A New Color: The Art of Being Edythe Boone

Bay Area artist and activist Edythe “Edy” Boone is a sprightly septuagenarian who seems only to gain energy over the years. A celebrated muralist and painter, Boone has left her mark on the impressive walls of the San Francisco Women’s Building “Maestrapiece” and on the tough, tear-tinged faces of the city’s “We Remember” AIDS tribute, while also painting vibrant portraits that hang in homes and galleries. Born in New York, she was raised for a few years by Jewish foster parents before being adopted into an African American Baptist church. In the late 1970s she moved west to raise her own children in Berkeley. From Reagan-era racism to the chokehold death of her nephew Eric Garner at the hands of New York police, Boone has lived through tremendous strife. Since she was a girl, she has aspired “to develop a new color no one has seen in life,” and this film captures the artist’s unflagging determination in every frame. —Zoe Pollak