Viva Moscone
Instructor: Dermot Mac Cormack
MFA Project
Viva Moscone is a family history-inspired deck of cards celebrating the eclectic lives of the Moscone family. Each suit features a different branch of the family, including a group of vaudeville dancers, a world-champion pool player, an assassinated politician, and the original Italian Moscones. The deck also features digital content through augmented reality on certain cards.
Fontanarossa is a small town in northern Italy. The name Moscone translates to either “large fly” or "Bluebottle fly," suggesting that the Original Moscones worked on a vineyard, which are known for having flies.
The Dancing Mosconi Family was a group of vaudeville dancers from Philadelphia. Led by brothers Louie and Charles, they performed in the 20’s and 30’s in New York and London.
Willie Mosconi is considered to be one of the greatest pocket billiards players of all time. He won the World Straight Pool Championship an unmatched 15 times, and still holds the Straight Pool High Run World Record with 526 consecutive shots.
George Moscone was a former Mayor of San Francisco, who in 1978 was assassinated with his friend and colleague, Harvey Milk in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. Moscone was an early proponent for gay rights, and the Moscone-Milk assassinations and light sentencing of White prompted the White Night Riots.
