SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – For small business owners this crisis has completely upended their operation.
“Heidi Says” is a women’s clothing store on Fillmore Street and they were one of the first businesses on the block to board up their store front, but she was desperate to make it look less depressing.
That’s where a local artist stepped in.
“Seeing all the store fronts and people I know who have had to board up the stores made me sad, and so that prompted me to find Spencer and just figure out how could we make this plywood look pretty!” Heidi Myers said.
Heidi Myers has owned ‘Heidi Says’ clothing and accessories for the last 19 years.
She says boarding up her shop was a hard decision but one that made sense.
Linking up with local artist Spencer Keeton Cunningham gave her shop a little color and him a new canvas.
“I do large scale murals and so for me this was a way to continue to do what I do as an artist, but as I continue to paint getting feedback from the neighborhood it’s just a cool interaction. People aren’t suspecting of it, it’s not everyday you’re seeing murals right now,” Spencer said.
He’s taken the plain plywood and added splashes of pink blue yellow and green, painting a picture many wish was reality.
“It’s a sea of different crowds of people, animals, creatures, just this idea of everyone bunched together in a crowd, because that’s what we’re not allowed to do right now so it’s depicting that,” Spencer said.
Hoping the pop of color will continue to turn heads until “Heidi Says” can open those doors once again.
“He’s done a great job, it’s been a really fun process. It’s like turning something that made people feel bad and sad and confused, to really happy,” Myers said.
“It’s been great interacting with a crowd I don’t normally interact with. I just wanna say thanks to Heidi for giving me the wall to paint, and I’m still painting so it’s gonna keep evolving,” Spencer said.
“Heidi Says” has shifted all business to online orders, something they’d never done in years past.
They’ve also applied for all of the grants available for small businesses and are waiting on approval.
As for Spencer, if you catch him adding to the mural, he asks that you keep a safe distance because he is doing his best to comply with the social distancing orders.
Latest Stories: