{image via towelroad.}
hands down, my favorite moment from last night's oscars was when dustin lance black won for best original screenplay for MILK. i cried throughout the entire film and i cried throughout dustin's entire acceptance speech. mascara was everywhere -- on the couch, on my dress, on my cat.
i first learned of harvey milk in college when i saw the documentary the times of harvey milk. (be sure to move it to the top of you netflix queue if you haven't seen it yet!) after graduation, i moved to san francisco and lived in the castro district where harvey's spirit still thrives and continues to inspire.
{above left: harvey milk and friend rick nichols, 1977; above right: premiere of MILK at the castro theatre, 2008.}
the building that once housed harvey milk's camera shop and campaign headquarters, located at 575 castro street, is now one of the best one-of-a-kind gift shoppes in san francisco. it's called given, and the owner, nick romero, not only possesses impeccable taste in art, accessories, and funishings, but he is also one of the friendliest neighborhood merchants around.
nick cherishes the history of the his store's location and even commissioned artist john baden to paint a mural on given's wall to memorialize the historical and beloved supervisor. the mural depicts a beautiful array of colors, 60s-inspired flourishes, and a gun. but instead of firing a bullet, the gun fires harvey milk's most famous quote: "If a bullet should enter my brain, let the bullet destroy every closet door."
last year, given's location was used for the principal photography for MILK. the gift shoppe closed for six weeks and underwent a complete transformation to replicate milk's historical camera shop and campaign headquarters.
what's not to whorange? be sure to visit nick's fabulous shoppe the next time you're in san francisco! also, you can visitgiven online.
{image of mural via lucin da lunicy. images of given interiors via yelp.}
Comments
Pretty great! I thought about teaching photo at the Milk center when I lived in the bay area, but it just never happened. Kind of regret that now.
Posted by: erin@designcrisis | February 23, 2009 at 08:33 AM
How wonderful to see this mural go up in his honor. It's beautiful.
I too cried during Dustin's speech. I'm glad Sean won too. Such a terrific movie.
Posted by: Samantha | February 23, 2009 at 10:23 AM
I'll be in SF in April, and am adding a visit to Given to my agenda RIGHT NOW.
Posted by: Sal | February 23, 2009 at 10:28 AM
I'm so glad you posted about this. I've never seen this mural before. It's beautiful and so powerful.
Posted by: Ramona | February 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM
I've been to this store before. It's beautifully put together. Has kind of museum shop quality about it, only hipper and warmer.
Posted by: Emily | February 23, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Thanks for that awesome story about that piece of history!
Missing SF from down south, Becky
Posted by: Becky | February 23, 2009 at 04:11 PM
thank you for the wonderful post.
Posted by: the asherette | February 24, 2009 at 12:07 AM
So cool. Have yet to see Milk (I know, I know). Documentary is already at top of queue tho. Maybe best to wait for DVD if I'm going to cry through it. I prefer to smear my mascara at home.
Posted by: Amanda | February 24, 2009 at 12:23 PM
The mural is nifty and thanks for all the other pictures. In Australia, they played the Times of Harvey Milk on public tv last night. Is the film as good as the documentary?
Posted by: kerri | February 24, 2009 at 08:35 PM
Great posting Tula!
Given is such a cute shop!
It was fun watching
transformation of Castro Street
while they were filming MILK.
PS. Tula-
Thanks for all of the nice comments!
Robert
Posted by: Mr. Peacock | February 27, 2009 at 01:44 AM
Thanks for the review Tula!
I am still an avid fan of your blog too- our store has had a lot of press after Milk and I am so glad to know that people like the mural and the space as it is now - You keep on goin' with your whoranging self! Love it!
Nick
Posted by: Nick | February 28, 2009 at 11:01 AM
This is such a great post! I had no idea about the store...The documentary "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" is one of the best I've ever seen.
Keep up the gorgeous work, whorange!!!
xoxo
Posted by: susan | March 02, 2009 at 12:17 PM
But Tula darling!
Waterproof mascara!
Posted by: Kate Setzer Kamphausen | June 02, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Naturally continue to build, and continue to damage. Natural plant is difficult to achieve.
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You're so cute!^
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