/PRNewswire/ The leadership of two renowned educational institutions, the University of San Francisco (USF) and the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI),.
This week the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to begin the process to confer landmark designation on Diego Rivera’s mural at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), which would prevent its future removal. The mural, which is titled
The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City– and which the SFAI has reportedly considered selling to help cover its debts – was commissioned by the school’s president, William Gerstle, in 1930. The subject of this fresco within a fresco is the building of a modern industrial city and it pays tribute to the workers behind such projects, with a giant figure of a worker in blue overalls and helmet at the centre of the composition. Also depicted are the artist and assistants in the act of making the fresco, and some capitalist patrons who stand below Rivera’s
Sam Whiting January 6, 2021Updated: January 19, 2021, 11:04 am
The Diego Rivera mural, titled “The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City,” at the San Francisco Art Institute on Russian Hill. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
The San Francisco Art Institute is not “strongly pushing” to sell its famed Diego Rivera mural, as has been reported, in order to help the school out of its financial hole, board chair Pam Rorke Levy told The Chronicle on Wednesday. But Levy also said that the 1931 fresco is the most valuable asset at the 150-year old school and that all scenarios are being analyzed as it faces massive financial challenges.
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Central Coast-based Zoom series showcases artist and guest speaker Zalika Azim
The Laboratory Series, a Black-identified artist showcase program co-hosted by R.A.C.E. Matters SLO and the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery, holds its next episode with special guest speaker Zalika Azim, on Thursday, Dec. 17, from about 5 to 6:30 p.m. This virtual program is offered via Zoom, and admission to join the meeting is free.
A 30-year-old artist based in New York, Azim aims to conceptualize the mechanisms of personal and collective narratives, through a wide range of media, including photography, text, sound, and installation and performance art.