NARRATOR: It?s Sunday night and a member of the San Francisco Print Collective pulls a bucket of wheat paste, a paint roller, and a stack of posters out of his pick up truck. Within minutes, posters of a quaint Victorian printed in electric orange and blue cover Valencia Street. It?s a form of public art ? and a political statement. The posters summon people to a meeting where the San Francisco Supervisors will discuss a controversial housing development.

This artist asked that we not use his name because pasting posters on buildings is illegal. But he says unless you have a lot of money ? there are no legal ways to advertise events on spaces otherwise dominated by commercial interests.

SFPC: I see that wheat pasting is very similar in regards to other political interventions that retake public space like Critical Mass for example? or even just blocking the doors of the building a...
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HOST INTRO: When you walk around town you?re sure to see them: large posters pasted to construction sites and the sides of buildings. Many are advertisements for movies, records, or cars.

Occasionally you?ll see a poster that isn?t selling anything. It may be there to rally people for a demonstration or make a point about affordable health care.

But no matter what the intentions of the poster are, these pieces of public art draw mixed reviews from political artists, storeowners, and city workers.

Independent producer, Robynn Takayama (tah kah yah mah) has the story.