Diego RIvera s mural at the San Francisco Art Institute. Image courtesy the San Francisco Art Institute.
A mammoth fresco by Diego Rivera at the cash-strapped San Francisco Art Institute that the school’s board was considering selling to pay down its mountain of debt may soon be designated as a landmark.
That proposal came one step closer to becoming a reality after the city’s board of supervisors unanimously agreed on January 12 to a landmark-designation motion put forward by city supervisor Aaron Peskin.
The battle over the fresco, which was reportedly going to be sold to George Lucas for his forthcoming Los Angeles museum, is now heating up as activists make loud calls for any discussion of the sale to be halted, while others throw allegations of racism at the school board.
A 1931 mural created by Mexican painter Diego Rivera at the San Francisco Art Institute was supposed to be sold off to knock off much of the school's debt, a decision that outraged many in the local. US News Summaries. | Newser
In San Francisco, city Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced legislation Tuesday to landmark the San Francisco Art Institute’s massive Diego Rivera mural worth an estimated $50 million following reports that it could sold, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Mission Local first reported that SFAI's Depression-era mural celebrating art and labor, “The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City,” painted in 1931 by Rivera, may be sold to help solve the art school's financial issues, .
Dewey Crumpler: Culture, Power & Art
Cost: Free
UCSD: University of California San Diego remote guest lecture: Dewey Crumpler is an Associate Professor of painting at San Francisco Art Institute. His current work examines issues of globalization/ cultural co-modification through the integration of digital imagery, video and traditional painting techniques. Works are available in the permanent collections of the California African American Museum, Los Angeles; Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara CA; Bank of America Headquarters, San Francisco CA; and Oakland Museum, CA. Awards include: The Flintridge Foundation Award, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, as well as The Fleishhaker Foundation Fellowship Eureka Award. Currently represented by Jenkins Johnsons Gallery.
Sam Whiting January 6, 2021Updated: January 19, 2021, 11:04 am
The Diego Rivera mural, titled “The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City,” at the San Francisco Art Institute on Russian Hill. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
The San Francisco Art Institute is not “strongly pushing” to sell its famed Diego Rivera mural, as has been reported, in order to help the school out of its financial hole, board chair Pam Rorke Levy told The Chronicle on Wednesday. But Levy also said that the 1931 fresco is the most valuable asset at the 150-year old school and that all scenarios are being analyzed as it faces massive financial challenges.