Ingleside’s Latest Mural Features Medical Professionals At Work

A boarded, oft-vandalized clinic just got an art booster shot.

Alex Mullaney Jan 13, 2022

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The neighborhood just got another mural.

San Francisco-based illustrator Andrea Pereira completed a brightly colored mural of medical professionals and patients on the boarded up North East Medical Services clinic on the 1400 block of Ocean Avenue.

Pereira, who calls the work the pharmacy mural, referring to the clinic’s first-floor pharmacy, strives to create diverse and inclusive works.

“It took me about one day of prep and three days of painting to complete it,” Pereira told the Ingleside Light. “I would describe the style as bright layered shapes.”

Ocean Avenue Association Executive Director Pierre Smit approached NEMS about placing a mural through the nonprofit Paint the Void on the oft-vandalized plywood covering the building’s facade in October.

It’s the latest in a number of murals put up on boarded up storefronts across the city in the wake of the shelter-in-place public health order from March 2020.

“This is something that brings color to the neighborhood that’s been very dull,” Smit said at the OAA’s Board of Directors meeting on Monday. “We need some colors. We need some brightness here. We need some fun.”

Smit added that he wants people to post pictures of it on social media to encourage shopping and dining on Ocean Avenue.

The mural is a “beautiful and meaningful work of art for our neighbors to enjoy until we can reopen for the community,” NEMS Government & Community Affairs Manager Jessica Ho said.

NEMS does not have a hard date for when the clinic will reopen, Ho said.