Lands End – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

SurfHenge

Posted by Cindy on March 23, 2018

Mar 232018

Taraval and 48th Street
Sunset District

These sculptures designed by DPW landscape architect Martha Ketterer are part of the Taraval Streetscape Improvement Project. The design combines the lightness and fragility of surfboards or sails with monumental weight and verticality. The work was then adorned with tile work by Colette Crutcher suggestng the ceaseless dance of the ocean and its creatures.

Surfhenge is a nickname for Taraval Street.

The $1,600,000. Taraval Streetscape project is part of the revitalization of a neglected neighborhood at San Francisco’s western edge.

Martha Ketterer is a Landscape Architect for the Department of Public Works. She is a San Francisco native and has a degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design from UC Berkeley. She also designed these wonderful tree grates in The Mission District.

Colette Crutcher has been in this site many times before. She is a multi discipline artist. She began her career with painting and printmaking but now covers a variety of media.

Fire Pits on Ocean Beach

Posted by Cindy on October 14, 2013

Oct 142013

Ocean Beach There is only one beach in San Francisco where bonfires are allowed. In response to beachgoers’ concerns that beach fires were leaving unsafe debris on the beach, as well as concerns about smoke blowing into neighborhood homes, Golden Gate National Parks initiated a public process to consider the future of fires on Ocean Beach. Instead of banning fires, Golden Gate National Park joined several organizations in a creative partnership to install artistic fire rings on portions of the beach away from neighborhood homes. Those organizations, Surfrider Foundation, Burners Without Borders, Ocean Beach Foundation, and Golden Gate National Continue Reading

The Totem Pole at the Cliff House

Posted by Cindy on September 4, 2013

Sep 042013

Cliff House Land’s End According to the San Francisco Public Library there was a small news copy regarding the totem pole when it was installed. The publication date was not noted but it appears to be April 28th, 1949. Newscopy: “Chief Mathias Joe Capilano of the Squamish Indians of Western Canada, he carve ‘um 58-foot totem pole for George K. Whitney to plant in front of Cliff House. Heap big pole, one of biggest in world, it marks Western end of pioneers’ trek. Smart, him pioneer. Him not march on into broad Pacific.”. This is the photo that accompanied the article. Continue Reading

Elegant Stag Poses at Lands End Lookout

Posted by Cindy on July 23, 2013

Jul 232013

Lands End Lookout GGNRA 680 Point Lobos This stag sits in a small seating area at the front entrance to the new Lands End Lookout building. This is a copy of a statue that originally sat in the park across the street, Sutro Heights Park. The two lions that grace the entry to the park, as well as the entry to the lookout, and the history of that park can be found here. Sutro collected statues after traveling to Europe, to recreate a European garden around his home. He did not buy and ship home works of art from other Continue Reading

Sutro Heights Park

Posted by Cindy on March 19, 2013

Mar 192013

Point Lobos Avenue Land’s End Copy of the original lion that stood at the Sutro Heights entry gate. (Photo credit: UC Bancroft Library) Adolph Sutro (1830-1898) was one of San Francisco’s most beloved mayors and esteemed citizens. Originally from Prussia, he amassed millions in the Comstock Lode (Nevada Silver Rush of 1859) by designing and constructing ventilated mining shafts. By cashing out just before the silver ran out, he was able to purchase fully one-twelfth of San Francisco, including all the western dunes and a section of the sea shore called the Outside Lands. Sutro’s name is commonly associated with Continue Reading

The Beach Chalet

Posted by Cindy on March 5, 2013

Mar 052013

Designed by architect Willis Polk, the Beach Chalet has served as a gathering spot on Ocean Beach for most of its life. With its hipped roof and hand-made roof tiles, this Spanish Revival building survived a takeover by the US Army, the raucous residence of a biker bar and 15 years of abandonment. Today it houses two restaurants, offering visitors a variety of dining fare to accompany the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean (more on that later). The City of San Francisco built the Beach Chalet in 1925, at a cost of $60,000, to provide facilities for beach goers. The ground Continue Reading

San Francisco’s Holocaust Memorial

Posted by Cindy on July 24, 2012

Jul 242012

Land’s End Legion of Honor Holocaust Memorial by George Segal Time has taken its’ toll on this memorial. The hand on the man above was not to touch the wire as they were electrified. * * This memorial shows ten figures sprawled, recalling post-war photographs of the camps. Placement of this work was controversial. The choice to look over such a truly beautiful landscape recalling death in a rather graphic way was not acceptable to many. The artist however, insisted that the viewer might consider death while facing towards the monument and life while facing towards the Golden Gate. Segal’s Continue Reading

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

Posted by Cindy on July 13, 2012

Jul 132012

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

Lands End Legion of Honor * * Joan of Arc by Anna Huntington Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans” is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais, and burned at the stake when she was 19 years old. Anna Continue Reading

Roald Amundsen at the Beach Chalet

Posted by Cindy on July 7, 2012

Jul 072012

Land’s End Beach Chalet 1000 The Great Highway * This memorial sits in the parking lot of the Beach Chalet, it has been there since 1930. It marks where Amundsen’s ship, the Gjoa (pronounced “Joe”) was in dry-dock. It had been pulled ashore here in 1909, and placed on dry-dock display. Amundsen donated the ship and the Norweigan community took up a collection to display the ship in the park. Unfortunately, the ship had a rough time and had fallen into disrepair by the 1930s due to vandalism and the elements. The Gjoa Foundation was formed in 1940 to restore Continue Reading

