The archive includes slide images and descriptions of San Francisco murals painted between 1930-2000. The slides are from the collection of mural historian and photographer James Prigoff. The descriptions are based on Timothy Drescher's book San Francisco Bay Area Murals (c. 1996) which lists murals by geographical areas of the city. The San Francisco Mural Archive also includes a selection of images that depict muralists at work, school murals, graffiti murals, and murals painted on the billboard outside the Galeria de la Raza, Mission District, San Francisco.

James Prigoff (October 29, 1927-April 21, 2021) was an American photographer, author, and lecturer whose work focused on public murals, graffiti, and spraycan art. In the early 1970s Prigoff became interested in documenting public murals. He amassed a collection of over 100,000 slides of mural art. Prigoff co-authored the book Painting the Towns-Murals of California (1997) with Robin Dunitz.

1 binder (approx. 900 p.) + approx. 800 slides (35 mm; color)

Copyright has not been assigned to the San Francisco Public Library. All requests for permission to publish from photographs must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

The collection is available for use during Photo Desk hours.