Piedmont Avenue mural

This mural is found on the wall of Gaylord's coffee house at 41st St and Piedmont Avenue.  Muralist Rocky Baird developed “The Capture of the Solid. The Escape of the Soul” in 2006.  It represents the oppression of the Ohlone peoples at the arrival of Europeans.  It was a public activity to watch him on his scaffold draw and paint this large piece over a few months.  It became a cause célèbre when someone took offense of his depiction of a nude male and defaced the mural.  He was accused of stereotyping and insensitivity to native peoples, although he maintained that he consulted tribal leaders to have an authentic depiction of how people lived on the shores of the bay.  All the really polemical bits of the mural didn't cause a single ripple of concern.  At the inauguration of the mural a small contingent of native peoples showed up to protest, a blues band entertained the crowd, and most of us just gawked at the mural.  It's very complex and there's a lot to look at.