Beach Chalet Murals Part III

Posted by Cindy on July 6, 2012

Jul 062012

Land’s End The Beach Chalet – Part III 1000 The Great Highway Lucien Labaudt’s Beach Chalet murals: John McLaren (G.G. Park Superintendent) in left foreground on bench, with Jack Spring (later General Manager of Parks and Rec Dept.) holding redwood tree’s root ball, while behind on horseback (upper right corner) sit sculptor Benny Bufano and Joseph Danysh, then head of California Federal Art Project. * Labaudt, following the precedent set by many of his era’s fellow artists to include other artists, depicts here Gottardo Piazzoni, a Swiss-Italian muralist who worked in San Francisco during the first two decades of the Continue Reading

Beach Chalet Murals – Part II

Posted by Cindy on July 5, 2012

Jul 052012

Land’s End The Beach Chalet Part II 1000 The Great Highway * * It was common for WPA muralists to place people they knew or people of note in their work. Here Lucien Labaudt inserts Arthur Brown Jr.. Brown was the Architect of City Hall (shown over his left shoulder) and architect of Coit Tower, where Labaudt worked as well. A few scenes from around San Francisco including Japantown.

Lands End – Kanrin Maru Monument

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2012

Jun 272012

Land’s End Legion of Honor * The plaque at this reads: This monument is erected to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese Naval Ship Kanrin Maru in San Francisco on 17 March, 1860. The Kanrin Maru crossed the Pacific at the same time as the U.S.S. Powhatan which brought the first Japanese Embassy to the United States. Presented to the City of San Francisco by its sister city Osaka as a token of sincere desire to further friendship and goodwill between the United States and Japan and as part of the program to mark the centennial celebration of the opening Continue Reading

Land’s End – Great Nature

Posted by Cindy on June 26, 2012

Jun 262012

Land’s End Legion of Honor The stone reads: We are grateful, as we stand facing this monument, for the infinite gifts of heaven and earth. We recognize once again the true fundamental of the human should that pursues the truth, implements the good, creates beauty, and renews his will to step forward. This way brings about peace in mind and on earth by mutual understanding, encouragement and help. It was in this spirit that this monument was built. April 1, 1984 In recognition of the continued quest for world peace by all people. Great Nature by Bundo Shunkai This piece Continue Reading

Lands End – USS San Francisco Memorial

Posted by Cindy on May 28, 2012

May 282012

Lands End 48th Avenue Parking Lot In 1942 the cruiser USS San Francisco attacked a vastly superior Japanese force off the coast of Guadalcanal. It was the most brutal close-quarters naval engagement of World War II. The San Francisco took some 45 direct hits and sustained heavy damage while sinking one Japanese ship and seriously damaging two others (including a battleship). One hundred and six sailors, including Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan, were killed and 131 more wounded. Despite it all, the San Francisco safely made it back to port. This savage battle is commemorated by an unusual memorial in Land’s Continue Reading

Land’s End – Lincoln Highway

Posted by Cindy on April 25, 2012

Apr 252012

Land’s End Legion of Honor The Lincoln Highway was one of the earliest transcontinental auto trails in the United States of America. Conceived and promoted by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1915, the “Colorado Loop” was removed, and in 1928, a realignment relocated the Lincoln Highway through the northern tip of West Virginia. Thus, there are a total of 14 states, Continue Reading

Land’s End – El Cid

Posted by Cindy on April 20, 2012

Apr 202012

Land’s End Palace of the Legion of Honor * El Cid by Anna Huntington This piece is part of the Collection of the Fine Arts Museum. It sits on the lawn in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – July 10, 1099), known as El Cid Campeador (“The lord-master of military arts”), was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat. Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under Yusuf Continue Reading

Lincoln Park – Pax Jerusalem

Posted by Cindy on April 15, 2012

Apr 152012

Lincoln Park Legion of Honor * * Pax Jerusalem by Mark di Suvero This piece sits on the sculpture pad in front of the Legion of Honor, one of our finer museums in San Francisco. It is by Mark di Suvero, who has been in this blog before. It was controversial the day it was installed. Many felt is was not representative of the quality people had come to expect from di Suvero, it also was a runner up, when the city lost out on a sculpture by di Suvero’s boyhood friend Richard Serra. Di Suvero and Richard Serra grew Continue Reading

Lands End – Labyrinth

Posted by Cindy on April 3, 2012

Apr 032012

Land’s End * * This labyrinth is at Land’s End in San Francisco, on the Coastal Trail. Created by Eduardo Aguilera in 2004, it is a hike to get to but well worth the trek. The easiest hike is to park at the Palace of the Legion of Honor and walk towards the ocean. You can also park at the 48th and Point Lobos parking lot above the Cliff House and walk towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Once you start walking you are heading towards Mile Rock Beach. There is a small sign at the top of the hill that Continue Reading

Lands End – Chinese Cemetery

Posted by Cindy on March 17, 2012

Mar 172012

Lincoln Park Golf Course Chinese Cemetery 1st and 13th Fairway * * * At the turn of the 20th century there were no municipal golf courses in San Francisco or, for that matter, in any of the surrounding communities. However by 1902 golf was fast gaining popularity, and many private golf and country clubs were starting. The general public, who did not have access or were unable to afford the country club setting for golfing recreation, began to press the City to set aside some public land to be groomed as a public golf course. In 1902 the parcel of Continue Reading

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