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Neil Ballard brightens 24th and Potrero with another mural

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At the corner of 24th Street and Potrero Avenue is a Walgreens distinct from any other of the chain’s drugstores in San Francisco. The difference? A bright multi-colored 15-foot-tall mural that wraps around the exterior of the building. It features bright blue houses with dark shadows, thin trees in soft autumn colors and clear bright colorful skies —  a Neil G. Ballard original. 

Ballard began his project, titled “Evening Trees,” on Sept. 3. He was inspired by the tall, skinny eucalyptus trees on the median strip of Potrero Avenue and the houses of the Mission District. 

“I want people to get a sense of joy and happiness from the colors on the wall,” Ballard said, referring to the juxtaposition of bright and dark colors. “I want it to invoke a certain kind of emotion beyond that, a mix of optimism and happiness with a touch of melancholy. The right balance of wistfulness and hopefulness.” 

  • Colorful mural depicting stylized blue buildings with tall trees against a vibrant orange and pink sky.
  • Person in a black hat is painting a wall with colorful abstract patterns while standing on a ladder.
  • A person on a ladder paints a building's exterior under a clear blue sky.
  • Two people stand in front of a colorful mural featuring buildings and trees.

Ballard is one of Mission Local’s illustrators and has been busy capturing the likenesses of mayoral and supervisorial candidates. The 34 year-old, who was born in Santa Cruz and grew up in Oregon and Ireland, has lived in San Francisco for 15 years and has been painting murals on its buildings for four years.

And he’s kept busy: His recent work, “Ocean Avenue Landmarks,” located at a Walgreens on Ocean and Faxon Avenues and completed in March, features likenesses of several notable sites in the Ingleside neighborhood. The mural follows a similar theme to his “Evening Trees” design with bright bold colors to depict the Ingleside cityscape. Various architectural landmarks are featured such as the historic former El Rey Theatre, the Ingleside Sundial, St. Emydius Catholic Church, Beep’s Burgers and more. 

Wall mural depicting a train and cityscape on a Walgreens building, with a street scene and parked cars in the foreground.
“Ocean Avenue Landmarks,” a mural by Neil G. Ballard. Courtesy photo from Neil G. Ballard.

The choice of warmer, brighter colors allow for the landmarks in the mural to emerge from behind the darker color wave in the background. Ballard has been an active resident of the Ingleside area since 2013, and worked on two murals in the neighborhood. 

His first big mural on a commercial building was in 2021 and sits across the street from his “Ocean Avenue Landmarks” mural at an auto shop, Faxon Garage. The finished product: A large detailed landscape of dark green trees and bright blue mountains that he calls, “The Natural World.” It covers the entirety of the garage doors. 

Garage doors painted with a landscape mural featuring trees, hills, and a river under a partly cloudy sky. A sign above reads "Faxon Garage.
“The Natural World,” a mural by Neil G. Ballard.

“I wanted to do something different from what the business was day to day.” Ballard said. “The message I wanted to communicate with this mural is a willingness to consider the things that are maybe not so obvious. Something to remind us of the nature we are a part of. It’s nice to contrast something urban and everyday with nature.” 

In August, Ballard renovated another neighborhood landmark giving a fresh coat of paint to the iconic Beep’s Burgers neon sign on Ocean Avenue. “The artistic challenge was to keep the design the same and replicate it.” Ballard said. “It has always been a dream of mine to repaint the sign.” 



Source: missionlocal.org

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