Bayview Hunter’s Point is home to an abandoned Navy shipyard, two power plants, a sewage waste facility and 325 toxic waste sites. While the impact of these industrial sites on the health of the community is the subject of many debates, we do know that the San Francisco Bay Area has the highest breast cancer rate in the world, and among the population of African American women under age 50 living in the Bayview Hunter's Point district, breast cancer rates are double that of any other part of San Francisco.

Sponsored by a $35,000 grant from the Creative Work Fund, photographer Anne Hamersky, writer Laurie Wagner and The Margie Cherry Complementary Breast Health Center in Hunter’s Point obtained a grant to create public art depicting African American breast cancer survivors from Hunter’s Point. These intimate portraits expose the women of this community as they face their neighbors, tell their stories and implore women to seek early detection as the key to surviving breast cancer. The posters will be unveiled at Gallery 16 and will appear on 30 bus shelters around the Bayview district and throughout the downtown section of San Francisco, and in 100 Muni busses traveling throughout the city.

Opening Night Gala Event : October 1, 2003

Wednesday night, October 1, 2003 from 6-8 pm , Gallery 16, 1616 Sixteenth St. at Rhode Island will host an event honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the launch of the poster series. Beth Custer and her band will serenade all night. Join us!