The face of 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is going up on the side of a building near Union Square, and the artist painting is hoping a band will donate their services for an unveiling ceremony.
Thunberg, who gave an angry speech at the U.N. in September excoriating world leaders for their inaction over climate change, has been the inspiration for many murals around the world in recent months — including this one in Bristol, England of her submerged in water. The mural in progress in San Francisco is being painted by Argentinian artist Andres Petreselli, who goes by Cobre. He's been at work daily on the uphill face of the Native Sons building on Mason Street, a.k.a. the home of August Hall, f.k.a. Ruby Skye.
As Cobre tells KPIX, "What I want from people is to realize have to do something for the world. Otherwise, it’s going to be the beginning of our extinction."
Cobre says he expects to be done with mural — featuring Thunberg's characteristic hard stare — by early next week. And he says that he hopes a band will emerge to play at an unveiling ceremony at August Hall.
In the meantime, you can go watch the work in progress by walking up Mason Street from Geary and turning around as you go uphill.
Thunberg, meanwhile, is in the U.S. this week, traveling through the south, and saying she's trying to get to Madrid for the United Nations Climate Change Conference next month.
Since Friday afternoon I’ve been traveling east through the beautiful southern states in the USA to get to the east coast and hopefully find a transport to COP25 in Madrid... pic.twitter.com/WMig6dGKnb
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 4, 2019
Charlotte, North Carolina right now! #climatestrike #FridaysForFuture pic.twitter.com/MV7vv5tlzv
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 8, 2019
Photo: Wikimedia