SAN FRANCISCO — For the past few months, the corner of Hyde Street and Golden Gate Avenue in the heart of the Tenderloin has been slowly coming to life, as artist Johanna Poethig installed her latest mural creation on the outside walls of the Civic Center Post Office. The mural, titled “Humming with Life,” will be dedicated with a celebration event on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“This has been a community event for me for the past several months,” Poethig said. “It’s only fitting that the community be involved with the dedication celebration.” The celebration will take place both in the lobby of the Civic Center Post Office and on the street.

Joining Poethig at the mural dedication will be San Francisco acting Postmaster Raj Sanghera. “We are delighted to have been a part of this project,” Sanghera said. “The mural is full of life and color and is a welcome addition to San Francisco community art.”

From 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. the Post Office lobby will turn into a bird sound sanctuary where an environment of bird sounds will be created by composers/musicians Chris Brown, Anne Perez, Tim Perkis, Krystyna Bobrowski and Brenda Hutchinson. At 6 p.m., the celebration will move to the street for a community ribbon cutting and entertainment by Melvin and the Mellotones.

“From the beginning, the Post Office mural project has been a means to bring the community together and to brighten up the neighborhood at Hyde and Golden Gate,” Poethig said. The project was sponsored by The North of Market/Tenderloin Community Development Benefit District and The San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program with the support of the U.S. Postal Service.

The mural design highlights the greening of the neighborhood through plant motifs drawn from the visual traditions from downtown San Francisco’s rich mix of cultures. Hummingbirds fly through the mural and circle lightly at the center of this garden, vibrant, fragile yet strong, pollinating this city corner with creative energy. As the design moves out along each wall, flowers turn into trumpets and other musical symbols representing the surge of music and art in North of Market’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Hyde Street has a history of music studios and jazz clubs (The Blackhawk) in this area so this mural brings together the past and present in a vibrant, cultural, musical motif.

This site is in a significant location in the North of Market/Tenderloin community development district. There is an exciting momentum of arts and cultural activity in downtown San Francisco. The City has a long history of murals and the North of Market/Tenderloin community is growing as a landmark for this artistic activity.

Poethig, an internationally known artist, has murals throughout San Francisco and has worked with the City’s diverse communities for three decades. For more information visit www.johannapoethig.com.

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