History: The Early Years 1992 – 1999

Reminisce, 1994

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Selections from the archives of CAMP and contributions by others 2010 – Present:

CAMP 1992: Fiona O’Connor & CAMP Co-founder Rigo 23

Documentation by Fiona O’Connor Devereux, 1992
Narration by Rigo 23, 2010

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Aaron Noble, CAMP Co-founder … Recalling early CAMP in 2005:

Cuando regresemos a nuestra antigua tierra
Que nunca conocimos
Y platiquemos de todas esas cosas
Que nunca han sucedido
Caminaremos llevando de la mano ninos
Que nunca han existido
Escucharemos sus voces y viviremos
Esa vida de la que tanto hablamos
Y nunca hemos vivido

When we return to our ancient land
Which we never knew
And talk about all those things
That have never happened
We will walk holding the hands of children
Who have never existed
We will listen to their voices and we will live
That life which we have spoken of so often
And have never lived

 — Daisy Zamora

Alfonso Texidor reading at the "Word Up!" benefit for CAMP, December 2003, at the Women's Building
Alfonso Texidor reading at the “Word Up!” benefit for CAMP, December 2003, at the Women’s Building

Alfonso Texidor chose this poem for Clarion Alley in 1993 as the first murals were being painted. It consists of four utopian assertions, each one qualified –nearly negated– by the harrow of this world. These assertions claim the importance of Place, History, Nurturance and Listening, the last of which is most closely associated with an ideal life. Could this sorrowful brief poem be any more opposed to the way things are moving in San Francisco today?   Could Alfonso have thrown us any more of a curve ball?

Continue Reading …

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CAMP Ephemera 1992 – 1999:






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CAMP: Clarion Alley Mural Project

by Julie Murray

"Escalator" by Julie Murray, Clarion Alley, 1993
“Escalator” by Julie Murray, Clarion Alley, 1993

The Clarion Ally Mural Project (1993 -) was the brain-child of Aaron Noble and Rigo 93,

both accomplished artists and, at that time residents on Clarion, an ally which ran between

Mission St and Valencia St just south of 17th Street in San Francisco.

Dismayed by the awful state of the place, they came up with the idea of inviting various

artists they knew to design murals, which they hoped could go up on the many surfaces

running the length of the ally. They then went about seeking permission to paint the various

walls and garage doors from whomever they could. In most cases they were successful and

where the owner wasn’t to be found they painted anyway. Around forty artists were invited

to transform a wall with a mural, an invitation that came with a materials budget, a patch of

tabula rasa and much community spirit.

Continue Reading …

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Ephemera from early CAMP gallery exhibitions at SFAI (1993), New Langton (1994), and Southern Exposure (1994):



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WORD UP!
Benefit for CAMP on Friday, December 3, 1993 at the Women’s Building, San Francisco, CA

SPEAKING MINDS performances by:
QR Hand, Genny Lim, Michael Franti, Alfonso Texidor, Deborah Iyall, Jack Micheline, Michael Blake, Maria Medina Serafin

PERCUSSIONS by Victor Zaballa and Art Synthesis

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Ephemera from CAMP’s Redstone Labor Temple and Bloody Thursday, Local 6/9th Street Projects:




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A Neighborhood Thing: The Mission Art Scene in the ’90s | KQED Arts