Balmy Alley on a winter afternoon

Posted on December 2, 2025 by Mary C

A previous post, ‘stencils on a blue fence‘ featured art in San Francisco’s Balmy Alley. This post contains a lot more street art from the same location! Although the alley is only one block long, there is a lot to look at! Most of the art depicts Mexican or Hispanic history and culture; there is a strong reoccurring theme of social justice as well.

below: Street art paintings have been a part of Balmy Alley since the early 1970s. it is now home to numerous brightly colored murals.

below: Part of “Five Sacred Colors of Corn” at the entrance to Balmy Alley. Prior to 2021 these panels were at Mercy Housing.

below: A Day of the Dead image – a holiday to remember and honor those who have died.

part of a mural on Balmy, day of the dead theme, mexican roots

below: Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”

mural based on the character Max from the book Where the Wild things are, boy dressed in white wolf suit

below: This photo, and the following two, are from an older mural by Hector Escarraman. It was painted on a wood fence in the alley back in 1995. The colours have faded and the vines have started to encroach on the top of some of the heads but enough of the image remains that you can get a good idea of what the original painting looked like. All of the people in the mural are icons of Mexican art.

faded mural on wood fence, two people, man and woman, man wearing glasses, woman with long braids

below: A lonely red heart has been added.

mural, faded, portrait of a man, with a small red heart sticker on it,

below: One of the figures in blue is Frida Kahlo.

faded blue mural of people standing together

below: Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. “Naya Bhinana” (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.

part of Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. "Naya Bhinana" (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.

below: These stairs were decorated by Precita Eyes Muralists with a mural titled “Dragon Eyes”. It was painted way back in 1998. For more than forty years Precita Eyes has used murals to enrich communities in San Francisco – murals that focus on positive images about such topics as culture, nature, unity, and history

below: Zigzags and triangles in bright colours with a couple of hummingbirds flying around.

below: There’s a lot of religious and cultural symbolism in this mural and it shows how much the two are entwined.

mural, Madonna, dragon, butterfly in center, symbols, woman's portrait, bright colours

below: On the left, Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti with a few origami birds added to the scene.

faded murals, on left is Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti, both of wooden doors in an alley at number 86, small origami birds have been added

below: Mother and child

on a wood fence, large faces of mother and child

below: At 50A

painted buildings and fence in alley. Large brown and white cow in a landscape

below: Women of the Resistance, 38 women’s portraits in a group, painted in 2018 by Lucía González Ippolito aka Cia Lu Art

women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women

left side of women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women

right side of women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women

below: Ruby throated hummingbird resting on a very blue finger.

street art mural, small ruby throated hummingbird sitting on the finger of an outstretched hand, along with some desert vegetation, cacti and succulents, red sky

mural, Cosmogonia by Chilovia, Raiz Peskado, dedicated to Andres Hernandez, on a wood fence in a lane in San Fran, blue woman with a hummingbird on her hand, boy riding a wolf, turtle, frog, and other flora and fauna

below: There is a dragon here too!

half of mural by Carla Wojczuk, a woman in front of a building,

below: The other half of the mural… It as painted by Carla Wojczuk in 2011 and is titled “56 Lu the Wanderer”.

below: “The Mission District is for Everyone” is the text on the sign that the little blue bear is holding. The mural is “Victorion” by Sirron Norris

mural of houses and apartment buildings that have become parts of robot like monster,

below: A tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who gave his life fighting for social and economic and ecological justice. He was murdered by the CIA (or at least by CIA-backed assassins) on 24th March 1980, the day after he he urged Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their superiors. A few days later, more than 30 people were killed at his funeral. In all, at least 75,000 people lost their lives during the 12 years that the civil war lasted in El Salvador.

mural that is tribute of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered 24 March 1980, as well as the people killed at his funeral

part of mural that is tribute of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered 24 March 1980, as well as the people killed at his funeral

below: Un Pasado Que Aún Vive (A Past That Still Lives Here) by Joel Bergner, from 2004

mural by Joel Bergner, mother holding a child, sitting outside,

below: Standing in a barrel is El Chavo from a Mexican television sitcom from the 1970s and 1980s. He is standing beside a mural from 2001 of a butterfly and a palm tree in “Memorias Primas” by Marta Ayala. The butterfly has been covered up for some reason.

