the Portola and submitted one of them to The Portola Neighborhood Association’s Multi Mural Project.

Here is an excerpt of my speech upon accepting the award for “Connecting Our Communities”:

“Every neighborhood in San Francisco has a hill with a long view of the bay or the ocean where you can rise above the fray on the ground, see other communities, giving you a sense of awe that reminds you why we live here. Each painting I did of the various neighborhoods includes a MUNI bus which literally connects our communities. When people get to know their neighbors, share food, music, and culture they are happier and healthier. Attending each neighborhood’s signature events, community meetings, and street fairs connects us together. Connected communities are more resilient. They are better able to spring back when hard times hit to protect and prepare themselves against global issues. Together we are Giant!”

I entered a modified version of the painting in the Multi Mural project to fit the original space that was chosen requiring a long narrow panoramic format, so I added about a third on either side.

I am painting a small version of the original concept in my backyard. When the location changed I used the format of the original painting.

The site included some doors and a window, plus the addition of a utility building so I modified it.

This mural complements the other mural I painted at the Portola Grocery Outlet four years ago.

I took some artistic liberty to show gardens, orchards, and chickens in people’s backyards to reiterate The Portola’s recent declaration as The Garden District reflecting the billboard across the street.

It had a history of growing flowers and produce which eventually led to the Alemany Farmers’ Market for locals to sell produce from their “Victory Gardens”. It’s an idealized urban-agriculture utopia illustrating the Portola as the urban food producer it was in the past and the dream that one day it could be again someday.

At one time there were many green houses and nurseries, the last remaining ones located at 770 Woolsey. Locals organized a couple of years ago to try and preserve the Garden District’s agricultural history, even though it was recently sold to a developer. You can find more about and get involved in ongoing efforts to repurpose it as a community garden space directed towards urban-agriculture, community, and education here.

It was an afterthought to add critters like raccoons, possums, skunks, and coyotes which most people can relate to seeing in their backyards. While volunteering with the Portola Garden Club, Lisa Magruder learned that there used to be vineyards where the freeway is now and many of the Italian families in the neighborhood would make their own wine, so she added some grape vines. The mural is visible from a distance, but there are also many interesting details up close.

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to thank the Portola Neighborhood Association, especially Lia Smith, the project manager, and Alexander Hobbs with whom I served with on the Arts and Beautification Committee for four years. Many thanks to the building owner Leslie Donahue, Amr Mohamad, the owner of San Bruno Coin Launderland, as well as Paul Vegas, the day manager. Special thanks to the Denise Deiloh, Nathalie Fabri and Lisa Balsamo Magruder, who all helped with the painting, as well as my son Vladimir for priming the wall and setting up my scaffolding. Their assistance allowed me to go into more detail now that the mural is at eye level and I will be forever grateful.

Below is a time-lapse video of the whole process.

View a photo gallery of the mural here.