Wall Art #1012 on Mission

 Posted by on March 12, 2019
Mar 122019
 

1400 Mission Street

 

Wall Drawing #1012 by Sol Lewitt

Wall Drawing #1012 by Sol LeWitt

This artwork is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program.

The piece covers the façade at the corner of 10th Street and Jessie Street and is the height of the ground story, and spans approximately 66 linear feet of the facade along 10th Street and 27 linear feet along Jessie Street. The original wall drawing was created in 2002 and was originally installed in a private residence in Los Angeles. The drawing was applied directly to a plaster substrate, transported, and installed on site.

The installation is a rather complicated process done by a team of artists led by  Takeshi Arita.  LeWitt rarely did his own installations. When you purchased a pice from LeWitt you would receive a very detailed set of plans on how to paint or install the piece.  LeWitt designed his wall drawings with the intention that trained artists would follow his detailed plans to install the work.

Wall Drawing #1012

Sol LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism.

LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and “structures” (a term he preferred instead of “sculptures”) but was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, installation, and artist’s books.

LeWitt was born in Hartford, Connecticut to a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia. His mother took him to art classes at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. After receiving a BFA from Syracuse University in 1949, LeWitt served in the Korean War, first in California, then Japan, and finally Korea. LeWitt moved to New York City in 1953 and set up a studio on the Lower East Side.

In 1968, LeWitt began to conceive sets of guidelines or simple diagrams for his two-dimensional works drawn directly on the wall, executed first in graphite, then in crayon, later in colored pencil and finally in chromatically rich washes of India ink, bright acrylic paint, and other materials.

Wall Drawing #1012 Sol LeWitt

The work sits on a 190-unit below market rate housing complex for homebuyers earning 100% or less of the area median income.

For an explanation of the installation take a look at this YouTube video.

Jul 192018
 
Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars

Mission Police Station 630 Valencia Street Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars is the creation of artist Gary Dwyer. Installed in 1984, Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars sits in the lobby of the police department.  Dwyer created this sculptural installation based on a legend of the Ohlone Indian tribes which originally inhabited the area. The legend refers to the cluster of stars called the Pleiades. Stone furniture in the lobby is arranged in the pattern of the Pleiades. Framed panels feature imaginary legends about the Pleiades as told by the area’s diverse residents. Gary Dwyer taught Landscape Continue Reading

Birds in the Mission

 Posted by on July 8, 2017
Jul 082017
 
Birds in the Mission

In Chan Kaajal Park 17th and Folsom Mission District There are two California birds represented in this Mission district park.  They are painted water-jet cut steel panels created by Carmen Lomas Garza. San Francisco-based artist was born in 1948 in Kingsville, Texas. She attended Texas Arts and Industry University (now Texas A&M) and received a BS in art education.  She also holds a Master of Education and a Master of Arts degree. She is well known for her paintings, ofrendas and for her papel picado work inspired by her Mexican-American heritage. Her work is a part of the permanent collections of the Continue Reading

Woodward Garden

 Posted by on February 4, 2017
Feb 042017
 
Woodward Garden

Woodward Gardens Duboce and Woodward Street Mission/South of Market On January 19, 1873, 12,000 people showed up at Woodward’s Garden in the Mission District to watch Frenchman Gus Buislay and a small boy soar aloft in a hot air balloon. The man who made it happen was Robert B. Woodward. Woodward had made his fortune in the grocery store business. In 1849, he opened a store right off the waterfront to serve the ever-increasing number of people flooding into the Port of San Francisco for the Gold Rush. With the acumen of a savvy businessman, he realized the ’49er economy Continue Reading

Aplique da Parete

 Posted by on November 16, 2015
Nov 162015
 
Aplique da Parete

535 Mission Aplique da Parete – Gordon Huether – 2014 This piece is a pattern of dichroic and mirrored glass mounted to a stone backing.  The piece extends through the lobby to the exterior. This and The Band are intended to enliven Shaw Alley.  Shaw Alley is a public right-of-way that has been closed to cars and is expected to function as a pedestrian linkage to SF’s Trans Bay Terminal when it is completed. This is what the piece looks like in reality during the daytime, the first picture is the architects rendering. Huether has two other glass based pieces in Continue Reading

