Clarion Alley

Clarion Alley 2012

"Tax The Rich" mural by Megan Wilson

Adobe Books mural

Clarion Alley is a small street in San Francisco between Mission and Valencia Streets and 17th and 18th Streets, notable for the murals painted by the Clarion Alley Mural Project.

History

Originally called "Cedar Lane," the alley's name was changed around the turn of the twentieth century to Clarion Alley.^[1] The street is notable for community and arts activity, including the Clarion Alley Mural Project, the American Indian Center^[2] and Promotoras Latinas Comunitarias de Salud.^[3]

47 Clarion

The warehouse at 47 Clarion was originally known as the Woodmen Building with the main door at 3345 17th Street. It was an IWW meeting hall, where Tom Mooney once attempted to organize railway workers,^[4][5][6] Later, it was home to artists and musicians from at least the early sixties through 2001.^[7] Notable residents included Terry Riley, The Cockettes, Lise Swenson of Artists' Television Access, and two of the artists - Rigo 23 and Aaron Noble, who were founding members of the Clarion Alley Mural Project. 47 Clarion was demolished in 2001, and a parking lot for the condominium project on 17th Street replaced it. It became a symbol of the neighborhood's gentrification.

Murals

Native Species mural on Clarion Alley, Scott Williams

Since 1992, the alley has been covered in murals painted by the Clarion Alley Mural Project. Alley residents Noble and Rigo together painted the mural "Superhero Warehouse" showing a series of depressed superheroes on the warehouse's side, as a contribution to the mural project. Another of the early murals, painted by Scott Williams after research done by Fred Rinne, depicted native animals of the Mission District.

"Dog Days"

Clarion Alley was featured in the opening chapter of the fiction novel "Dog Days" by John Levitt. The main character is ambushed by evil forces that animate one of the murals into a monstrous force.^[8]

Bibliography

• Murray, Julie. "Moving Stairway to Heaven" in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, Jacoby, Annice, ed. NY: Abrams, 2009. p 126
• Noble, Aaron. "The Clarion Alley Mural Project" p. 113 and "Vatos Mexicanos Locos" p. 122 in Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, Jacoby, Annice, ed. NY: Abrams, 2009
• Rapoport, Lynn. "Wall space: The Clarion Alley Mural Project uses public art to paint a home," San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 23, 2002^[9]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clarion Alley.

Streets in San Francisco
Numbered streets	Third Street 16th Street 19th Avenue 22nd Street 24th Street 49-Mile Scenic Drive
North–south streets	Castro Street Clay Street Fillmore Street Grant Avenue Great Highway Junipero Serra Boulevard Kearny Street Mission Street Montgomery Street Octavia Boulevard Polk Street Skyline Boulevard Stockton Street Stanyan Street Van Ness Avenue Vermont Street
East–west streets	Broadway California Street Filbert Street Geary Boulevard Haight Street Lincoln Way Lombard Street Union Street
Diagonal streets	Alemany Boulevard Don Chee Way The Embarcadero Market Street Columbus Avenue New Montgomery Street
Alleyways	Balmy Alley Belden Place Clarion Alley Jack Kerouac Alley Macondray Lane Maiden Lane
San Francisco place names etymologies

Coordinates: 37°45′47″N 122°25′14″W / 37.76298°N 122.42060°W / 37.76298; -122.42060