Search Results : wareham

William Wareham at SFSU

 Posted by on September 26, 2012
Sep 262012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Buckeye and the Benches by William Wareham
In front of the Gymnasium

Buckeye is an abstract modern sculpture.To enhance its functionality,Wareham was commissioned to build three benches consistent to the central piece. Throughout his distinguished career as a sculptor, William Wareham has remained true to his inner spirit, capturing viewer’s consciousness through his powerful abstract works. A compatriot of Mark di Suvero, Wareham creates works with a strong common thread, using recycled steel as his primary material. Featured in many strong National collections, William Wareham achieves some of the most consistently accomplished compositions in contemporary sculpture.

His impressive education includes:

1971 MFA University of California, Berkeley, CA
1969 MA University of California, Berkeley, CA
1964 BFA Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1964-67 Peace Corps, Cuzco, Peru
1963 Yale university, Award Scholarship, Summer Program of Music and Art, Norfolk, CT
1962 University of the Americas, Mexico City, Mexico

 

William Wareham at SF City College

 Posted by on June 14, 2011
Jun 142011
 

San Francisco City College
Ocean Avenue Campus

 This piece at City College San Francisco, Ocean campus, is titled “Wyoming Coup” by William Wareham.  It was installed in 1972 on the West Lawn of the Science Building.
William Wareham graduated with an  MA and MFA from UC Berkeley in 1971, he did his undergraduate at the Philadelphia College of Art. He has always had a strong metal theme in his work.
Since his stint as the first Artist in Residence at the Norcal Solid Waste Systems facility in 1990, where he set up the studio and wrote the safety manual, Wareham has been using recycled steel as the primary source for his sculpture, but he goes far beyond what most artists do with recycled materials these days. It is the “pre-used history that the material inherently holds”, he says, that inspires him. “These worn-out metal things will continue to have a life by gathering, refocusing and rejoining into a collective other life”.   He is extremely prolific, that can be seen at the website of a gallery that reps his work.

A Start to the Blue Greenway Art Trail

 Posted by on February 27, 2013
Feb 272013
 

Arelious Walker and Innis Street               originally at Cargo at Third Street
Bayview/Hunters Point

The refurbished piece

Red Fish by William Wareham on 3rd Street at Cargo

The original location for Willam Wareham’s Red Fish

This piece is titled Red Fish by William Wareham.  Wareham has several pieces around San Francisco.

The piece was installed as part of San Francisco’s Blue Greenway project.  The Blue Greenway is the City of San Francisco’s Port project to improve the City’s southerly portion of the 500 mile, 9-county, region-wide Bay Trail, as well as the newly established Bay Area Water Trail and associated waterfront open space system.

The alignment of the Blue Greenway generally follows the alignment of the Bay Trail and Bay Area Water Trail from Mission Creek on the north to the County line on the south.

Another component of the Blue Greenway is an Art Trail along the southern waterfront.  The ultimate goal is to establish 8 -10 permanent sites that showcase temporary installation art and the work of local artists.

Red Fish by William Wareham

I found this fun little blurb in a press release from William Wareham:

“On my studio wall is a small sign (the lettering disappearing from age) that says: “Do not be afraid!” Perhaps intended as a morale booster to those WWII sailors going off to war from this shipyard: it now acts as an aesthetic reminder to pursue the creative act with vigor. But what is that? Is it to take three-dimensional form to where it has not been before or mine the turf that others have excavated in the belief of finding new harmonies? Whichever path, to activate space with steel is a challenge. I try to resolve this with both knowledge and intuition asking myself constantly; “Is this solution too predictable?” I rework and change the forms to get a more dynamic relationship, interesting intervals, tension in the negative volumes or contrasting scale; all with the purpose of bringing a great sense of visual delight to our lives.”

Red Fish was installed in 2006 and did not age well.  Red is a difficult color to keep vibrant in any environment, but the rest of the piece is not doing well either.

The San Francisco Art Commission has said that the piece will remain in this location for five years with an option to renew.

Walker is a part of the Hunters Point Neighborhood and worked closely with the Bayview Historic Society, who raised the money for the refurbishment,  to keep the piece in the Bayview Hunters Point area.

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