Jaques Overhoff and Margaret Mead

 Posted by on September 14, 2015
Sep 142015
 
Jaques Overhoff and Margaret Mead

150 Otis Street Mission/South of Market   This sculpture, by Jaques Overhoff, has sat on the side of 170 Otis Street, The Social Services Building, since 1977. The abstract sculpture is accompanied by a poem by Margaret Mead. At this time I am unable to determine whether or not this is part of Overhoff’s intent or a separate art piece all together. Jaques Overhoff, who has been in this site many times before was born in the Netherlands.  He attended the Graphics School of Design at the School of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, and the University of Oregon.  He moved Continue Reading

Handsignals

 Posted by on August 17, 2015
Aug 172015
 
Handsignals

McCoppin Plaza Market Street and Valencia Titled Handsignals, this piece sits in a small park made available after the tearing down of the Central Freeway that once bi-sected the area.  The McCoppin Hub Project was a joint project between SFMTA, SFAC and SFDPW. For this reason it was impossible for me to garner from the hundreds of meeting minutes that I read, exactly what this piece cost the taxpayers of San Francisco. Originally proposed by Rebar the final product was created by MoreLab. Handsignals refers to the formal qualities of the numerous theater signs prevalent in the Mission District, and repurposes that Continue Reading

Abstract Sculpture in BART

 Posted by on December 2, 2014
Dec 022014
 
Abstract Sculpture in BART

16th and Mission 24th and Mission Bart Stations Mission District These abstract, cast stone, pieces can be found in both the 16th and Mission and 24th and Mission BART stations. The works are by William George Mitchell.  Mitchell (born 1925) is an English sculptor, artist and designer. He is best known for his large scale concrete murals and public works of art from the 1960s and 1970s. His work is often of an abstract or stylised nature with its roots in the traditions of craft and “buildability”.  He studied at the Royal College of Art in London. After long years Continue Reading

Mission Branch Library and Leo Lentelli

 Posted by on November 25, 2014
Nov 252014
 
Mission Branch Library and Leo Lentelli

Mission Branch Library 24th Between Bartlett and Orange Alley Mission District Leo Lentelli was one of San Francisco’s more prolific and well known sculptors during his time.  Sadly very little of his work survives inside of the city. There is a beautiful piece at  the Hunter Dunlin building downtown, and this sculpture over the original entry door on 24th Street of the Mission Branch Library. Lentelli, an immigrant from Italy spent 1914-1918 in San Francisco.  During that time he did a series of equestrian statues that were part of the Court of the Universe and his sculptures of Water Sprites for the Continue Reading

Engine Company #13

 Posted by on November 14, 2013
Nov 142013
 
Engine Company #13

1458 Valencia Street Mission Built in 1883, this is the City’s oldest standing firehouse.  In the heart of the Mission District, this rare brick firehouse in the Victorian Italianate style has a front surface made entirely of cast iron detail.  Such buildings are very rare in San Francisco with most clustered in the Jackson Square area. On the conversion from horse drawn to motorized apparatus, the company was assigned a 1916 American LaFrance Type 12 Chemical and Hose Car with a 35 gallon chemical tank with a 6 cylinder 100 HP engine. Engine Co. No. 13 remained assigned here until Continue Reading

Mission Dolores Mosaic

 Posted by on August 17, 2013
Aug 172013
 
Mission Dolores Mosaic

Mission Dolores 16th and Dolores The Mission District This mural is in the hallway between the Mission and the Basilica. The brass plaque that accompanies it reads: Guillermo Granizo 1923-1996 This ceramic mural is the work of Guillermo Granizo a native San Francisco Artist.  Shortly after Guillermo’s birth in 1923 the Granizo Family moved to Nicaragua for a period of eleven years.  The family then returned to San Francisco.  Extensive travel and research in Mexico and Central America in 1958 has provided flavor of many of his works. This mural depicts the arrival of the San Carlos in San Francisco Continue Reading

