Public art and mural work burgeoned in San Francisco during the pandemic. Artists created large, striking works in public spaces in what local artist Nicole Hayden describes as a “Pandemic Renaissance.”
Hayden came to San Francisco in 2001 and earned her Master’s in Fine Arts in 2003. She is the artist behind the Amanda Gorman mural on Page Street and over a dozen murals across San Francisco. Her murals primarily depict large, intricate florals and portraits of vintage women.
While Hayden has been involved in the San Francisco art scene for decades, her mural work came about only recently as an unexpected byproduct of the pandemic. “When COVID happened, I saw all this plywood go up everywhere. It seemed like this amazing time to just go out and beautify my neighborhood,” said Hayden.
Local muralist, Seibot, who goes by KT, described a similar experience. KT is the founder and co-owner of Moth Bay Gallery, which aims to publicize underexposed and emerging artists. KT works with ink, digital art, spray paint, and occasionally tattoos.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Hayden
The pandemic was not the beginning of KT’s career as a muralist, but amplified it.
KT noticed mural art become more popular and accessible for all artists during the pandemic. Businesses and restaurants were boarding up amid coro
navirus shutdowns, creating canvases for local artists all over the city. “There was just so much space available suddenly and shop owners were really cool with it,” KT said.
Photo courtesy of Seibot
People no longer needed a commission to create a piece, nor did they have to be professional mural artists to start creating plywood mural work.
For a field as male dominated as public art, this was absolutely revolutionary. In 2018, Sarah Cascone of ArtNet reported that “only 15 percent of the 358 public artworks in San Francisco were made by female artists.” However, the proliferation of plywood murals and the increased accessibility of mural work sparked an important shift in who was creating art in San Francisco. KT said, “I noticed that a lot more women were painting murals, who hadn’t before. I think with women doing more and taking up more visual space, it’s been changing the culture a little bit, which I think is really cool.”
The pandemic was not just revolutionary for those that create art, but also for those that view it. During the pandemic, everyone needed an escape from both their physical homes and the mental constraints of the uncertain world around them, and public art was able to fill both those needs for people all across San Francisco. Hayden said that “people are just so much more appreciative of public art now. I think that when we’re in lockdown people are just sick of being home or feeling stuck, depressed. But if you can get out and walk the streets, you can just come across some of the most beautiful art.”
Hayden wondered how the nearing end of the pandemic will impact public art, “I really think it amped up the appreciation of public art, and I hope a lot of this stuff stays.”
While we all want to leave the pandemic behind us, the increased recognition for a broader range of artists and San Francisco’s revived appreciation of public art is something worth preserving.
