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Diego Rivera Murals

Tips to Find His Three Frescos in
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One of the best things about San exploring San Francisco
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controversial Diego Rivera murals. stopping by and please
contact me if you have
SF is home to three of his any questions before
masterpieces including the �rst one your trip.

he �nished in the United States.

Even though they are often referred
to as murals, they are actually 60-Minute Bay
frescos. The difference is that frescos Cruises: Up to
50% off on
take a special skill set and are
Goldstar
dif�cult to create, but the vibrancy of
their colors lasts forever. 7D Experience:
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Who is Diego Rivera? email
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Diego Rivera (1886 - 1957) was a

controversial, yet talented artist from
Mexico. He was passionate about art,
February
politics and love affairs. His March
commitment to the Communist party Saint Patrick's
brought quite a bit of attention to Day
April
him and his highly detailed works of
Easter
art.

As a young artist, Rivera spend

several years in Paris hanging out
with other talented painters such as
Pablo Picasso. He was an artist all of
his life, but his time in Paris was
instrumental to the direction of his
famous frescos in the US and Mexico.

Allegory of California

The Allegory of California is the �rst

fresco Rivera �nished in the US. He
completed this piece in 1931.

You will �nd it adorning the grand

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The main female �gure is Cala�a, the

Spirit of California. The piece depicts
the state of California at the time of
its completion. It also includes well-
known local and regional �gures of
the time.

Here is a close up of the right hand of

Cala�a. It gives you a closer look at
the details of this piece. She is
holding 'above ground treasures'
found throughout the state at the
time.

It's hard to catch in one picture, but

this is an extension of the fresco
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Location & When to Visit: This

mural is located at 155 Sansome
Street in downtown SF. You can see
this mural on the �rst and third
Monday of the month at 3pm. This is
when CityGuides offers a guided tour
of the mural and it's the only time it's
open to the public. Please click here
to visit the CityGuides site to make a
reservation to see this mural.

The tour is free and they request that

you do not wear shorts, tank tops,
or sweats during the tour as you will
be entering a high-end, private club.

The Making of a Fresco

Showing the Building of a City

This is the second Diego Rivera

mural completed in the US. He
completed this fresco in 1931.
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This SF mural sits in the Diego

Rivera Gallery inside the San
Francisco Art Institute near
Fisherman's Wharf, Russian Hill and
North Beach.

This one is considered a fresco

within a fresco. It shows the painters
in action as they build the fresco. You
can see all of the artists, along with
their scaffolding, layered on top of
the masterpiece they are completing.

This one also includes the backside

of Diego Rivera as he watches the
artists work on the fresco below.

Location & When to Visit: This

one is also open to the public every
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picture below and take an immediate
left. Walk to the end and take an
immediate right. The Diego Rivera
Gallery will be the �rst door on your
left.

How to Get Here: You can easily

walk from either Fisherman's Wharf
or North Beach. It's also just a few
blocks from the bottom of Lombard
Street, the famous crooked street.

From Union Square, you can

take the 30 Stockton bus or the
Powell Mason Cable Car. Exit
both of them at the Columbus
Avenue and Chestnut Street
stop. Head across the street and
up the hill one and a half blocks
to �nd the entrance.
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is the piece entitled the Pan
American Unity. This enormous work
of art stands 22 feet tall and is 75 feet
wide. It is made up of 10 panels and
is the largest signi�cant piece of
work he did. It is also the last of�cial
fresco he created in the US.

You will �nd this piece in the Diego

Rivera Theater on the campus of the
City College of San Francisco. Due to
the lack of space in the theater, it is
impossible to get one solid photo of
the entire mural. However, the photo
below gives you an idea of the size of
this masterpiece.

He was commissioned to complete

this one during the Golden Gate
International Expo on Treasure
Island (less than a mile east of San
Francisco). He arrived and started
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doors so everyone could look at the

fresco. Shortly thereafter, it was put
in crates where it stayed for 19 years.
In 1961, the Diego Rivera Theater
was built speci�cally to house it.
However, due to the inability to see
the entire fresco in this theater, a
new building is currently in the
works.

Each of the 10 panels of The Pan

American Unity tells a different
story, but they all �t together
perfectly. The stories in this piece
include everything from Pre-
Columbian Mexico to the players in
WWII (which was in progress at the
time).

Here are just a few pictures of the

different sections of this mural.

This part of his mural features his wife

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This panel is dedicated to some of the

events and major players in WWII as
of 1940.

You will see quite a few things going on

in this panel including a view from
above of Treasure Island, which is
where this mural was created.

Location & When to Visit: This

mural is also free of charge to visit
(although they do accept donations).
You will �nd it in the Diego Rivera
Theater on the campus of the City
College of San Francisco at 50 Phelan
Avenue, A301. The hours change
frequently due to volunteer
availability. Click here to visit their
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Modern of Art for a big display
for 2020. Make sure to check its
location before you visit. The
plan is to move it back to City
College at the end of 2020, but
plans are up in the air, so they
could change at any time. The
great news is that it will still be
free to visit while it's at the SF
Museum of Modern Art.

How to Get Here: It will take you

some time and effort to get to this
mural, but it is worth it. The best way
to get here from downtown is by
taking the outbound K train from the
underground Powell Street Station
near Union Square. Take this all the
way to the Ocean Avenue and Lee
Street stop. It takes about 45
minutes.

Here is a map showing the location

of the mural in relation to the K line
stop.
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Once you get off the train, follow the

students onto campus. Walk down
Phelan Avenue, past the large
building on the top of the hill and
take a right onto Cloud Circle. Follow
this to the walkway between the
Visual Arts and the Creative Arts
Buildings.

The Diego Rivera Theater will be the

second building on your left. This is
what it looks like from the outside.
During my last visit, there weren't
any signs, which made it hard to �nd.
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Note: Most students don't realize

there is a Diego Rivera mural on
campus. If you have problems �nding
the theater, check one of the on-
campus maps instead of asking
around (as you will get discouraged
when you ask the students). Also,
take along the instructions above to
help �nd it when you arrive.

More Pages on Murals You

Might Enjoy

Rincon Coit
Mission
Center Tower
Murals
Murals Murals

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Rivera
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