below: Happy singing tree? Scared yelling tree? Enchanted and magical forest? Haunted and creepy forest?

mural of a tree with a human face that seems to be screaming

below: Another tree/human mix. This time there is a contrast to the hot colours of the desert on one side and the cooler colours of the city on the other. It is titled “Love and Compassion” and it is in memory of Father Richard Purcell (1938-2011), a Franciscan friar who ran a homeless shelter nearby for men with AIDS. The mural was painted by Laura Campos, a Precita Eyes member.

man as a tree, orange desert background on one side, blue city background with a house on the other

below: Parrots and toucans and other details, mural by Dallas Hyatt

large mural covering garage front, parrots, macaws, toucan, and other birds, also a Jesus with woman and baby.

mural on a garage door in balmy alley, large eyes looking at you

below: “Enrique’s Journey” by Josué Rojas,

mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco

mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, man playing guitar

mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, Uncle Sam holding a baby who is crying, ICE immigration depicted as skulls

mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, angel, young boy with arms outstretched as if flying

below: “Tu doy una Cancion como un Disparo como un libro, una Palabra, una Guerrilla, Como Doy el Amor. I give you a Song Like a Tribute, like a Book, a Word, a Freedom fighter, like a I give Love.” Silvio Rodriguez.

man playing guitar, rainbow coming out of guitar and swirling around to form cornucopia of fruits and vegetables being held by a woman.

mural, two people with rifles pointed, three people holding framed photographs of other people

below: Day and night. The man in the moon reflects on the water below. The sun shines in a blue sky.

Photos taken February 2025

Brunswick

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Mary C

Brunswick is one of the suburbs of Melbourne; it is north of the Central Business District.

below: One of the murals painted on the side of an older building on Sydney Road. This is the Retreat Hotel and the mural was painted by Buff Diss.

cyclist cycling past a street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: Treaty” and “Teach Black history” JESWRI (aka Jesse Wright) on the side of another older building on Sydney Road. There is a Korean BBQ restaurant on the lower level although most of the building looks a bit decrepit.

street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: A series of paintings in shades of gray with a large pointy mountain in the back.

below: “Tram Kangaroo” by Mike Maka. One very large kangaroo hops along beside an old abandoned Melbourne tram (route 19, which runs along Sydney Road) in this dystopian future scene.

below: A closer look …

below: Not such an old building this time.. on the side of the Savers store is a mural by Danielle Weber. A pair of hands is trying to pull back the gray wall to reveal a tropical scene hiding behind it.

below: Zatira (aka Katherine Gailer). has used a palette of vivid colours in this mural dedicated to Teresa Bruno, a well known local chef and owner of Zia Teresa Restaurant (Italian).

throw up type street art in Brunswock, abstract shapes and colours,

below: Protest type poster where the mayor is shielded from the people by layers of armed police. People are too mesmerized by what is on their screens to care.

below: Uprooted police cars.

below: “The colony will fail”.

Photos taken February 2025

Noire in Matera & Taranto

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Mary C

Noire, or Stencil Noire, is an artist who has left his mark on many Italian towns and cities including the southern cities of Matera and Taranto. This is some of his artwork that I saw while walking in those cities.

below: In the town of Matera – Game Over

below: featuring Michel Basquiat and his work

below: Make love not war on the left. And on the right, Rivolterei il Mondo come un Calzino (I would turn the world upside down like a sock)

below: Figli delle Stelle (Children of the stars) on the left.

below: Silence is complicity

below: On a wall in Taranto, a blue sphere that resembles the Earth, but with a child’s face looking back at you.

below: Another “Rivolterei il Mondo come un Calzino (I would turn the world upside down like a sock)” but larger this time.

below: This one is not a Noire creation but there is a similar feel (protest, anger) to it as well as a similar style to the drawing and design.

stencil , woman with one fist raised, paste up

Photos taken February 2024

mur d’expression

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Mary C

The wall that lines the whole of rue Henri Nogueres (a pedestrian street) has been repainted many times. In March of 2023 this is what it looked like. Most of it is a grande fresque by Black Lines titled “Colère Générale” (General Anger), painted in February 2023.

rue Henri Nogueres, a pedestrian street in the 19th of Paris, small trees down the middle, a long series of murals on the wall along one side, all in black, white, and grey with a few bits of colour.

