Circle of Strength, collaborative mural, 1999

Project Titles: "Serenity," "Circle of Strength," and "A Safe and Happy Home"
Recipient Organization: Asian Women's Shelter
Lead Artist: Meera Desai
Genre and Date Awarded:  Visual Arts, November 1998
Presented: September 1999

Engaging the women and children residing at the Asian Women's Shelter along with staff and volunteers, painter Meera Desai created three murals within the Shelter. As the Shelter's site is in a confidential location, the project reached a larger audience through publication and distribution of the mural images on postcards, greeting cards, and annual reports.

Women and children come to the Asian Women's Shelter during times of crisis in their lives. The Shelter often is the first place children have lived without the fear of violence. During their periods of residence, the Shelter must serve as a peaceful, bright place to call home. Through creating three murals in communal areas within the Shelter and engaging the women and children in selecting and painting the murals' images, the artist sought to strengthen their sense of safety and belonging in this temporary home and to provide for them solace, hope, beauty, and inspiration.

The artist, residents, and staff of the Shelter made decisions by consensus. Through a series of group meetings, they agreed upon images, ideas, and words to shape the mural design. The first two murals were developed primarily through a collaboration with women residents and staff, and the third with resident children. By the end of the project at least 20 people had helped to paint the murals.

The artist and organization began the project with the thematic idea of "Circle of Strength" and personal transformation. Through their collaboration, they learned that they had to give up pre-conceived ideas--at least in creating the first mural. Residents strongly expressed a preference for a realistic landscape. Meera Desai writes:

The mural depicts a landscape of California hills reflected in the ocean at sunrise. A spiral of birds flies out of the sun and lotuses floating towards the foreground. This image is not what we anticipated. We came in with the expectation that they would want to create a mural depicting transformation and strength. When we showed them examples of such symbolic imagery, i.e. the phoenix rising out of the fire or a human figure as a life-giving tree, they could not identify with them. They wanted a peaceful image rather than something that reminded them of a painful experience or depicts something complicated.... We came to realize that their idea of what is beautiful is based very much on realism.

Desai also found that the women had little confidence in their own artistic skills. Their resistance to participating waned as the project developed and all of them--including a four-month old baby took part in painting the second mural--"A Circle of Strength"--which more closely resembled the original project plan and featured a lotus floating in a circle of light, a mandala, and other symbols of wholeness and unity. The third mural was developed for the children's play room and depicted cheerful images from the children's drawings of things that make them happy. Four children helped to paint it.

At the project's completion, Desai wrote, "The most important aspect was that the mural project provided a bridge for all of us; it created a means for us to learn about each other...." On behalf of the Shelter, Summer Lee wrote that the project, "...brought the joy of creating art for women who had never done an activity such as this...."

Lead artist Meera Desi began painting public murals in 1991, initially working with muralist Susan Greene. At the time she was embarking on the collaboration with the Asian Women's Shelter, she had participated in and directed 17 murals, including "Rhythms of India," a collaborative work with her sister Monica Desai-Henderson, for the Asian Art Museum in 1997; and work as one of seven principal artists to design and paint "Maestrapeace," the four story mural on two sides of the San Francisco Women's Building. She also had collaborated with her sister in the making of rangoli , a women's folk art of India, floor adornments made with fresh flowers, grains, and colored sands; and she had exhibited her paintings in several group exhibitions.

The Asian Women's Shelter, based in San Francisco, is a multilingual, multicultural shelter program with a special focus on the needs of low-income, non-English speaking Asian battered women and their children. It provides safe shelter, food, clothing, case management, individual and group counseling for women and children, advocacy, interpretation, independent living skills, weekend activities, accompaniments; and connections to legal assistance, jobs, training, school, childcare, housing and more. Approximately 100 women and children reside in the shelter each year. To respond to the diverse language needs, AWS uses staff and trained on-call bilingual advocates who provide services in Mandarin, Cantonese, Toisanese, Korean, Indonesian, Javanese, Sudanese, Lao, Mien, Vietnamese, Japanese, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Singhala, Spanish, Khmou, Telegu, Kannada, Thai, Bengali, Gujarti, and Hakkanese. Through the shelter program, 80% of residents escape battering relationships and establish permanent or transitional housing away from their abusive partners.

Serenity, collaborative mural, 1999

Meera Desai

Meera Desai has extensive painting experience. She makes and exhibits works on canvas and paper and, between 1991 and, since 1991, has assisted and/or directed the creation of 20 murals. Of particular note was her participation as one of seven principal artists in design and execution of "Maestrapeace" on the San Francisco Women's Building.

