LUCIA GONZALEZ IPPOLITO

 is a Mexican-American artist, teacher, and organizer born and raised in the San Francisco Mission District. As a Chicana growing up in a Latino neighborhood that has been vastly impacted by gentrification, Lucia felt it her duty from a young age to focus on cultural/political themes in her artwork. As a muralist, she directed and designed the Mission Makeover Mural, 25 foot mural that covers issues of wealth and displacement in the Mission neighborhood, and the Women of the Resistance mural, depicting 38 women activists; both murals in San Francisco’s historic Balmy Alley. She was a lead collaborator on one of the largest murals of the Latino Cultural District, Alto al Fuego en la Mision, honoring the life of Amilcar Perez Lopez, above the Calle24 offices on 24th and Capp streets. Internationally, Lucia co-created a 5′ x 5′  tile mural for a youth organization in the Dheisheh Refugee camp in Palestine. She has also assisted legendary muralists like Daniel Galvez' Carnaval mural, Jos Sances' Castro Valley Library Mural, and Juana Alicia Araiza's Spill mural. Lucia is also a screen printer and co-founded a collective called the San Francisco Poster Syndicate, a group of students and artists who live-print free political posters at protests and community events; she and the group have a collection of posters in the Library of Congress. Lucia has also exhibited her drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings in various art shows in galleries such as the Diego Rivera Gallery, Alley Cat Bookstore, Evolved, and Juan Fuentes Gallery. After studying at schools such as Chicago Art Institute, and graduating from City College of San Francisco and San Francisco Art Institute, she furthered her role as an artist and teacher through the Art Therapy Masters Program at Notre Dame de Namur and currently is working on her MFA at San Francisco State University School of Art.  Currently, Lucia is working on expanding her social practice, which she founded an annual cultural event/art project called Lovers Lane, which takes place every Valentines Day weekend in the Mission Distirct.