Out of the blue I got an email from Aaron Stapley. Aaron rode with San Francisco’s mod scooterist scene in the 1980’s, a scene I knew nothing about. I lived and worked in SF in the 70’s. By 1980, I moved back to my native N.J. and was tending bar in Hoboken.
Aaron asked if I was the Kevin McCloskey who painted the life-sized whale mural near the Haight. I told him the story of the project and he wrote back,” I can’t tell you how much excitement your wonderful bit of back story about the whale has generated within our community of 80’s mods and scooterists.” Apparently the whale was a witness to a unique scene and subculture. Aaron sent me pages from the zine, Scooter Rage 3, Jan 1988, announcing a rally at “The Whale Building.” Again, this all news to me.
So here’s that story. In the spring of 1976, I asked the SF Fire Commission for permission to paint the whale mural on an old fire house. Meeting after meeting I was bounced off the agenda. A city attorney told me to get lost. I decided to paint it without permission over Labor Day weekend, figuring the city hall minions would be out of town on vacation. I bought 5 gallons of Sherwin Williams blue and 2 gallons of white. I rented a 30 foot ladder. My future wife Patt and roommate Frank Sweeney helped paint. The whole thing cost me under $200.
After I painted the whale, the SF city attorney told me I could be charged with an illegal addition to a municipal building.
The SF Examiner and Chronicle both covered the story of the dispute and called me a “‘guerrilla artist.” A TV reporter asked me, “Are you willing to go to jail for your whale?” I stuttered and hesitated for a bit before I said “Yes.” The reporter deftly edited out my hesitation, and added volume my “YES!” I sounded quite brave and was a neighborhood hero for a bit. The City of SF relented, dropped their threat of legal action, warning me never to touch any other city-owned walls or else.
The whale is long gone, but it warms my heart that it was part of the mod scooter scene a decade after I left San Francisco.
I’ve done a lot of painting in my lifetime, but none as large as the whale. I’m touched that something I made in 1976 is fondly remembered by the S.F. mods and scooterists. Thanks, Aaron. He wrote this week to say, “It hit me that we’re days away from what would be the whale’s 50th birthday!” Labor Day Weekend, 1976- Labor Day Weekend, 2026. 50 years swam right by. Vroom! Vroom!
Illustration Concentration 