Ocean Beach

One Thousand Words: How a Mural can tell so much with so little

Much like other neighborhoods in San Francisco, Ocean Beach has a very unique style.  Found along the western most edge of San Francisco, Ocean Beach is a charming beach community, welcoming all who enjoy a nice picnic on the beach or a dip in the ocean. Because this space is an open area for recreation, the buildings that do exist in the area hold very important historical value, which helps add to the sense of place.

One building specifically, the Beach Chalet, holds enormous historical value to the Ocean Beach area, as well as San Francisco as a whole. Opened in 1925, The Beach Chalet has stood as a tribute to the history of San Francisco for nearly a decade and continues to thrive today as a historical museum and restaurant. Inside the chalet you will find beautiful murals by the artist Lucien Labaudt, painted in the 1930’s as a part of the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A) designed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. These paintings give great insight as to what the city and the life within the city were like during this time - the Great Depression. A simple glance at one painting shows times of peace, protest, prosperity, and poverty; the murals also give great insight as to the culture of the time.

The beautiful murals inside the beach chalet would not be made possible without the work of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the W.P.A. Created in the 1930’s as a means of creating jobs to stimulate the economy, the W.P.A. let artists, amongst other craftsmen, express themselves without the threat of economic downturn stifling their creativity. According to Nancy Lorance, many of the WPA art pieces have been stolen or lost over the years, which makes the murals at the Beach Chalet in Ocean Beach that much more valuable to society. The WPA let artists in San Francisco fully express themselves, and share a piece of their impression of what was going on during the Great Depression with the world and future generations.

But how do the artistic signage, the informational signage, and the graffiti of Ocean Beach add to the sense of community? The sheer historical value of the works inside the Beach Chalet gives a sense of antiquity to Ocean Beach, as if you can look back in time with just a brush over the paintings with your eyes. The informative signs tell the patrons of Ocean Beach where to go, what to do and not do, and how to navigate the area. Without these informative signs, this beautiful open space would be filled with trash and chaos. Lastly, the graffiti adds to the sense of place by giving the beach a more personal feeling. With each piece of graffiti a new story is told, and a new persons life is displayed for all to see.

I urge all those in the San Francisco area to visit Ocean Beach, and to go inside the Beach Chalet to observe what life was like during an older era. It may surprise you how much life has evolved since this time, and how different things are today in comparison to the time of these murals. I highly suggest making a full day out of the trip to fully experience the beach. Have brunch in the Chalet, a stroll on the beach in the mid afternoon, and a sunset bonfire on the sand. Ocean Beach truly is a wonderfully beautiful space, and I hope everyone can enjoy it like I have come to enjoy it.

Work Cited

   Howard, D. (n.d.). Work Projects Administration — Infoplease.com. Infoplease — Free Online Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, and more — Infoplease.com. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0852725.html



     
Lorance, N. (n.d.). New Deal/WPA Art Project. New Deal/WPA Art Project. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http:/