Bay Area based Latinx artist Elizabeth Blancas paints a mural about COVID prevention and recovery in the Mission District’s Clarion Alley featuring poet Yosimar Reyes and his 86-year-old grandmother, Mardonia Galeana, wearing masks on March 5, 2021. The mural was commissioned by San Francisco’s COVID Command Center (CCC) in partnership with the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP).
“It is an honor to create this mural in Clarion Alley as the Mission district is where I began finding my voice as a young artist,” said Blancas. “In the last year, I’ve seen firsthand how our communities have been deeply impacted by coronavirus as this pandemic further marginalized communities of color. However, in the face of deep despair, I was moved by the ways we leaned into showing up for one another, as we always have.
“When tasked with creating a work for the Latinx community, I knew I wanted to send a message of intergenerational care, a reminder that we must take care of one another. Painting Yosimar and his abuela Mama Doña is my way of honoring their beautiful relationship as well as uplifting our undocumented community. Painting and muralismo allows me to give folks their flowers while they’re still here.”