Wall + Response, 2021 (issued)

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Summary

Title:
Wall + Response: Sixteen Bay Area Poets Respond to Four Walls in Clarion Alley
Dates:
2021 (issued)
Creators:
Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) (San Francisco, Calif.)
Abstract:
Wall + Response is a project of the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) that features 16 San Francisco Bay Area poets' responses to the social, political, racial, justice narratives of four murals on Clarion Alley, curated by CAMP artist and organizer Megan Wilson and poet Maw Shein Win.
Extent:
2 sets of 30 color screenprints in 1 box (sheets 51 cm x 33 cm ; box 53 cm x 35 cm)
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

Wall + Response (SFH 667), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Background

Scope and content:

Participants include:

Poets Heather Bourbeau, Aileen Cassinetto, Tongo Eisen-Martin, and Chris Stroffolino responding to the mural Justice for Luis D. Gongora Pat by artists Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu, working with the Gongora Pat Family and Justice4Luis.org;

Poets Karla Brundage, Jennifer Hasegawa, Tureeda Mikell, and Kim Shuck responding to the mural What We Want! by CUBA, Unity/D8, and MACE working with Emory Douglas/Black Panther Party;

Poets Celeste Chan, MK Chavez, Paul Corman-Roberts, and Tim Xonnelly responding to the mural Affordable Housing/Vivienda Asequible by the SF Print Collective working with the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP); and,

Poets Youssef Alaoui, Jason Bayani, Genny Lim, and Michael Warr responding to The Arab Liberation Mural/Will to Live by Art Forces, Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC), and Arab Youth Organizing (AYO).

Biographical / historical:

[Text quoted from the introduction] "In 2019 CAMP artist and organizer Megan Wilson approached poet Maw Shein Win with the idea of co-curating a project to bring poets together to respond to a selection of CAMP's murals on Clarion Alley.

In selecting the murals for Wall + Response, Wilson reflected on CAMP and its role in the community over the past decade in response to the hyper-gentrification that has plagued the San Francisco Bay Area. The cultural shift has meant an epidemic of evictions, a significant loss of San Francisco's American Indian, Black, and Latinx communities; devastating income inequality, an overwhelming number of people who are unhoused, and a disturbing increase in police violence and fatal shootings of citizens by police.

The four murals selected by artist Megan Wilson for Wall + Response exemplify successful collaborations between artists and larger organizing forces to create public works in support of these collective efforts of resistance and resilience.

Based on the walls selected, poet Maw Shein Win invited Bay Area poets whose practices include social and political engagement, to respond to the power of resistance reflected in these works.

Wall + Response was originally conceived to culminate in four quarterly public events to be presented on Clarion Alley in 2020/2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the poets were instead filmed by videographer Mahima Kotian and soundperson Evan Karp reading their work in front of the murals on Clarion Alley. Kotian created videos for each series that were presented as part of free live online events hosted by CAMP co-director Christopher Statton in collaboration with The Booksmith and The Bindery. The videos are available for viewing on CAMP's website, ClarionAlleyMuralProject.org.""

The portfolio compliments the videos by creating screenprint broadsides of the murals and poems featured in Wall + Response. Broadsides were designed by members of the San Francisco Poster Syndicate.

Acquisition information:
Purchase, 2021.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the original order as received from creators.

Physical location:
The collection is stored onsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid written by Tim Wilson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-03-11 23:57:44 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Collections that are stored offsite should be requested 48 hours in advance.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

Preferred citation:

Wall + Response (SFH 667), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Location of this collection:
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Contact:
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Website