Black Lines is an artist collective whose Instagram page uses the phrase “au service des luttes (in the service of struggles)” to describe what they do. All of these murals are in black and white.

below: The next few pictures show the collaborative work of Veneno One and Itvan Kebadian

below: Greve Generale = General Strike There were a number of one day strikes in France in January, February, and March of 2023. Most of the protest was against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms including raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64.

black and white mural with words greve generale

below: Berthet One painted this section and there is a lot going on here. “I can’t breathe” are the words that became synonymous with George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white policeman in the USA, but here it is a KKK member that is being strangled.

mural painted by Berthet One, part of Black Lines collective, a riot scene, with person recording it on phone, two black rats, a KKK member being strangled by a man in a red sweater

below: La rue, les urnes ou les armes (= The street, the ballot boxes or the weapons)

mural with text La rue, les urnes ou les armes

below: Bandana masked protester

black lines mural, woman with bandana covering bottom part of her face

below: His molotov cocktail is lit and ready to throw. Painted by Jack Ardi.

mural of a man holding a molotov cocktail, a glass jar filled with gasoline and topped with a rag that is set on fire, and acts like a small bomb, or to start fires

below: According to this image by C.MoA FarFad, “It will be fine. It will be fine. It will be fine”. Are they destroying Capitalism?

mural of a drawing of people piled on top of blocks spelling capitalism that are cracking

below: More of the wall. The woman in the foreground was painted by GRNDR. It is a portrait of Lisetta Vallet, an Italian partisan who fought in the Resistance during WW2.

4 black and white paintings on a wall on rue Henri Nogueres, by Black Lines artist collective

below: “Le ruissellement a bien lieu, il se fait du bas vers le haut = runoff is taking place, it is done from bottom to top
80 milliards is 80 billion
mefiez vous des fleurs = beware of flowers … All in a piece by Michael Peronard

My apologies to Lise Rousset Lesieur who painted the portion with the flowers as I didn’t get a picture of her whole section.

below: Sedition is the solution.

mural with large letter text, Sedition is the solution in french

below: “Nous étions debout et nous ne le savions pas” (We were up and we didn’t know it).

below: Part of the wall has been tagged already

below: A skull with the words “vanité va niquer toi” and when I used google translate I discovered that I have just learned new words to swear in French (although vanité is just vanity).

mural in black and white featuring a large skull

below: On the pavement by your feet, praying with her rosary is this woman by Aort (this is not a Black Lines piece).

black stencil on concrete sidewalk, side view portrait of a young woman with a rosary in the hand, praying

At one end of the wall there is painting, also in grey tones, that pre-dates the Black Lines painting by a few months.

below: On the right hand side is a section of calligraphy in black and white by Johnnys Artwork aka Johnny Ashbaugh

artwork by Johnny Ashbaugh on a Paris wall, diagonal sections of calligraphy in black, grey, and white

below: Using the calligraphy as a background, a portrait of a woman was painted by Bandit Graffiti. Originally she was smoking a cigarette.

Photos taken March 2023

other Black Lines artists involved in the wall: Rebus, CROS, and Damien Roudeau

Ain’t I A Woman?

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Mary C

This mural can be seen in Kingston NY.

Written in circles around the woman on the left are lines of poetry by Mahogany L. Browne

“you black girl magic
you black girl flyy
you black girl brilliance
you black girl wonder
you black girl shine
you black girl bloom
And you turning into a
beautiful black woman
right before they eyes”

The screen on the phone shows the portrait of another Black Woman, Sojourner Truth. The words written around her head are from a speech that she gave at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851. Over one hundred and fifty years ago. Sojourner Truth was calling on Black women, and all women, to fight for the right to vote. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women that right but that didn’t come into being until 1920.

