Coit tower, the iconic San Francisco landmark that sits atop Telegraph Hill, houses some of our region’s most spectacular fresco murals. Commissioned as a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal with the aim of providing paying work for artists, the murals offer a vivid glimpse of workers’ lives in factories and fields, while also capturing the chaotic edginess of street life in the tumultuous times of the Great Depression.
After a six-month restoration effort that required Coit Tower to close its doors to the public, the tower and its murals were reopened last week.
What many don’t know is that the Coit Tower murals are but one of many amazing public mural collections you can view for free around San Francisco. Download KQED’s Let’s Get Lost app and see where to go to discover these treasures. Included in the app are links to videos with more information on several featured sites, including not-to-miss footage of master muralist Diego Rivera painting his work, Pan American Unity, which is now housed at City College of San Francisco.
