Beni and one of his murals

You may not recognize Benedicto Brigada’s (“Beni”) face, but you would have to be blind to
live around Garfield Sq. Park and not recognize his painting. According to his own count, Beni has completed over 200 murals, including the new mural at Café El Paraiso across from Garfield Sq. and a work depicting the history of San Francisco since 1750 inside Taqueria Vallarta on 24th St.

With an exceptional personal history in a neighborhood full of unconventional stories, Beni
describes that his mother gave him his first notebook at six years old so he would stop painting on the floor of their home in Mexico where his grandparents had fled after the fall of the Batista regime in Cuba. Originally from Italy, Beni’s grandfather had moved to Chicago and then to set up a sugar plantation in Cuba where he met Beni’s grandmother. In the family’s tradition of travel, Beni left for Paris at 15 years old with a scholarship that only covered the cost of board. Chasing girls and playing music across Europe from Florence to Toledo to Berlin, Beni made a living painting and sometimes “stealing” he explained without hesitation.

Back in Mexico he finished his studies in history and taught in high school, all the time painting and playing music. But, his adventurous impulse returned and Beni spent over two decades living what he describes as the “wild rock and roll” lifestyle. Having played guitar, bass, and piano with countless bands across the country, including the group Dancer de Lobos most recently in San Francisco, Beni still closes his eyes and breaks into passionate song when he recalls playing his first rock song at the age of eight – the Spanish version of the Beatle’s Obla Di Obla Da.

At 48 years old, over ten of which have been spent in S.F. and the Mission, diabetes has slowed Beni’s life down a bit. He describes his current life as tranquil, focused on painting to help support his three sons – an accountant, architect, and petroleum engineering student in Mexico. His pride for his murals is tempered with his humble view of his present circumstances living by himself and recognized by few people in the neighborhood. In contrast to his previous lifestyle, he explains, “My lovers are now the painting and the music.”

El Paraiso on the corner of 25th and Treat

Those that have spent any real time around the Mission know how a fresh mural can transform a blank wall or even an entire business. That is precisely the idea behind the bright new mural you may have noticed local artist Benedicto Brigada (“Beni”) painting on the corner of 25th and Treat caddy-corner from Garfield Park in late March.

The new Café El Paraiso is the dream-come-true of mother- daughter team Blanca and Gloria. Blanca first arrived in the U.S. over 30 years ago, though she jokes she just arrived last year to explain her lack of confidence speaking English. Prior to opening Café El Paraiso the women had worked for over ten years in positions like hotel housekeeping and supervising at McDonalds. Needless to say, leaving their former jobs to work for themselves at the café has been, in the words of Gloria, “like a love story.”

But, developing the café has required more than just love. Despite its location on the corner of busy Garfield Park and a diligent renovation to enliven the interior space, the location was haunted by echoes of its past. Neighbors may remember that two generations ago, prior to its former life as a taqueria, the property was a seedy bar associated with drugs and prostitution. According to Blanca, even after their grand opening, “older women would still walk past the corner staring at their feet” unaware of the fresh smoothies, papusas, and espresso within. When Beni came knocking, as he often does at local businesses, to propose a fresh new mural for the Treat Ave. wall Blanca and Gloria jumped at the opportunity to transform their café’s image.

Inspired by the scene of a rural outdoor restaurant common in their home of Chalatenango, El Salvador, Beni went to work painting the mural as he has at 200 different locations around the area. Gloria points out how they made sure to include traditional Salvadorean and American food in the mural’s details to reflect the overlapping cultures that contribute to the identity of the neighborhood, the restaurant, and themselves.

How appropriate in this everchanging neighborhood so rich in cultural diversity that this hardworking mother-daughter team could uplift the image of a popular public space adjacent to the park with the scent of freshly brewed café latte’s and the painted image
of a table laden with both papusas and bagels.