Queerness, Activism, & the Mission—Past to Present
Win Mixter with Flavia Elisa Mora & Hernán Martinez
Original Workshop Page via Gray Area
Audio Excerpts
Contextualizing Gray Area in San Francisco’s Mission District
Queerness, Activism, & the Mission—Past to Present was a history lesson and walking tour that aimed to contextualize Gray Area within its home in San Francisco’s Mission District.
The workshop addressed the Gray Area Festival theme of Worlding Protocol through a lens of queerness, Mission-based activism, and the intersections between the two. The walking tour highlighted lost queer spaces, murals, sites of current and former activism, and other features of the Calle 24 Cultural District.
The Mission has undergone many transformations over the last 50+ years while maintaining its roots as a Latinx hub for the city and the West Coast at large. Much of the past and current activism of the neighborhood focuses on displacement and the need for preservation of what is lost and what is actively disappearing.
The Mission has also long been a gathering point for queer culture in the city at various points—in the 1970s and 1980s the Valencia Corridor became a mecca for lesbian women across the West Coast. 16th Street was a hotspot for the queer (though predominantly male) Latinx community from the 1980s to the 2010s.
The workshop focused on the importance of what was here before and its bearing on the work of local activists today. It focused on activism in all its expressions—from self-expression as activism to spaces to organize to more tangible expressions like murals and community groups that continue to operate out of the neighborhood.
All AR Scenes—View with Adobe Aero (iPhone, Android)
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Old Wives Tales, 1009 Valencia
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La Llorona’s Sacred Waters/ Las Lechugueras, 24th & York
- Por Vida, 24th & Bryant
About the Artists
Win Mixter is a queer San Francisco-based designer, illustrator, & printmaker with a background in architecture & communications. He is a birder, activist, cloud enthusiast, & longtime GLBT Historical Society volunteer. His current focus is on finding balance & connection between art, social justice, & queer history.
www.winmixter.com
Follow on IG: @PrideisaProtest @winmixter
Flavia Elisa Mora is a queer Mexican migrant artivist raised in La Mission, San Francisco. Amongst her interdisciplinary art practice, her main two focuses are muralismo and poesía. Flavia is a published writer and is one of the lead artists for the mural, “Alto al Fuego en la Misión” located on 24th & Capp. Her passions for both muralismo and spoken word poetry collide through her understanding that both forms are vessels for preserving history, intergenerational healing tools, and expressions of the soul. Flavia's prioritization of her own healing ties with her belief that revolution starts from the heart. She hopes that through her art, she can help create space for inspiration and positive change in her community.
Follow on IG: @flavia_elisa_mora
Hernán Martinez, a.k.a. STONED FRUIT, is a multi-disciplinary artist who resides in the Mission of San Francisco, California. He is a self-taught, first-generation Mexican who aims to challenge how we consume fashion and art. His artistic vision, influenced by a radical queer punk ethos, juxtaposes the cultural narratives of his surrounding Latinx community with the bold and stark typography utilized in print media. His debut work, La Frutería, was a mural featured at Adobe Books that explored Pre-Columbian motifs by interpreting the vibrant, fluorescent color palette often seen at Mexican fruit markets.
Follow on IG: @stoned_fruit
Regenaissance Pages:
- Old Wives Tales
- Lavando Augusto
- La Llorona’s Sacred Waters & Las Lechugueras
- Por Vida Mural & Galería de la Raza
- Adobe Books & Arts Cooperative
- Alto al Fuego en la Misión
funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
www.sfartscommission.org.