Art as Social Witness: Barbara Mumby Huerta’s “Our Matriarchs” Mural and the Manifest Differently Project
- barbaramumby1
- Feb 7
- 3 min read
By Barbara Mumby Huerta
Art is a way of visually naming what matters, what has been erased, and what must be carried forward. My mural “Our Matriarchs”—featured in the Manifest Differently project on Clarion Alley—grew out of this belief: that art can be a vehicle of community memory, honor, resistance, and deep relational accountability.
In fall 2023 I spent over 100 hours on Clarion Alley painting 13 Indigenous women of the Bay Area whose lifework centers care, advocacy, preservation of culture, collective resilience, and community leadership. This series of portraits was part of the larger Manifest Differently project, a multi-site collaboration of artists and poets led by Megan Wilson and Kim Shuck, supported by the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) and additional partners.
Honoring Matriarchs, Shifting Narratives
The choice to focus on living matriarchs was intentional. Each woman depicted is older than I am, rooted in deep generational knowledge, and has dedicated her life to strengthening community—often without public recognition. The number 13 refers not only to lineage and propagation of wisdom, but also to my own Powhatan tribal teachings about responsibility to past and future generations.
You can read more about the matriarchs featured in this work in Manifest Differently: Our Matriarchs.
Mural Practice as Community Engagement
As Mission Local reported in 2023, I painted the mural every day in September and early October on Clarion Alley, which sits between Mission and Valencia streets—a historically rich passageway known for community murals and creative expression.
The piece was unveiled during an open celebration attended by many of the honorees themselves, community members, and artists participating in Manifest Differently.
Across the mural, hummingbirds carry red ribbons—symbols of ancestral presence—figuratively connecting those who came before with the lives and labors of those represented.
People featured in the mural include celebrated leaders such as Kim Shuck, Dr. LaNada War Jack, and Dr. Concha Saucedo Martinez, among others, illustrating the interconnected networks of resistance and resilience embedded in Indigenous and community life.
Manifest Differently: More than a Public Art Project
Manifest Differently itself interrogates the ongoing legacy of Manifest Destiny, unpacking how colonial expansion and structural violence continue to shape multiracial communities today. The project features 38 multigenerational artists and poets, underscoring resistance and collective forward vision through exhibitions, poetry readings, and public programming.
This exhibition was presented across several influential Bay Area venues, including Artists’ Television Access (ATA) and Minnesota Street Project (MSP), bringing visibility to diverse creative voices and community narratives.
Art as Cultural Continuity and Social Power
My work is rooted in the belief that art is not just image—it is social documentation, care work, politics, and cultural continuity. The women I depicted do not simply represent individuals; they embody legacies of community care, resistance, and cultural transmission that inform how we understand place, history, and future possibility in the Bay Area.
By anchoring these voices within a widely accessible public mural, we shift narratives—from those that marginalize and silence, to those that acknowledge power, resilience, and shared belonging.
About the Author
Barbara Mumby Huerta is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and equity-centered leader whose work uses public art to elevate community memory and collective healing. She lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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