Tour of the Arnautoff Murals Tomorrow, Saturday, May 4, at 10:00 AM at the George Washington High School

5/4/2019

The Art Deco Society of California and the George Washington High School Alumni Association will organize a tour of the Arnautoff murals tomorrow, Saturday, May 4, at 10:00 AM at the George Washington High School in San Francisco.

Event Details:

GWHS (S.F.) Alumni Association

For those who are aware of the controversy around and fate of the George Washington High School #murals, or otherwise interested in seeing WPA frescoes by renown Russian-born painter, Victor Arnautoff, we encourage you to join us TOMORROW MORNING for a tour of them at 10am! It’s difficult timing as so many of us are busy preparing for the Art Deco Preservation Ball, but it’s also a good time to show our support to save the murals, and meet the GWHS Alumni who are also trying to raise money for the cause. The Saturday tour will be about two hours, from 10am to noon, and a rare occasion to see them in person. Let’s hope it is not the last time.

The school is at 600 32nd Avenue, in San Francisco, and accessible via the 38 Geary bus line.

For some background:
#VictorArnautoff was, along with fellow activist Bernard Zakheim, perhaps the most prolific #muralist in San Francisco in the #1930s. He completed not only the #murals at George Washington High School (which depicts slavery and a dead Native American), but others including the Palo Alto Clinic, Coit Tower, the Presidio chapel, and the California School of Fine Arts library. All of these #murals were focused on humanist themes, including concerns about class, labor, and power.

It is the mindset of the board of the ADSC, along with art historians, and other preservation groups such as @livingnewdealproject @sfheritageand the Russian Community Council of the USA, that this former assistant to Diego Riveria used the platform of the commission to present a counter-narrative to typical high school textbooks of the day and to highlight exploitation and oppression of people of color in the United States. These are tough topics, and the impassioned debate is understandable. The SF Board of Education is opposed to the #frescoes ‘ imagery, and plan to paint over them.

Please join us tomorrow morning in this opportunity to see them with our own eyes.

Event details

Date: Sat. May 4th, 2019

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