20 Spectacular San Francisco Murals, 2017

Murals are seeing a sort of renaissance in San Francisco. Some business owners continue to wash away street art in an effort to raise property estimates. But an increasing number of business owners are seeing the benefit of showcasing and supporting the creation of murals.

Below we’ve pulled up some of the most interesting murals being photographed around the city. Whenever possible we’ve tagged the artist. What murals in the city are catching your eye?

This post originally appeared on the now defunt UpOut.com.

Table of Contents

2200 Bryant Avenue

Artist: Sirron Norris

What better way to start off than an example of how fleeting a mural can be? These side-by-side shots are taken from the Instagram feed for artist Sirron Norris. Norris, who’s blue bears you’ve most definitely seen around San Francisco (see the featured image of on this article), painted Bob’s Burgers Bob and Linda Belcher at the request of Rhea’s Cafe. Unfortunately, the landlord didn’t appreciate the artwork and only a few weeks later painted it back to Karl the Fog Gray. Norris, for what it’s worth, was a lead artist on the hit television show. Norris also painted the featured mural on this article. You can find those three garage doors at 20th and Dolores.

[media-credit name=”Sirron Norris” align=”aligncenter” width=”1214″][/media-credit]

Egbert Avenue

Egbert Avenue used to be a desolate stretch of boring white walls. Last year, IMPRINT.CITY hosted the inaugural BayviewLIVE! Festival which saw nine of those bare walls turn into shocks of color and joy. Hoodline has the full story and below are Instagrams of three of the nine murals.

Artist: Ricky Watts

A post shared by Karen McD (@flipsidemcd) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:22am PST

Artist: Max Ehrman

A post shared by Karen McD (@flipsidemcd) on Mar 6, 2017 at 7:02am PST

Artist: Clinton Bopp

A post shared by Karen McD (@flipsidemcd) on Mar 8, 2017 at 6:34am PST

The Mission District

The Mission is Ground Zero for easy touring of mural art. Nowhere in the city is there a greater concentration of murals.

Clarion Alley

Historic Clarion Alley is, of course, the focal point of anyone seeking out a high concentration of compelling graffiti. Below is one of the most recent additions in progress. Artist unknown.

A post shared by Lara Chho (@nihonbi) on Mar 13, 2017 at 9:13am PDT

Balmy Alley

Exit Clarion Alley and take a right onto Mission. Walk until you reach 24th Street and take a left. Two small streets past Folsom you’ll take a right into Balmy Alley. This is San Francisco’s most concentrated collection of murals and also the oldest consistent alley gallery. The earliest mural dates back to 1977. Balmy’s murals were originally united by a common theme of celebrating indigenous Central American culture while protesting U.S. military intervention. Over the years the theme has expanded to include a five-year mural project about Hurricane Katrina and murals about gentrification. Sirron Norris has made the recent contribution.

Artist: Sirron Norris

A post shared by Tazza Flo (@kiddo_flo) on Feb 28, 2017 at 4:18am PST

Valencia Street

Valencia Street 923 Artist: Nora Bruhn

A post shared by arminizer (@arminizer) on Feb 15, 2017 at 7:28am PST

400 Valencia Street Artist: Caratoes

A post shared by Reece (@coveredbyreece) on Mar 4, 2017 at 6:44am PST

312 Valencia Street Artist: Eclair Bandersnatch

A post shared by SuperTarte (@supertarte) on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:27pm PST

Olive Street

Olive Street between Polk Street and Larkin Street has a high concentration of graffiti as well as one of the highest mural turnover rates in the city. Murals on Olive don’t typically last longer than six months before they’re painted over. The corner of Olive and Larkin is an especially popular location.

Olive and Larkin

Artist: knowtrespassing