Our newest atrium commission, which had its official opening/unveiling last Thursday,  features artist Kerry James Marshall, who has just produced two murals on what I suppose can no longer be fairly called our Lewitt walls. The paintings were realized in collaboration with Precita Mural Eyes Center; for those of you not local to the Bay, Precita Eyes is a community-based arts organization here that has created murals all around SF, and the world.

Photo: Christo Oropeza

The KJM atrium murals depict Monticello & Mount Vernon, the homes of American presidents Jefferson and Washington, and in a  game-like, connect-the-dots, find-the-figure fashion Kerry has presented partially hidden or to-be-discovered heads and figures of slaves: those slaves, owned by this country’s founding fathers, who are so rarely depicted in other images of these famous estates.  In other words, that once-invisible means of support is here made visible.  For more insight into the project from Kerry James Marshall himself, you can download the cell phone audio tour to your MP3 player here, or just dial 415.294.3609. Our IET team has also produced some wonderful multimedia you can check out online. Remember that it is FREE to visit the atrium, and these murals; just stop in anytime to take a look.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of making the creative & collaborative labor visible,  some shots of the Precita Eyes mural team at work over the last several weeks, all by our fabulous front-desk/Visitor Services friend Christo Oropeza. You can see many more, of the team at work, and with Kerry, at Christo’s Flickr stream, and on ours.

Photo: Christo Oropeza

Some of the Precita Eyes muralists with (from left) assistant curator of painting and sculpture John Zarobell, Kerry James Marshall, & director of Precita Eyes Susan Cervantes (in light blue sleeves). Photo: Christo Oropeza

Photo: Christo Orpeza

Photo: Christo Orpeza

Photo: Christo Orpeza

Photo: Christo Orpeza