Streetblogs reported a few months ago about a new mural taking shape at the corner of Jones and Golden Gate, diagonally across from St. Anthony’s Dining Room where hundreds line up every day for a hot meal. So the other day we went to check out if it was finished and took a few shots at the work in progress. You can see a general view of the corner here:

Apparently the project was instigated by the Community Benefit District (CBD), a private organization comprised of local businesses and residents dedicated to improving the neighborhood and the people in charge of executing it are muralist Mona Caron and Project Manager LisaRuth Elliott. A lot of San Franciscans know Mona Caron for her breathtaking Bikeway mural on Duboce Street between Church and Market, behind Safeway.

The photo above shows Mona Caron and somebody that appeared to be making some sort of film about her, this afternoon. We tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t very friendly and seemed a bit fried on neighborhood passersby asking her questions or being too chatty. Unsurprisingly, this is what she told SF Streetblogs about it:

Here people talk to you, they are very volatile—due to their economic situation, their state of mind, how tweaked out they are—just where they’re at in their space. We’ve noticed that it gets a lot more tense towards the end of the month.

When we started looking at it this last summer, we were apprehensive about taking up part of that space and being in the spotlight. We have a Greek Chorus across the street, a line of people waiting for a meal at St. Anthony’s. If anybody’s going to be tracking us and charting our progress, and commenting on it, it would be them.

As we work week by week in that neighborhood I am less apprehensive and way more interested in engaging with people. A comfortability is setting in, and we’re getting such great feedback from people, everybody!

Although the mural is unfinished, it is already looking very promising. As with most of Mona Caron’s murals, it makes streets and transit central themes, as you can see with this detail:

The mural also incorporates a section featuring tiles with artwork created by artists at Hospitality House Community Art Center, by children at the Boys and Girls Club, and members of other communities in the immediate vicinity of the mural. You can see some of the tiles here under the earth, with these words written on one of the roots: “Lest a seed falls to the ground and dies, how can it bear fruit…”

Read the full article about the mural at SF Streetblog and, if you like the project as much as we do, consider supporting the work in progress with a little donation.