Mural near SF high school honors art educators

SAN FRANCISCO - A new mural connected to the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of The Arts pays homage to art educators and the impressions they have left on their pupils and community.

The art piece, titled "Dreamers of Dreams", was unveiled on Thursday afternoon and includes large-scale portraits of six SFUSD arts educators who "have had a demonstrable impact on the youth of San Francisco." The mural rests on the Laguna Honda Hospital retaining wall on Woodside Avenue between Vasquez Avenue and Balceta Avenue, a short walk from the high school

The educators depicted – Elvia Marta, Andi Wong, Monina Sen Cervone, John Calloway, Annette Ribeiro and Tara Siegel – were nominated by students and parents, and were ultimately selected using a criteria that focused on the number of nominations the educator received and the amount of students who were positively impacted by the educator. The mural also considered the educators based on their representation of a diversity of artistic disciplines, and those who embodied Asawa's legacy as an artist and teacher of a marginalized group who brought arts education to underserved communities and students in the city.

What they're saying:

Nico Berry, the mural's artist, told KTVU there was no shortage of names put forward.

"Even as I was painting, I had people walking by and I was like, "Hey, if there's a San Francisco arts teacher that has made a huge impact in your life, please add them to the list,'" Berry said. "And so we filled it out with even more names than we originally had."

The mural also honors Asawa's love of gardening by including a variety of flowers, a few of which can found growing in Laguna Honda Hospital’s garden. The mural also includes apple blossoms which symbolize teachers and teaching.

The left side of the mural features the words "We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams," which constitute the first two lines of English poet Arthur O’Shaughnessy work called "Ode." The right side of the mural lists the names of the six educators pictured, a list of other educators who were nominated, other credits and a QR code that will take viewers to a website with more information about the project.

"This mural is not just a tribute to our public school arts educators," Berry said. "It’s a reminder — especially in this moment — that we must push back against the marginalization of the arts in our schools and continue to shine a light on their value in our society."