La Llorona’s Sacred Waters (2004)
Las Lechugueras (1983)

Both by Juana Alicia
24th & York




AR Scene—View with Adobe Aero (iPhone, Android)
La Llorona’s Sacred Waters/ Las Lechugueras, 24th & York
Link to pre-recorded AR scenes


Themes Explored: Intersectional activism; the reinvention of space

Muralism is defined as, “grand-scale, narrative murals on humanitarian, social, and political themes.” Juana Alicia is like San Francisco’s own Diego Rivera, an incredibly accomplished and prolific artist who tells the stories of the oppressed and the unheard.

Her mural, “La Llorona’s Sacred Waters” at 24th & York, “weaves the stories of women in Bolivia, India, and at the U.S. Border together. It highlights Bolivians in Cochabamba who have fought to keep Bechtel Corporation from buying the water rights in their country; Indian farm workers in the Narmada Valley protesting in the flooded waters of their homes against their government’s irresponsible dam projects; and the women in black protesting the unsolved murders of women in Juarez, in the shadow of the Rio Bravo and the maquiladoras (sweatshops).”

This mural also exemplifies the harsh conditions that murals painted in the public realm are subjected to: “The Llorona mural is located at the site of Juana Alicias’ 1983 mural project, Las Lechugueras (The Women Lettuce Workers), which depicts farmworkers and their battles against working conditions and pesticide poisoning in California. Given a 90-day warning in 2001 that the mural would be destroyed because of water damage to the wall, Juana Alicia developed the La Llorona project to pick up where Las Lechugueras left off.”


Supporting Images



Additional Resources




A project of the San Francisco Arts Sommission’s Art on Market Street kiosk poster series,
funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

www.sfartscommission.org.