In a lot of ways, Sojourner Truth’s words ring true today. Has there ever been a time when women weren’t fighting for their rights in one way or another? The text:

“that man over there said women need to be helped into carriages and carried over ditches.
nobody ever helped me over a ditch or lifted me into a carriage
AND AIN’T I A WOMAN?
look at me! look at my arm!
I have ploughed, harvested and sowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me!
AND AIN’T I A WOMAN?
I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear trash as well.
AND AIN’T I A WOMAN?
I have born thirteen children, seen most all off to slavery and when I cried in my mothers grief no one but jesus heard me!
AND AIN’T I A WOMAN?
the first woman god ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn back and get right back up again!”

The mural was painted by Jess Snow and jetsonorama as part of the O+ Festival

Photos taken in July 2022

Let Lebanon Live

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Mary C

… Before I Die

Back in late October and early November 2019, one of the walls surrounding the Beiruti ESCWA (a United Nations building, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) building was transformed with graffiti and street art into a “Revolution Wall”. It coincided with protests against bad governance, corruption and social injustice in Lebanon. The Art of Change movement was involved in painting the wall… along with many Lebanese artist. This is only one of such walls.

below: Caricatures of Lebanese officials along with two posters. The one on the far left is by sumerziady

below: A mouse wearing a hard hat and brandishing a sword.

below: A wonderful black and rust coloured bird, by RenoZ, It doesn’t seem fazed by the mouse with the sword.

below: A monkey-faced man by Zein, a clenched fist rising out of the ground, and two green fighters in a no entry zone (or is it the Lebanese flag?).

below: Freedom, loud and clear.

below: Another Renoz painting, a skull on a chair from which a red rose is rising.

below: The man in the megaphone is signed Dewdle, the mark of Ali Kadado, a Lebanese artist. Resist.

below: I am now feeling that my lack of Arabic means that I am missing a lot of what these mean. For instance, the purple guy by Weesdom is saying something but I don’t know what. I also suspect that the words written on the tap over the young man’s mouth are important, perhaps “Revolution even if you try to silence us”? (artwork by Roula Abdo). The last one is in English but now some knowledge of Lebanese politics would be helpful – a phone screenshot by phat2tg (ot the tg posse)

below: Stencil by markghsoub aka Markus – a larger than life man standing in a shallow boat.

below: Title section, “Revolution Wall” featuring a clown with dollar signs flashing in his eyes by Ivan Debs.

below: Caricature mugshots. Lebanese government officials as Jokers as they go off to jail.

below: Another markghsoub stencil

below: Dancing while the bombs fall by Zein.

below: Giving the peace sign, a man in a red and white shirt by fasewho aka Oliver Matar (He also painted the large word ‘Freedom’ a few pictures back). The head with all the people as hair is another painting by Roula Abdo.

below: A bunch of balloons, most in the colours of the Lebanese flag by ilatk aka Ilat Knayzeh on one side, and on the right is a woman stenciled on top of a circular pattern by ZaFeelz aka Zayna Ayyad

below: Among the profanity, two calligraphy pieces by Ghaleb Hawila

below: An intricate and detailed black and white drawing by @rasharahal

below: A closer look at the top part

There is an Instagram page devoted to collecting the 2019 Lebanese Art of Revolution, or Art of Thawra. Check it out if you are interested seeing more of this type of art.

Athenian stencils

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Mary C

below: A television family. The rabbit ears are quaint.

little black stencil of a family, parents have televisions for heads, standing in a row, all holding hands. seen in Athens Greece

below: Crying eyes

black stencil of a woman's face, just the features, she is crying and black tears are running down her face

line drawing, in black, stencil, woman's head with face partially obscured by a red bandana over her mouth and nose

below: Throwing each other away. Are any of us really disposable?

small black stencil of a person throwing a smaller person into a garbage can

below: A more positive message – butterflies and love

two metal boxes on the street with stencil graffiti, both with red background, one has many black butterflies and the other has a boy giving a flower to a girl, in silhouette

below: I suspect that it’s a protest that is political in nature but because of my lack of Greek I’m not sure.

