Comments (0) Best Street Mural Commentary - 2006
Connecticut & 17th Street
This marvelous (though heavily faded) street mural on the side of a furniture warehouse, executed in the late 1980s to celebrate the rich history of Potrero Hill, is one of two murals in O.J. Simpson's old neighborhood that reflects his pre-murder-trial legacy. As a poor kid from the projects, Simpson grew up on the hill and played football at Galileo High School and San Francisco City College before becoming a star at USC and in the NFL. But even in his old 'hood, he can't escape the negative social commentary related to his 1995 acquittal in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Vandals have brushed over O.J.'s face and upper torso with red paint and drawn horns above the outline of his head. Another pre-trial mural celebrating O.J. is at the nearby Potrero Hill Recreation Center, 801 Arkansas (at 22nd Street). There, too, someone has scribbled "guilty" on the mural, although this image of O.J. has fared better, perhaps because it's high enough above the street to dissuade defacers.
