SUSAN KELK CERVANTES: artist, educator, veteran of the SF community mural art movement, the founding director of Precita Eyes Muralists in the Mission District of San Francisco. Established in 1977, Precita Eyes is one of only a handful of community mural arts centers in the United States, and has created over 600 murals locally and internationally. Cervantes is responsible for numerous collaborative community murals, considered some of the finest in the Bay Area, such as Leonard Flynn Elementary School, Mission Playground Pool, Precita Valley Community Center, Bayview Foundation and many others. She was one of the seven collaborators on the San Francisco Women’s Building murals. Through a collaborative art process, Cervantes is dedicated to social change by transforming the environment and lives of the participants through the creation of community murals. In addition to studio and mural painting Susan works in various mediums including mosaic, painted ceramic tile, bronze relief and “ polyfresco”.

 

At age 16, Cervantes moved to San Francisco from Dallas, Texas, to continue her art education at the San Francisco Art Institute. It was there, in 1961, where she met her life partner and visionary artist, Luis Cervantes.

 

In the early 1970’s, Cervantes was influenced by the Mujeres Muralistas, the first women’s mural collective in the Mission District.  The eternally inspired Susan continues to practice the collaborative process as a key to community awareness and positive transformation.