With Peter O’Driscoll and Harvey Smith
In the past few years, there has been a growing community effort to defend the Coit Tower murals from leaking water and to stop plans for privatization of the site. This led to the critical renovation of the murals on their 80th anniversary. They were being painted during the time of the 1934 general strike in San Francisco. LaborFest will hold its annual guided tour of the murals with Peter O’Driscoll and Harvey Smith. At the time of their installation, an organized effort was made to destroy them because of their leftist themes. The artists and their supporters had to physically defend the site. The murals were successfully defended and we have them today as our heritage. The artists were working under the Civil Works Administration and Public Works of Art program, which was later extended to many buildings and sites throughout the U.S.