At Dolores Park

After being assigned the Mission District beat for my reporting class, I knew I had to find a home base in the district.
The coffee shops were my first choices but after the sunny weekends I had spent indoors, finding Dolores Park made experiencing this district’s culture much easier and adventurous. I’ve spent many weekends at Dolores Park and I’m surprised every time I go. Every time I go to the park, I meet someone new and see something equally as new.
During this last visit, I had met Angie Lee. She works for Polkadotties, a cookie vendor over in the park. Lee was dressed in a 50’s style picnic blanket dress carrying around freshly baked cookies in her hand made carrying case. All that was missing was a milkman.
“[San Francisco] is such a crazy city,” said Lee. “It’s so funny that [San Francisco] is always in a rush and yet, you find this great park with street vendors and you can hang out with whoever you want and everyone’s really friendly.”
The first time I had gone to Dolores Park, I was researching the Mission District for my first blog post. Upon interviewing a group of kids from Fremont, I was tossed into their friend’s birthday party at Dolores Park. DJ’s performing while others play football or frisbee was just the beginning of my park adventures.
The park is a place of activity. There is always something different going on. One weekend there could be a kickball slip ‘n slide game happening and one weekend there could be a cardboard covered knight fight.
The park’s diversity of its activities displays how diverse the people of the Mission District are. Dolores Park attracts people from all over the Bay Area since the Mission’s sunny weather is quite complementary to weekend festivities.
Among the many groups laying around the park, I had met one group from different parts of the Bay Area and none from the Mission. For some of them, it was their first time at the park.
“People come out here from all blocks of life, all to hang out,” said Arwin DelRosario.
There was a coed kickball game this past weekend at Dolores Park where between third base and home plate was a slip ‘n slide. All this was next to a “bear,” hairy, large homosexual men, meet-up. Dolores Park can get pretty diverse.
Dolores Park’s central location in the Mission benefits any commuter coming just for the weekend with the MUNI J train running right next to the park on Church Street. It also is a regular location for tennis players, basketball players, dog walkers, cyclists and any other outdoor enthusiast.
Dolores Park is a place of activity and it’s my home base in the Mission.

The Art of a Community

In many of the districts of San Francisco, diversity comes first. Along with that diversity is the sense of community.

The Mission is known for its murals and street art around its neighborhoods. Balmy Alley, for example, is the epicenter for the district’s murals. Ranging from playful art to memorials to the trials of Latino history, the murals sprawl over fences, walls and garages and have been worked on since 1971.

A few blocks over, the Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Vistors Center provides a place for the community to learn about the murals’ history and raise an art collective to beautify the district.

For art on canvas, the Mission also houses the City Art Gallery, an art collective that provides gallery space for local artists ranging from those who have never shown in a gallery to professionals.

The Mission community shows its diverse colors through its art, be it on walls or in galleries.