Climate activists painted murals on two blocks of San Francisco streets Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Sep 26 2019

Location: 

San Francisco, California

Climate activists took to the streets in San Francisco and painted murals directly on two blocks of the city Financial District's main thoroughfare.

The murals on Montgomery Street were painted as part of the Strike for Climate Justice protest that took place on Wednesday.
Endorsed by the Sunrise Movement, Idle No More and other Bay Area climate movement organizations, protesters demanded that banks divest from the fossil-fuel industry and to only invest in companies that are focused "on technologies that have ecological renewal," according to CNN affiliate KRON.

The murals in San Francisco represent "a part of the vision we have for an immediate transition to the resilient, sustainable, and safe world necessary for survival," according to the group's Facebook page.

One of the murals was a labyrinth. "The labyrinth is an ancient symbol found across cultures. Walking a labyrinth is a spiritual practice and form of meditation," said mural artist Meg Duff.
"In confronting climate change we also confront our fear, sadness, anger, and joy. We offer the labyrinth as a tool for climate resiliency and courage."

External sources: 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/us/sf-mural-climate-protest-trnd/index.html
Posted by tmenar on Mar 24 2020

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.
Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Strengthens (community)Strengthens, builds and celebrates community through ritual and/or symbol.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear short-term goal. Short-term goals tend to be things like: create or repeal a law; get a President impeached; make the city administration repair a sidewalk. A campaign with a short-term goal needs a clear theory of change, complete with targets that can be cajoled or pressured into effecting the goal.
Protesters demanded that banks divest from the fossil-fuel industry and to only invest in companies that are focused on technologies that have ecological renewal.

Notes

The act of painting mural's directly in front of the Financial District is helpful to get the attention of the major stakeholders that can have an impact on the climate crisis. Doing this triggers annoyance and attention to this. Since it doesn't directly impact anyone, it's hard to define how effective this movement was. It served mainly as an outlet for community meditation while also acting as a political statement but how it enacts tangible change is hard to say.