Strong Roots, Healthy Tree

Olive and Polk
The Tenderloin

This mural was done in 1989.  It is titled Strong Roots, Healthy Tree and is by Johanna Poethig who intertwined images from Laotian, Vietnamese, and Cambodian cultures.  Johanna is responsible for numerous pieces of public art around San Francisco

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Since the 1970s, a growing number of Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian immigrants have settled in the Tenderloin. The first large migration of Vietnamese into the United States came in the 1970s with elites who fled their home country after the fall of Saigon in 1975. The second wave of immigrants to enter the city in the 1970s consisted of a group of people who have been labeled the “boat people.” Most of these Vietnamese immigrants are ethnic Chinese. These immigrants were attracted to the Tenderloin area by its low rents and high rates of tenant turnover. The influx of Vietnamese, as well as Cambodian and Laotian families to this district has added a family element to the area, with children and youth making up a growing proportion of a community with few open spaces. It has also led to an increase in nonprofit agencies serving a wide range of the community’s needs.

The mural was funded by private donations and sits on the back of the building that once housed the Southeast Refugee Resettlement organization.  It is 40 X 60 ‘