ARTIST’S TRIBUTE TO BELOVED COUPLE
SAN FRANCISCO — As they stumble through their days, often lost in a fog of sadness, family members and close friends of a young couple who died in each other’s arms inside the Ghost Ship warehouse fire have found comfort in a narrow alley in the city’s Mission district.
There, in a powerful new mural that honors their memory, the looming faces of Michela Gregory and Alex Vega are hard to miss — upstaging even the late singer Prince, whose iconic, though smaller, profile resides toward the opposite end of this city’s famed Clarion Alley.
The colorful byway off Mission, between 17th and 18th streets, notable for its social
One of the grieving parents asked famed muralist Mel Waters: Can you create a memorial to our kids? Waters was glad to honor Michela and Alex: ‘They were good kids, young and smart and special. They deserved more time.’
conscience art and murals painted over the years by members of the Clarion Alley Mural Project, is not a somber place.
“It’s a happier place, where people can walk and pay their respects,’’ said David Gregory, whose daughter and her longtime boyfriend were among the 36 victims who perished in the Dec. 2 blaze during an Oakland warehouse party.
“Not just us, but friends and people from all over the world will see this. And, hopefully, they will learn about what happened and why,’’ said Gregory, who has visited the work-in-progress along with his wife, Kim. “It does not bring any closure, but it helps.’’
Noticed artist’s work
The 48-year-old SamTrans mechanic, who spent his teens growing up in the city — at one point employed by the thrift store across from the alley — had always admired the neighborhood’s progressive street art. More recently, whenever Gregory had taken tours with photography groups around the city, the South San Francisco resident would often point his camera toward artist Mel Waters’ memorable works.
Waters’ striking murals had become some of his favorites, from the piercing gaze of Carlos Santana to a guitar-strumming Jerry Garcia, from the proud mien of Martin Luther King Jr. to an introspective Malcolm X.
So when Gregory emailed Waters not long after the funerals of his 20-year-old daughter and her 22-yearold beau with an idea for a memorial mural — and asked if he could complete it by March 16, the day Michela would have turned 21 — the artist responded, yes, of course, he would be honored.
Waters has created many memorials, he said, but the tragedy of the warehouse fire, affecting so many people just like him — freespirited, artistic, music-oriented and fun-loving — affected him deeply.
“It really hits you in the stomach,’’ Waters recalled after visiting the Vega and Gregory homes, stopping by each victim’s bedroom to view their belongings and keepsakes — including Michela’s stuffed llamas and Alex’s collection of colorful socks — to get a better sense of his subjects.
“They were good kids, young and smart and special,’’ said Waters. “They deserved more time.’’
Throughout the days he has worked on his concrete canvas, conjuring their personalities from photos of the two given to him by their families, as he alternated between cans of spray paint and acrylics and paintbrushes, he said he would watch young couples just like Alex and Michela walk by, on their way out to a meal, or maybe to a party.
“And it could have been them,’’ he noted sorrowfully, “because they were just as normal and full of life.’’
By Saturday, the 34year-old Waters, himself a new father of a baby boy, was almost done with his masterpiece.
Before him, their images seemed to have come alive; their favorite color, green, floated in roses he placed like wreaths around their shoulders. All that was left to add were some bright colors around the flowers, a few small clouds, their names, some cherub angels, and, somewhere, he knew, the name of the place where they had clung so tightly to each other one last time, and to which they would forever be tied.
Took some time
Still, it took a little time for the Vega family in San Bruno to persuade Maria Vega, Alex’s mother, to agree to the public portrait of the youngest of her four boys, the one she still looks out for even now, in his absence.
“It’s my son’s face out there,’’ she explained, haltingly, last week. “And I don’t want somebody to go and write on it, or tag it. When the Gregorys brought it up, I said, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ ’’
But as the days went by, her husband, Manuel, asked her, “Why not?’’
Sons Dan, Alberto and Manuel Jr. agreed, recalled the 56-year-old mother, telling her that as an aspiring artist himself, it was one way Alex probably would have liked to be remembered.
“He loved all that — photography and art,’’ Maria Vega said. “And so, you know, I kind of liked the idea, and I said, ‘OK, I’m all for it.’ ’’
Maria and Manuel Vega are waiting for Waters to let them know when the mural is finished. Together with the Gregorys, they will split the cost, though Waters expected he would charge them only for the art supplies.
But the images of the mural of her beloved son, at least those she has seen so far via cellphone texts and photos sent to her by friends and relatives, have reassured Maria Vega that she did the right thing in Alex’s memory.
“It’s him,’’ she said, tearfully. “It’s really nice.’’