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The Artist
The Artist
In 1968, the Black Students Union at GWHS protested against what they saw as demeaning depictions of African-Americans and Native Americans in Victor Arnautoff’s Life of Washington murals, and demanded new murals be painted in their place. After months of discussion with school administration, an agreement was reached wherein the Arnautoff frescoes would remain, and new murals would be painted in another location on campus. The students agreed to this arrangement with the stipulation that they have a voice in selecting the artist and deciding on the new murals’ subject matter.
In 1969, a group of artists was invited by a committee of students, parents, educators, Board of Ed Commissioners and members of the S.F. Art Commission to display their works for the committee to select one artist to create designs for the new murals. Dewey Crumpler, a 1967 graduate of Balboa High School, was chosen to be the muralist, and students chose the theme of Third World Peoples’ struggle.
Upon receiving the commission in 1970, Crumpler traveled extensively throughout North America to research mural imagery and technique, studying with Pablo O’Higgins and David Siquieros. He began the project in 1972; the Multi-Ethnic Heritage Murals were installed in March 1974 and unveiled on April 2, 1974.
Crumpler earned his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, a Masters from S.F. State University, and his MFA from Mills College. He had been an Associate Professor of painting at S.F. Art Institute from 1990 until SFAI's closing in 2022. His work is in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum, Santa Clara’s Triton Museum of Art, and the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. He has received a Flintridge Foundation award, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant, and the Fleishhacker Foundation’s Eureka Fellowship.
The Black Panel
The centerpiece is the Spirit of Life lifting the Spirit of the Future as two muscled men representing the collective strength of Black people break the chains of bondage. Notable figures: John Brown at far left, Malcolm X, Akhenaton, Frederick Douglass and the spirit of the African family to the left of the African spirit of antiquity; Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Charles Drew, Langston Hughes, Mary McClune Bethune and Sojourner Truth watching Dr. Martin Luther King; Crispus Attucks; in a ghostly blue, the March on Washington takes place in the shadow of Klansmen; at far right is Paul Robeson.
The Native/Latin Panel
In the center, two women, a Native American and a Mexican, represent the wisdom and strength of the mothers of their country. The hold in their hands the future of their people as their children look upon the symbols of their heritage. The chains in this panel become a serpent, which is in battle with the eagle to form the symbol of Mexico. Out of these broken chains rises the spirit of Caesar Chavez. To his left are Jose Clemente Orozco, Simon Bolivar and Emiliano Zapata. To Chavez' right, an elder Navajo teaches a younger Navajo about his heritage. To the far right of the panel, Sitting Bull embraces the child holding a red flag that represents the lives of Native Americans who fought to retain their land. Emerging on the right is the new Native American who holds in his hand the Island of Alcatraz represents the efforts of Native Americans to re-claim a piece of the land that was once theirs.
The Asian Panel
The dragon weaves its way through the panel as a protector from evil forces and becomes a torii gate at the top. The collective strength and dedication of the Asian people weakens and breaks the chains that bind them. In the center, two children form the Yang and Yin symbols of positive and negative forces of life. The symbols evolve into a yellow pearl representing the emergence of the future generations of Asian people. On the Yin [negative] side on the left, writer/labor leader Carlos Bulosan rises above immigrant struggles, a Chinese laborer toils to build the Central Pacific railroad, and the 'last soldier' of the 442nd Infantry Regiment illustrates the despair and loneliness of war while his family is detained in an internment/concentration camp. On the Yang [positive] side on the right, Ruth Asawa represents the creativity of life, Edison Uno teaches youth while advocating for internment reparations, and Senator Daniel Inouye provides leadership. Sun Yat Sen, at far right, points to the symbol of the future to a child.
You can help
Your contribution to the Murals Fund helps the Alumni Association preserve Dewey Crumpler's murals along with all the other art for which GWHS is the fortunate custodian and provide educational materials to GWHS students and interested art scholars. Click the button below or text EAGLES4LIFE to 53-555 and select the Murals Fund.
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