Fertility Vessels are an eco-feminist approach to addressing violence against women in San Francisco’s Mission District and our monocropping farming practices. In total, twenty-three were placed to honor the 23 chromosomes of the female anatomy.

The vessels’ placement on the streets marks specific locations where violent acts toward women have occurred. If you have found a vessel with an attached handwritten note, you are invited to take it home and plant its content. The note explains how to care for the vessel’s contents.

Inside the vessels are organic soil developed for the climate of San Francisco, organic carrots, organic radishes, and organic lettuce. The finder/viewer is invited to take the vessel home and plant its content in a large pot or add it to a garden. Each vessel contains a variety of nourishing sustenance and will flourish with proper care.

The intention of the vessel is to highlight the health of our community. It is meant to resonate with the same care needed on our streets, homes, community, and society. In marking a public space where a tragic act occurred, the viewer is aware that something was lost. The vessels are a poetic gesture of how to care for the feminine.

Before the vessel is placed in the location, the “Mother” cleans the area of all inorganic material. In recognition of the loss on the site, The Mother dresses in all black to remove the garbage. While the violence is not erased, the gesture is intended to provoke others to care for their environment and the feminine energy that brings life into our communities and public spaces.