Victorion: El Defensor de la Mission – Balmy Alley, Mission District, San Francisco, California

Sirron Norris was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, he began his art career in San Francisco in 1997. He was the recipient of the Artist in Residence programs at the de Young Fine Art Museum of San Francisco and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

Norris is known for his extensive public art contributions. Among them is his most notable mural, "Victorion: El Defensor de la Mission." Painted in 2007, the mural speaks to the subject of gentrification in the mission district of San Francisco, supporting the persistence of Latino business owners and residents. The mural also speaks to the importance of the preservation of original San Francisco Victorian homes through a ten-foot robotic house, suitably named, “Victorion.” This mural has been featured in various media platforms including magazines, books, and advertisements.

The Calumet Mural, located at 18th and Bryant in the Mission district, currently stands as his largest at 600 square feet. It was recently featured in an international Mitsubishi television commercial featuring the launch of their newest vehicle in 2014. His work as a muralist was also used as the platform to launch the new Ricoh Theta campaign in Japan and the US.

Norris is also an accomplished artist across several mediums including multimedia, television, film, and illustration. He was the lead artist in Fox Network’s animated show "Bob’s Burgers" and in that capacity, he created backgrounds and character designs. In 2010, Norris’ art career was featured on the PBS news Hour with Jim Lehrer and in the television show, Concrete Canvas in the United Kingdom.