stencil graffiti, circle with a pair of scissors diagonally across it, with words R.A.W. cuts and then some Greek words below it. seen in Athens Greece

below: I think that this is the face that is stenciled the most. Che Guevara may have died in 1967 but his face lives on.

black stencil, che

Athens has lots of concrete pillars on its streets and many have graffiti on them. The next few photos are some of those pillars.

stencil on a concrete pole with two people walking past it. stencil is a woman. seen in Athens Greece

two stencils of women, the top has covering over mouth and nose, the other is a line drawing of a woman's head and shoulders in profile

black stencil of a woman on a concrete pole

Yerevan Armenia

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Mary C

black stencil of a man holding a megaphone in one hand and with the other hand raised in a fist, words in Armenian written below it.

Street Art in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

word stencils on top of each other on a wall, one in black says Government is not a mafia, red words in Armenian

three faces partially merged together in a mural

mother and daughter figures in black on a wall, mother is guiding daughter forward, standing on lines that are either heart beats or a chasm

yerevan street art, man's head, black hair and beard

large man in blue and white, older man, small black stencil beside it of another man's head

yerevan street art, man's head, black hair and moustache, red shirt, black bird on top of his head

stencil of a rifle with the words defend yerevan around it, also a sticker of a man's face in pink and orange that says with Pavel on it.

yerevan street art, man's head, black hair and beard, red bow tie, on yellow wall

yerevan street art, man's head, black hair and beard and moustache, wild eyes, on concrete that is crumbling a bit

pasteup on a sun shape with long rays, a black and white creature in the center

paste up of a person in black and white, hood and mask, yellow background

colourful mural of soldier's head, with uniform and hat

yerevan street art, man's head, in profile, black hair, beard, with yellowish face, words say Yerevan World Book Capital 2012

ice cream cone line drawing in blue and a yellow bumble bee sticker

pink stencil written on the sidewalk (pavement) that say Make Moves

people on Bristol streets

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Mary C

People in murals and other street art seen in Bristol earlier in 2017.

below: A mural in shades of yellow by tattoo and street artist Sepr (instagram) . These aren’t blackbirds baked in a pie, instead they are blackbirds in a cup and saucer. Let’s have tea!

mural, yellow and grey on black background, car parked in front. Mural is a man holding a tea cup in one hand and a small plate in the other. Two blackbirds in the cup and one on the plate.

below: Jesus Break Dance by Cosmo Sarson

large mural of a man upside down on one hand, only a loincloth on, no other clothes

below: A large mural of a woman’s face in yellow and black, by Stinkfish, Stokes Croft, 2012

large mural of a yellow woman's face, long black hair, on the side of a building, blue and red text graffiti along the bottom

below: The Coat of Arms by Nick Walker

mural on a wall, figure with many arms, wrds that say the coat of arms

below: On the left is ‘Afrika en la casa’ by Feo Flip (Basura Visual) and on the right is a cracked face by LAIC.

two large faces, one man , one woman, with a door covered with posters between them

below: Another piece by LAIC. Most of his street art involves distorted faces,

below: Street art by Dr. Love from Tbilisi Georgia, love holds you up. Girl on swing. Red balloons.

street art piece of s girl sitting on a swing that is being held up by two red balloons

below: Welcome to St. Pauls mural

mural on a wall, city scene

street art, 3 pieces,painting of woman's head in grey and purple, graffiti in pink and green shapes, plus drawing on a door in the middle

below: Alice in Wasteland.

stencil graffiti

below: A little line drawing wonderfully placed around the chain.

small drawing on a wall, man with scowling face, large head and small body,

below: Boxing dog-faced men with bright red gloves.

mural of naked men with red boxing gloves

below: DENX ’09

street art painting of a man with blue face, black hat and jacket and green pants

mural of a witch with wizard hat on blue with yellow stars

under a barred window, a painting of two faces on blue background

resist graffiti words

parking meter man as a monkey, sneering, and pointing, beside a sign that says no parking, words on street art say put the oney in the meter

words that say think local boycott tesco, picture of a man holding a protest sign and a megaphone

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: protest