Miller-Kusz' Ongoing Migration: Jemez to and from California: Mural Project

Damaged Mural Wall

"The Chant of the Earth, the Voice of the Land," mural on cement, San Francisco, CA.

Betsie Miller-Kusz originally painted this large and prominent San Francisco wall (about 1500 square feet) in 1983.  The mural was fully renovated in 1993.

Using abstract land-form elements, the painting depicts the strata of the earth as it might actually appear behind the retaining wall, referencing the geography of this hilly part of the City.

Graffiti Damage

In the fall of 2012, the mural was damaged, once again,  with  large graffiti tags. Therefore another repair is in process.

The wall is located on Upper Market St. in San Francisco. Every day tour buses drive by on their way up to Twin Peaks.  Added to the volume of traffic normal to the main thoroughfare of Market Street, the wall is viewed by over 2,000 people daily.  It is a greatly beloved institution, and the neighborhood residents and organizations have been very supportive in its continued existence.

More Graffiti Damage

Shown are photos of the grafitti damage and the repair in process by the muralist, Betsie Miller-Kusz. Work will continue in February of 2013, with final varnishing expected once the weather is sufficiently warm.

Partially Repaired Wall

La Muralista at Work

Betsie Miller-Kusz has been painting public murals since the 1970's. She began with the CETA program in the San Francisco public schools, then moved to large, community generated projects. In addition to the Upper Market St. mural, she has painted murals at the Eureka Valley Rec Center, Mission Rec Center, New College of California, Mission Cultural Center, York St. Mini-Park, and also interior locations around the Bay Area. Working with Russian artists in Leningrad, she painted the last mural in the Soviet Union before its collapse, for the USSR Second Human Rights Conference. Working with Mongolian aritists, she painted the first 5 story modern mural in Ulan Bataar in 1999. Working with Vietnam veterans, she guided the painting of "Nightwatch", a personal expression of images of war. In Guatemala City, she worked with children in the basurero to bring some hope into hopeless lives with a mural. She has also painted extensively in Mexico City, particularly a mural symbolizing the Harmonic Convergence in 1987. She traveled to the remote Delta de Parana in Argentina to paint two murals on community walls in wilderness islands in 2006. In the past few years, she has also painted two murals in her local Jemez Valley: a Virgin of Guadalupe homage, and a large participatory historic mural, "Passages".