Four Murals in Clarion Alley Were Painted Over Last Week

Four murals in Clarion Alley, the Mission District passage with more than 50 murals connecting Mission and Valencia streets, were painted over last week. Three were completely covered and one partially covered, according to the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP), which manages the alley’s murals.

What happened

A neighbor with a studio on the alley, artist Doug Rhodes, saw a man painting over the murals and intervened after the fourth one was covered, according to Mission Local. Rhodes took the paint and moved it into a nearby building. The painting-over followed a property owner’s request to clean up graffiti at 3331 17th Street, one of the buildings whose wall carries murals.

CAMP has told reporters it has held written and verbal agreements with property owners and landlords on Clarion Alley for close to 35 years, but it is unclear whether a written agreement covered this specific property, according to KQED.

Restoration

CAMP says the murals can be restored, though the cost is not yet set. One artist has repainted part of the blank wall with a placeholder reading “Mural In Progress” while restoration is arranged. The space for the mural “Graffiti Camp for Girls” has already been reclaimed. The organization had launched a $35,000 fundraiser two weeks before the incident to restore murals, sustain CAMP for the next year, and clean up the alley.

About Clarion Alley

Clarion Alley runs between 17th and 18th streets, from Mission Street to Valencia Street. CAMP has organized murals there since the early 1990s, and the alley is one of the Mission District’s regular stops for visitors looking at San Francisco street art alongside Balmy Alley.

Photo: Clarion Alley. Credit: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.