Localish on Channel 7 Vibrant art and immersive experiences collide in San Francisco’s Umbrella Alley

Umbrella Alley Crew — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 01:52:26 +0000

Enter a wonderland of interactive art at San Francisco’s Umbrella Alley

By Victoria Vallecorse LOCALish – Monday, April 10, 2023

Story online: https://abc7news.com/umbrella-alley-san-francisco-fun-murals-in-instagram-worthy

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a vibrant glow emanating from one of the most colorful alleys in San Francisco. It welcomes passersby into a wonderland of art that’s overflowing with photo opportunities.

“We have people from all over the world that come here, as well as local San Franciscans who come here with their families,” said Brian Huber, the founder of Umbrella Alley. “No matter how bad my day is, I can walk in here and people are laughing and cutting up and doing silly stuff. And I’m like, ‘Okay, yeah this is fun.'”

Umbrella Alley was once a gray parking lot housing popular San Francisco tour vehicles. Today, it has evolved into a dream-like atmosphere that invites visitors and locals to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life.

“Once you’re in here, there’s so much color, there’s so much art,” said artist Lui Nova. “There are so many murals and pieces that you can interact with.”

“Brian was interested in trying to create an environment that the city could really enjoy,” described artist Maxfield Bala.

Shrouded under an umbrella ceiling (hence the name), find massive murals and installations that showcase the diverse talent of the San Francisco arts community.

The unique work pays homage to the City by the Bay and the state of California. When you first set foot in the alley, look to your right to see the iconic umbrella mural.

“It’s supposed to be playful,” said creator Lui Nova. “There are a bunch of different colors. If you notice, they have the colors of the Pride Flag, which is also welcoming…that’s a big part of who San Francisco is.”

Visitors to the space enjoy pretending like they’re holding the painted umbrellas.

“I think as an artist, you try to make art that’s going to invite the viewer to interact with it rather than just walk by,” said Nova.

Continue through the alley, and you’ll find masterpieces galore – including a mural that incorporates illustrations of San Francisco’s landmarks made to look like a vintage postcard.

“We decided that creating a postcard, kind of a tribute to San Francisco that people could commemorate the time that they spent here, would be so fun,” said Bala of his “Greetings from San Francisco” mural.

From there, turn right and you’ll see a giant butterfly featuring a kaleidoscope of color.

“We wanted something that was really a great photo opportunity for people when they walked in here,” said Bala. “Having that sort of groovy butterfly with a lot of psychedelic patterns created something that would pay homage to the summer of love in 1969 and San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury.

Each mural provides a special photo opportunity – so snap away!

For more information follow @umbrellaalleysf on Instagram.

Greetings From San Francisco Mural in Fishermans Wharf by Maxfield Bala

Umbrella Alley Crew — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 11:07:13 +0000

THIS POSTCARD MURAL IS GOING TO BE REPAINTED AT THE NEW UMBRELLA ALLEY LOCATION IN LATE SUMMER 2026

Artist Maxfield Bala was commissioned to paint a mural in Fisherman’s Wharf at Umbrella Alley and the headquarters of the Electric Tour Company and Lucky Tuk Tuk.

GREETINGS FROM SAN FRANCISCO POSTCARD MURAL

The “Greetings from San Francisco” postcard mural was created in July 2019 as part of the Umbrella Alley SF project. We invite you to visit the mural located in Fisherman’s Wharf – a perfect backdrop for your San Francisco vacation photo. Each letter in the Greetings from San Francisco postcard mural spells out history, architecture and tales of San Francisco.

The Immigrant Story Behind the Classic “Greetings From” Postcards Long before Instagram, Americans showed off their travels using Curt Teich’s cheery linen postcards.

Linen Greeting From postcards, named for their embossed linen-like texture, were tremendously popular in the United States during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. There is no exact count, but deltiologists—people who study postcards—estimate that publishers developed over 150,000 different images and printed millions of copies. Cards typically depicted American scenes, venues, and businesses. They sold for a penny or were given away by local entrepreneurs or at tourist destinations.

Article: @SmithsonianMag Read more

ABOUT MAXFIELD BALA:

Maxfield Bala Creative is a multi-faceted mural company proudly based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a creative force, we have effectively translated our clients visions to render impressive murals towards public beautification projects, commercial campaigns and advertising. Founded in 2015 our unique and quality creative work has resulted in projects with some of the world’s largest brands and home grown start ups. We believe that a quality creative product derives from genuine artistic talent, creative story telling, and a strong work ethic. Our services offer businesses the unique ability to deliver a genuine experience their customers and clients desire. We thrive on making creative visions a reality

Maxfield Bala

Born in 1993, Maxfield Bala is a multi disciplined artist based out of the San Francisco, Bay Area. Bala’s imaginative work stems from a childhood surrounded by artistic development and product design through his parents eclectic design careers. Over the years Maxfield Bala’s artistic disciplines vastly expanded to include illustration, graphic design, sculpture and large scale mural painting using multimedia applications. Each discipline building upon one another to help create a variety of artistic styles unique to the artist. Expanding on his abilities, Maxfield launched San Francisco art and design company Bala Creative in 2015 to serve a larger audience and international client base

Maxfield is the owner and creative director of Bala Creative. Every project throughout the site is headed, painted and designed in large part by Maxfield Bala with help from our select team of talented assistants and team members.

RECENT BALA MURAL PROJECTS:

Mural Location: Petaluma, Ca (San Francisco, Bay Area)

OTHER COOL MURAL PROJECTS:

Sonoma Mural Petaluma CA
Langunitas Mural Las Vegas Nevada
Bay Laurel Culinary San Francisco
2 Mile Surf Shop – Bolinas CA

About the Alley:

@umbrellaalleysf Umbrella Alley murals are selected to reflect San Francisco, Fisherman’s Wharf, California and celebrate the hard hit travel and hospitality industry. The family friendly murals are painted in bright colors to encourage joy, fun and laughter.

Location:

366 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133 In the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf @fishermanswharf
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This attraction is operated by volunteers and artists, and supported by your generous dollars!

The facility is gated and closed after hours.

Please visit and tag your photos #umbrellalleysf

maxfield bala – Umbrella Alley San Francisco