DESCRIPTION

TITLE WELCOME GROUND

MEDIUM PAINTED MURAL (ON GROUND)

DIMENSIONS 250’ x 140’

‘Welcome Ground’ was commissioned by a coalition of the ‘East Cut’ neighborhood coalition, in downtown San Francisco, in partnership with Monarch Group. The goal of this mural was to reimagine the abandoned site of the former Transbay Terminal.  This once bustling public transit center had moved to a new facility, leaving a fenced off concrete void in the heart of the City. By creating a mural riffing on the existing infrastructure - bus shelters, plantings, service buildings, and even curb cuts, Laura Stevenson created an inviting space that became the foundation for conversion into a city park and community hub.

‘Welcome Ground’ consists of symbolic shapes incorporating buildings, planted beds and other architectural features to create a comforting and interactive space - representing the overlap of distinct immigrant communities that make San Francisco great, and the ongoing ‘welcome’ call of the City. This mural celebrates San Francisco's rich history of immigration, using color and shape to define distinct areas representing different communities that have lent their hard work, vision, creativity and spirit to the City as it is today. The shapes retain their distinct identities, but together they form something unique and specific; communities within community. Golden waves radiate from a central 'seed' shape, which represents the longest inhabitants and original stewards of San Francisco: the Muwekma Ohlone people.