Knowledge is Golden

Seen when emerging from the book fair at the mighty Concourse building on 8th and Brannan this sign seemed to refer to books but it is more about the way that IT has become so big in San Francisco. The mural appears at first to be a ghost sign - i.e. the remnants of some old advertising writing done years back - but this was made in 2012 by the '1: AM' group - Roman Cesario, Jurne, Robert Gonzalez, and Daniel Pan

Dan Pan spoke to Art & Architecture San Francisco about the  mural:

For “Knowledge is Golden” the inspiration was specific to the area which the mural was done. San Francisco is seeing its second gold rush with information and knowledge being the currency of today. SOMA, being slated to be developed as the new downtown of San Francisco with technology leading the transformation, is why we chose this location for our message.
Gold miners have been replaced by tech innovators. Pickaxes and shovels have been replaced with laptops and desktops. Though the times have changed, the human thirst for chasing opportunity remains prevalent in these times. And with this influx of new people, San Francisco culture as we know it will never be the same.