Face-to-Face with the Filmmaker, May 28, 6:30pm

Las Muralistas: Our Walls, Our Stories is a 25-minute documentary film featuring the women muralists whose works cover the walls of San Francisco’s Mission District. The muralism movement that emerged in the 1970s in the Mission District marked the beginning of a tradition of activism, expression, and community building through public art. Local artists interviewed include Juana Alicia, Smokie Arce, Susan Kelk Cervantes, Elaine Chu, Priya Handa, Yolanda López, Consuelo Méndez, Irene Pérez, Patricia Rodriguez who recall the movement and the effort to make space for future muralistas.

Directed by Javier Briones, edited by Claudia Escobar, in partnership with SFMOMA.

Q&A with Artists

Filmmaker Camilo Garzón will be joined by Bernal-based muralists, Susan Cervantes/Precita Eyes Muralists and Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong of Twin Wall Mural Company

Camilo Garzón is a Colombian-American writer and filmmaker who is the founder and creative director behind Cuentero Productions, a bilingual multimedia production house founded in 2023 in Oakland, California

Susan Kelk Cervantes, artist, educator, veteran of the San Francisco community mural art movement, founding director of Precita Eyes Muralists in the Mission District. Established in 1977, Precita Eyes is one of only a handful of community mural arts centers in the United States creating over 700 murals locally and internationally

Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong are the dynamic duo behind the mural arts collaboration Twin Walls Mural Company which they formed in 2013. They believe in the power of visual narratives to capture and reflect a community's history, struggles, dreams and intentions. Both San Francisco natives, Elaine and Marina met at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts in 1997 and began painting murals with Precita Eyes Muralists Association under the guidance of Susan Kelk Cervantes who became their mentor and close friend. Twin Walls Mural Company sets an example for future generations of strong independent women of color in the art world.