Preserving the Cesar Chavez Mural

After 35 years of existence, we are heartbroken to say that our Cesar Chavez 
mural on the corner of 24th & York St in San Francisco’s Mission District will be
demolished. Despite three years of community opposition and meetings with the SF Planning Commission, the owner of the building has been permitted to tear
down the laundromat in order to build an apartment building at that location.
We are urgently trying to save sections of the mural before demolition begins
on September 10, 2020. The purpose is to preserve sections of the iconic mural to
donate each section to Mission community agencies that provide services to
youth families and seniors. The owner and the contractor have graciously agreed to
cut the designated sections of the mural for us, but we are responsible for
raising $3000 to purchase materials necessary to assemble and secure the pieces, as well as truck rental for storage, transport and installation.

The mural is dedicated to the memory of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, cultural
heroes and the community. The mural, originally titled “y tu, y yo, y que” was first painted in 1985 by my mentor, Ray Patlan and myself. The mural was a mirror on
the community that depicted snapshots of people and merchants that lived in the
neighborhood. After ten years the mural had begun to fade and succumbed to theelements and graffiti. At that time, I was working doing outreach to neighborhood
gang youth. With Ray’s blessing, I was permitted to restore the mural in 1995
with a grant from the Mayors Neighborhood Beautification Fund. The purpose
was to update the mural and introduce high risk youth to the art of mural paintingas an alternative to the streets. Since that time, the mural has been a beloved
part of of our community. The mural is a feature of the Precita Mural Walk Tours
and has been photographed by tourists from all over the world. It’s also been
featured in magazines, and as a backdrop in movies, TV shows.

All of the muralists who worked with me including Ray Patlan, Ariel Vargas,
Suaro Cervantes, Carlos Camplis, Adan Gonzalez, Julian Torres, Raymond
Gonzalez, Brava Theatre and Precita Eyes would be greatful for a contribution
of any amount to help with the cost of purchasing supplies to preserve and
transport the images of  our community history to the agencies that serve the
people.

Community love,
Carlos Kookie Gonzalez