Collaborative Projects

• "Ocean Wonderland," Wilson School, San Leandro, California (1999)
• "Our Enchanting World: Enlightening Our Spirits and Enriching Our Minds," Spring Valley School, San Francisco, California (1999)
• "We Are the Makers of Our Dreams," Grant School, San Lorenzo, California, (1998)
• "Opening Minds Beyond All Boundaries," student designed and executed mural facilitated with 4-5 th graders, Calvin Simmons School, Oakland, California (1998)
• "Rhythms of India," 220 sq. ft acrylic temporary mural, in conjunction with "India: A CELEBRATION!," Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California (1997)
• "Westlake Mural," directed production of mural created by high school students, Oakland Public School/Independent Study Building, Oakland, California (1997)
• "Mandala," acrylic exterior mural, Labyrinth Phassions, San Francisco, California (1997)
• "We Color the World," acrylic, exterior mural, one of three artists to compose and paint imagery designed by 3-4 th graders, Raphael Weill Elementary School, San Francisco, California (1994)
• "Maestrapeace," 12,000 sq. ft acrylic exterior mural; collaborated on conception, design, and production of mural with six other principal artists, coordinated more than 50 volunteers, San Francisco Women's Building (1994)
• "Aztec Mural" and "Conflict Manager Mural," acrylic exterior murals, designed and directed painting of two murals by 4-6 th graders, Jefferson Elementary School, Oakland (1993)
• Private Mural, acrylic on wood, interior; designed, painted, and installed wood panels in seminar facility, Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco, California (1993)
• "Life Under Water," acrylic exterior; Coffman Pool, selected site, petitioned community for support, endorsed by San Francisco Arts Commission and San Francisco Parks and Recreation, Funded by Mayor's Office of Community Development (1992)
• "Children's Mural," Coffman Pool, acrylic, exterior, facilitated mural painted by neighborhood children, Parks and Recreation, San Francisco, California (1992)
• "My Favorite Animal," acrylic interior; directed mural painted by three 4 th -6 th grade classes, Grant Elementary School, Richmond, California (1992)
• "Edutainment," acrylic exterior, collaborated on design and execution of mural project led by Susan Greene, Marshall Elementary School, San Francisco, California (1991)
• "My Favorite Pet," acrylic exterior, Co-facilitated mural painted by children with Susan Greene, (mural now destroyed), Marshall Elementary School, San Francisco, California (1991)

Fellowships and Grants

• California Arts Council, Artist-in-Schools (2000)
• Jan Turner Colburn Fellowship (1996)
• Emily Ann Horowitz Memorial Fellowship (1995-98)
• Claremont Graduate School Fellowship (1994-96)
• San Francisco Arts Commission, Cultural Equity Initiatives Grant for collaborative mural project (1994)
• San Francisco Mayor's Office of Community Development Grant for collaborative mural project (1992)

Solo Exhibitions

• "Journey," Bank of America Plaza Gallery, San Francisco, California (2000)
• Masters of Fine Arts Solo Exhibition, Claremont Graduate School Gallery, Claremont, California (1996)
• "Serpentine Fire," Dillingham-Caples Gallery, Claremont, California (1995)
• "Paintings and Drawings: One Woman Show," Hampshire College Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts (1989)

Group Exhibitions

• "Maestrapeace Art Works," Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, California (2000)
• "Tender," Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California (1999)
• "Shakti: Roots of Vision," Works Gallery, San Jose, California (1998)
• "Voices," Kalart Gallery, San Francisco, California (1998)
• "Connections," Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, California (1998)
• "Women on the Silk Road," Gallery on the Rim, Zen Hospice, First Interstate Center, San Francisco, California (1998)
• "The Big Wave," Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, California (1997)
• "Welcome to Oakland," Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, California (1997)
• "Touch," Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, California (1997)
• "The Bergamot Project: An Exhibition by Recent Graduates," Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California (1996)
• "Southern Summer Exchange: Part Two," The San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California (1996)
• "VEX," University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (1996)
• "A Work of Body," West Installation Gallery, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California (1996)
• "Personal Information," Claremont Graduate School Galleries, Claremont, California (1995)
• "Rubric," The Art Store Gallery, Los Angeles, California (1995)
• "Diverging Maps of Interiors, Dillingham-Caples Gallery, Claremont, California (1995)
• "Time Echoes," C.N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis, Davis, California (1993)
• "Power and Grace," St. Supery Winery, Rutherford, California (1993)
• "Object as Identity," 1078 Gallery, Chico, California (1993)
• "Telling Stories: Artists Books and Journals, Preito Gallery, Mills College, Oakland, California (1992)

Teaching Experience

• Fifth Grade Teacher, San Francisco Unified School District (2002-present)
• Discover Art Teacher, Museum of Children's Art, Oakland, California (1999-2001)
• Teacher, Laney College/Institute of Urban Arts, Oakland, California (1998-1999)
• Lead Artist, Laney Middle School/Institute of Urban Arts, Oakland, California (1997)
• Visiting Artist, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California (1997)
• Lead Artist, Institute of Urban Arts, Oakland, California (1997)
• Teacher, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California (1996)