I could talk about the history of San Francisco for ages, but this article is about what has been happening much more recently. Historically, the Mission had been home to a large part of SF’s Chicano/Latino population, but starting as early as the late 1960s, the LBGTQ community began to play a much more defining role in the neighborhood’s identity. You are probably already familiar with San Francisco’s reputation for being the gay capital of the U.S., but what you might not know is that much of this reputation was built right here in the Mission.
However, by the late 1970s, the Mission had become a much more multidimensional haven for fringe culture. It actually developed a thriving punk rock scene, and helped produced such bands as the Dead Kennedys, Jawbreaker, Rancid, and Green Day! Even today, you’ll see remnants of this scene walking around the streets of the Mission with colorful mohawks and studded belts.
It’s time for our last article on Asheville. We’ve covered some serious ground in this city, and have already had a few surprises, but to me, there were none more pleasant than the ones I’m about to share with you in this article. This is Asheville’s “Street Art” installment; a segment that I am becoming quite fond of. Not every city has a visual arts scene that will support these kinds of public works… but those that do, typically don’t look much like Asheville. I tend to associate street art with giant urban areas like New York, San Francisco, or Toronto.
But Asheville threw down the gauntlet!
For all its natural beauty, Iceland doesn't always have the best weather. In fact, oftentimes the weather is downright foul. Sure, Iceland's rugged landscapes are the stuff of legends, but that is of little consequence in urban Reykjavík. In its epicenter, Reykjavík has many beautiful areas, but the further away from the city center you travel, the more those beautiful areas will give way to cold, grey, soviet-esque suburbia. It can feel pretty lonely out there, but even in these bleak spaces, Reykjavík still found ways to surprise me. In the ugly, in-between spaces, in Reykjavík's less-visited nooks and crannies, I began to stumble upon gorgeous works of art. A mysterious street art scavenger hunt unfolded before me as I dove down every back alley I saw in search of more.
