Community-Created Mural To Be Unveiled in the Western Addition

A collaboratively-created mural titled "The Spirit of Fillmore" will be formally unveiled Aug. 3 on the exterior of the Rosa Parks Senior Center located on the Western Addition’s five-block-long public park, Buchanan Mall. Mayor London Breed—who grew up in adjacent public housing, and whose portrait is included among the notable figures in the mural—will be the featured speaker at the ceremony, which will honor housing activist Mary Rogers and the many neighborhood residents who contributed to the mural’s creation.

"The Spirit of Fillmore" is the result of a yearlong community engagement process led by a consortium of nonprofits known as the Buchanan Change Initiative (BCI). Member nonprofits engaged thousands of local residents in an effort to reimagine the Buchanan Mall, collaborating with several San Francisco city agencies to turn the mall into a nexus for art and social connection. The Aug. 3 event will feature intergenerational games and activities and light refreshments, in addition to a roster of speakers led by Mayor Breed, District Five Supervisor Vallie Brown, and Trent Rhorer, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Services Agency. The celebration is open to the public.