Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Right to Good Health



Joaquin Newman and I started painting The Right to Good Health mural for the Mission Neighborhood Health Center (MNHC) in San Francisco. Students in anthropology professor Mariana Ferreira’s class at San Francisco State University surveyed patients, staff and administrators at the Center as part of the anthropology methodologies class. Their findings helped us create the design. The Right to Good Health mural is funded by the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health (Grant 1R13MD005792-01). In addition, the students initiated the San Francisco Mural Project that places photos, descriptions, and video clips on a mural map using Google Earth. The map is on the Right to Know, an interactive web project dedicated to human rights and co-founded by Mariana.

We are painting the mural on canvas at Joaquin’s Forrealism Studio in Alameda. MNHC has embraced our project – thank you Director Brenda Storey, Deputy Director Fernando Gomez-Benitez and the staff! We will install the mural at the Center in January 2011! Our mural will join two murals from the initial wave of San Francisco community murals. In 1977, Michael Rios and Garciela Carrillo painted the murals on the Shotwell Street entrance to the Center. People will see The Right to Good Health mural as they go through the doors between the Rios and Carrillo murals.

Finally, I will exhibit Heartthrob, a photo developed in a commissioning program of the Alameda County Arts Commission (2009) in the 26th Annual January Juried Show at Gallery Route One from January 21-February 20, 2011. I was given a merit award! Come to the reception on Saturday, January 23, 3-5 pm.

Stay creative! Stay engaged!