There's Now A Giant Mural Of Greta Thunberg In San Francisco

The watchful gaze of Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, whose movement caught the attention the world over - now turns to San Francisco.

Not in the form of Greta herself, but instead a towering image of her painted on the side of the Native Sons building, which is enough to make anyone stop and consider their environmental impact.

The Argentine muralist Andres "Cobre" Petreselli created the 60-ft-tall, 30-ft wide mural which was unveiled hours after Greta confirmed she would be sailing across the Atlantic for a United Nations climate change conference in December.

So happy to say I'll hopefully make it to COP25 in Madrid.
I’ve been offered a ride from Virginia on the 48ft catamaran La Vagabonde. Australians @Sailing_LaVaga ,Elayna Carausu & @_NikkiHenderson from England will take me across the Atlantic.
We sail for Europe tomorrow morning! pic.twitter.com/qJcgREe332

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 12, 2019

Petreselli said the portrait of Thunberg, 16, was unusual because he typically does not address politics, religion or sports.

"But, this one is ... I feel connected with the politics behind (it) because I think it is real and if I have to compare it with the rest of my murals, this is the most political one that I ever made," the 32-year-old said as he sat on a roof with the mural behind him.

Petreselli previously painted a since-demolished mural of the late actor Robin Williams in San Francisco.

Andres Petreselli the artist behind the mural in downtown San Francisco is donating his time because @GretaThunberg ‘s work is important we are pretty much at the beginning of our extinction so if we don’t do anything right now it’s going to be too late #ClimateCrisis #Climate pic.twitter.com/n2B0LkpYXR

— Mounira Baraka (@BarakaMounira) November 12, 2019

Paul Scott, the executive director of OneAtmosphere.org, the San Francisco nonprofit that funded the work, said he hoped passers-by would be "touched" by the image of Thunberg, who has mobilized a global youth movement against climate change.

She has been famous the world over for her fiery speech at the United Nations’s Climate Action Summit in New York City.

My message is that we’ll be watching you,” she had said.