If you’ve followed my blog for any period of time, you know I love murals and street art. For that matter, I love all things art. Whenever I visit a city, I always make time to check out the local street art. This summer, I had the chance to visit the Mission District murals in San Francisco. To be honest, I didn’t research it much before I arrived. My friend confirmed that the Mission District was a great place to see street art, and she dropped me at Clarion Alley as she headed to another meeting nearby. 

I’ve seen a lot of street art. Probably my favorite was Toronto, but Detroit and Miami are both close seconds. But no matter the city, I always find something special at the street art scene. The thing I loved about the Mission District murals was the social justice themes weaved throughout. I also loved the wire with all the sneakers (and other random things) hanging from it. 

To be honest with you, the area of the city isn’t my favorite. When I visited, the homeless population was quite bad and I had two different instances where homeless people got aggressive towards me for no apparent reason. It actually made me extremely sad and also helpless. The homeless crisis in our country is shocking and sad. In Los Angeles, it is equally bad. I help in ways I know I can, like donating food, clothing, and money to charities that support homeless populations. But this is a much larger structural and systemic issue that can feel so overwhelming. If you personally want to find out how you can help homeless people, here is a great resource.

Despite the incidents with the homeless people, I still enjoyed my walk around the San Francisco Mission District murals. There was some really impressive street art to experience and it is definitely an eclectic neighborhood to explore. If you’re in San Francisco, I’d definitely encourage you to stop by the Mission District and Clarion Alley.