Tenderloin Veterans Honored as Supervisor Preston Introduces Resolution to Rename Mural-Filled Neighborhood Street “Veterans Alley”

For over a decade, a small Tenderloin alley decorated in murals painted by U.S. military veterans has been informally known as Veterans Alley, and today Supervisor Dean Preston has taken the first step toward making the street name official. Since the Tenderloin was redistricted into District 5 last year, Supervisor Preston’s office has been working alongside Veterans Alley co-founder, Amos Gregory, on commemorating the project.

“Veterans Alley is an inspirational example of transformation through art, where a previously-blighted alleyway was positively activated to meet the needs of the surrounding veteran population, and a growing number of talented artists have continued to build on that success,” said Preston.

The San Francisco Veterans Mural Project was founded in 2011 by disabled U.S. military veterans, Navy veteran Amos Gregory and USMC veteran Gilbert Lovato. The alley consists of an entire block of public-facing walls where veterans paint their own stories of the realities of war and the military experience. Along with being a widely-visited art space, Veterans Alley also acts as a community center, where veterans and non-veterans, both housed and unhoused, visit to share their experiences and engage in community healing. 

“When Gabriel Lovato, my best friend and a true angel on the streets, and I created Veterans Alley, it was to build a safe space for people to express how the military has affected their lives through visual art -- art that wasn’t done by others about us, but done by us,” said Veterans Alley co-founder, Amos Gregory.

The resolution initiating the street naming process was introduced at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting.