The Women’s Building and MaestraPeace Mural, Mission District, San Francisco
Bathed in morning light on 18th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, the Women’s Building stands as both a community cornerstone and a monumental work of public art. Completed in 1910, this historic structure houses one of the city’s most beloved and powerful murals: MaestraPeace, created in 1994 by seven Bay Area muralists—Juana Alicia, Miranda Bergman, Edythe Boone, Susan Cervantes, Meera Desai, Yvonne Littleton, and Irene Pérez. Together, they transformed the building’s façade into a vibrant, multi-story celebration of women’s wisdom, resilience, and creativity across cultures and centuries.
The MaestraPeace mural is a visual symphony of color and meaning. Its intricate layers depict women from global traditions—artists, healers, scientists, freedom fighters, and spiritual figures—woven together in a tapestry of empowerment. From the swirling blues and reds that encircle the entrance to the larger-than-life faces gazing from the upper stories, the mural tells a story of inclusion and solidarity. Figures such as Rigoberta Menchú, Audre Lorde, and Georgia O’Keeffe appear among goddesses, ancestors, and unnamed heroines, reminding viewers that the struggle for justice and equality transcends time and place.
The Women’s Building itself has played a central role in San Francisco’s social and cultural life since its founding in 1971 by a coalition of feminist activists. As the first women-owned and operated community center in the United States, it has served generations of women and families with programs focused on housing, employment, legal aid, arts, and education. Over the decades, the building has remained a gathering place for advocacy and mutual support—a living embodiment of the city’s activist heart.
In 2012, the MaestraPeace mural underwent a full restoration, ensuring that its vivid colors and layered iconography would continue to inspire future generations. Its themes of interconnectedness, cultural pride, and self-determination resonate as strongly today as they did when it was first painted. For many San Franciscans, this building isn’t just a landmark—it’s a manifesto made visible, a declaration that women’s stories belong on the walls of the city itself.
Standing before it, one feels the hum of life that defines the Mission District—the scent of pan dulce from nearby bakeries, the sound of Spanish and English intermingling in the air, and the unmistakable sense of creativity that permeates every block. The Women’s Building remains one of San Francisco’s most photographed and meaningful sites, a towering testament to art as activism and community as legacy.
The Women’s Building and MaestraPeace Mural, Mission District, San Francisco
Bathed in morning light on 18th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, the Women’s Building stands as both a community cornerstone and a monumental work of public art. Completed in 1910, this historic structure houses one of the city’s most beloved and powerful murals: MaestraPeace, created in 1994 by seven Bay Area muralists—Juana Alicia, Miranda Bergman, Edythe Boone, Susan Cervantes, Meera Desai, Yvonne Littleton, and Irene Pérez. Together, they transformed the building’s façade into a vibrant, multi-story celebration of women’s wisdom, resilience, and creativity across cultures and centuries.
The MaestraPeace mural is a visual symphony of color and meaning. Its intricate layers depict women from global traditions—artists, healers, scientists, freedom fighters, and spiritual figures—woven together in a tapestry of empowerment. From the swirling blues and reds that encircle the entrance to the larger-than-life faces gazing from the upper stories, the mural tells a story of inclusion and solidarity. Figures such as Rigoberta Menchú, Audre Lorde, and Georgia O’Keeffe appear among goddesses, ancestors, and unnamed heroines, reminding viewers that the struggle for justice and equality transcends time and place.
The Women’s Building itself has played a central role in San Francisco’s social and cultural life since its founding in 1971 by a coalition of feminist activists. As the first women-owned and operated community center in the United States, it has served generations of women and families with programs focused on housing, employment, legal aid, arts, and education. Over the decades, the building has remained a gathering place for advocacy and mutual support—a living embodiment of the city’s activist heart.
In 2012, the MaestraPeace mural underwent a full restoration, ensuring that its vivid colors and layered iconography would continue to inspire future generations. Its themes of interconnectedness, cultural pride, and self-determination resonate as strongly today as they did when it was first painted. For many San Franciscans, this building isn’t just a landmark—it’s a manifesto made visible, a declaration that women’s stories belong on the walls of the city itself.
Standing before it, one feels the hum of life that defines the Mission District—the scent of pan dulce from nearby bakeries, the sound of Spanish and English intermingling in the air, and the unmistakable sense of creativity that permeates every block. The Women’s Building remains one of San Francisco’s most photographed and meaningful sites, a towering testament to art as activism and community as legacy.