Txutxo Perez, originally from Mexico City, has been living in SF for two decades making art inspired by working class San Franciscans and the struggles of their communities. His studio is the Redstone Building: located in the Mission District, it's a building that has been home to the arts, activism, social service and labor organizations for the better part of a century. It’s a cornerstone of accessibility, community and resistance in the Mission; but like so many other community spaces in the Bay it’s currently facing the threat of new development. Through a financing strategy MEDA (The Mission Economic Development Agency) has been devoting itself to purchase the building to keep the space alive and in the hands of the current tenants so that it can continue serving the people of the Mission.
As Txutxo puts it: “It is important to keep a presence here because every one of us has a community to serve.”
Photographed for El Tecolote.