Missy Weimer ©
Dreams at the City Limits, 2012
Photography & Mixed media, Sizes Vary
A long history of violence, both real and imagined, has hung over San Francisco's John McLaren Park, almost since its inception in 1934.
Dreams at the City Limits investigates this history. Through research into the past and photographs of the present, I examine the facts, fictions, and mythologies that form the story of the park and the community at its borders.
McLaren Park is my park. I go there with my dog every day. Concerned locals and even new-to-the-city transplants alike have warned me about the park. Their stories are vague on details and often end with a dead body in the park. Even though they sound made-up, the stories feel real.
Research brought me to Rickey Howard. His death seems so senseless. It reminds me of the devastating violence of my own hometown, Chicago. The saddest type of death, a teenager, a child - bursting with potential. So poor he never even got a headstone. His truth is sadder than any of these fictions.
Peripheries, group show, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, California
Raelyn Ruppel, myself and John Steck Jr.
