San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has over 400 buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places. But the PG&E substation at the corner of Eddy and Larkin Streets is not among them. Unfortunately, this unsightly, massive structure takes up half a block in each direction, failing to entice those visiting Little Saigon to walk deeper into the Tenderloin.
Today, the substation now includes a dozen large murals reflecting key events, people, and institutions in the history of the Tenderloin neighborhood. These beautiful paintings are an outgrowth of plans first conceived by Uptown Tenderloin, Inc. (which I head) in collaboration with the Academy of Art University, PG&E and Mayor Ed Lee’s Invest in Neighborhoods program.
An Entryway to History
In the course of our planning the soon to open Tenderloin Museum at Eddy and Leavenworth, we realized that Eddy Street had so many great historic buildings that it was really a shame that the walk from Larkin Street to the museum started with the notorious PG&E substation. I asked PG&E if they would allow us to paint historic murals on the building, and they loved the idea of using the substation to tell the Tenderloin’s history from the 1906 earthquake forward.
My request to PG&E was reaffirmed by the mayor’s office, which shared my perspective on the need to improve that site. While PG&E representative Michael Riordan was always positive about the project, he works for a vast bureaucracy that can need a push from the mayor’s office even when they completely support a proposal.
I then went to our friends at the Academy of Art University, whose students painted the remarkable mural recreating an historic Tenderloin venue at the corner of Eddy and Mason Streets. AAU loved the idea of painting the murals.
So with PG&E picking up the out of pocket costs, AAU donating the labor, and Uptown Tenderloin contributing free administration of the project, we were off and running.
AAU Gets it Done
The challenge was twofold: selecting the images and then making sure they could be effectively painted within the space confines. Fortunately, AAU selected Craig Nelson and Carol Nunnelly to coordinate the project. They treated our project like it was a commissioned work from a wealthy client.
Nunnelly’s supervision of students and her allowing Uptown constant feedback ensured that the final result would accurately portray the images selected.
This is the third time that AAU has loaned faculty for a Tenderloin improvement project. And in each case, the faculty member treats this pro bono project as a top priority; Nunnelly never wavered from her high standards and paintings that did not meet her expectations were trashed.
What images did we pick? Cecil Williams and Glide, the Blackhawk Jazz Club, Wally Heider’s Recording Studio, and the historic Film Exchanges, where Market Street theaters got their films. Neon signs, Newman’s Gym, Aunt Charlie’s, the Tenderloin National Forest, Little Saigon, the young gay activists of Vanguard, and the Cadillac Hotel, under which the Museum is housed. We also have an image, “We are the Tenderloin” showing the neighborhood’s diversity.
My former Uptown Tenderloin colleague Sarah Wilson and I put a lot of time into making this project happen. The final result, which makes the PG&E substation a destination rather than place to avoid, makes it all worthwhile.
Go see the murals at Eddy and Larkin and let me know what you think.
Randy Shaw is Editor of Beyond Chron and Director of Uptown Tenderloin, Inc.