Tekakwitha Lily of the Mohawk

 Posted by on August 16, 2013
Aug 162013
 
Tekakwitha Lily of the Mohawk

Mission Dolores Cemetery 16th and Mission The Mission District Saint Kateri Tekakwitha  baptised as Catherine Tekakwitha and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Roman Catholic saint, who was an Algonquin–Mohawk virgin and religious laywoman. Born in Auriesville (now part of New York), she survived smallpox and was orphaned as a child, then baptized as a Roman Catholic and settled for the last years of her life at the Jesuit mission village ofKahnawake, south of Montreal in New France, now Canada. Tekakwitha professed a vow of virginity until her death at the age of 24. Known for her virtue of chastity and corporal mortification of the flesh, as well as beingshunned by her tribe for her religious conversion to Catholicism, she is the fourth Native American to Continue Reading

Father Junipero Serra

 Posted by on August 14, 2013
Aug 142013
 
Father Junipero Serra

Mission Dolores 16th and Dolores The Mission District This sculpture, found inside the cemetery is by Arthur Putnam.  The cast stone sculpture is one of a series of allegorical figures originally commissioned to depict the history of California for the estate of E. W. Scripps. This cast was funded by D. J. McQuarry at the cost of $500. It was placed at Mission Dolores in 1918 when the Mission was remodeled. Arthur Putnam (September 6, 1873–1930) was an American sculptor who was recognized for his bronze sculptures of wild animals. His bats grace the First National Bank and his other animals can be found on the Continue Reading

Mission Dolores Cemetery

 Posted by on August 13, 2013
Aug 132013
 
Mission Dolores Cemetery

16th and Dolores The Mission District Mission Dolores is one of my favorite places in all of San Francisco.  I try to visit at least once every two months or so.  The history of the mission is well know to every Californian (we are required to study them in the 2nd grade), so I will not go into that.  Wikipedia most likely has a wonderful dissertation if you are so inclined.  My favorite part of the mission is the cemetery.  When I first started going, many, many years ago, the cemetery was in very sad shape.  Over the years a Continue Reading

Herakut #7

 Posted by on June 17, 2013
Jun 172013
 
Herakut #7

McCoppin Between Gough and Valencia Mission / SOMA This mura, by Herakut is on the walls of the Flax Art Store on Market Street.  Herakut has been in this website before with a piece in the Tenderloin. According to Flax’s website: In 2004 Herakut came together, finding a magic synthesis between the artistic skills and specialties of Hera’s broad, quick strokes and Akut’s photorealistic detail that has become an internationally recognized style. Their latest concept is the The Giant Storybook Project, which chronicles the creation of a new children’s book that Herakut is developing in collaboration with actor Jim Carrey. Launched in September 2012 Continue Reading

Open Book at the Library

 Posted by on March 27, 2013
Mar 272013
 
Open Book at the Library

960 4th Street Mission Bay This piece, by Vince Koloski, is in the Mission Bay Branch Library. The artwork is an illuminated book sculpture with quotes about reading and text from a variety of ancient and contemporary cultures. Vince Koloski was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1953. In 1977 he attended New College in Sarasota, Florida and graduated with a dual B.A. in Sculpture and Poetry. Koloski returned to Minneapolis to refine his craft as a neon sculptor and skilled neon glassblower. He spent two years as a neon instructor in the Extension Division of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Continue Reading

Precita Eyes covers McDonald’s in Paint

 Posted by on March 25, 2013
Mar 252013
 
Precita Eyes covers McDonald's in Paint

2801 Mission Street Mission District This mural, titled Culture of the Crossroads, was done in 1998 by Precita Eyes.  It covers the 24th Street side of the McDonalds Restaurant. * * * * * Precita Eyes  is a multipurpose community based arts organization that has played an integral role in the city’s cultural heritage and arts education. One of only three community mural centers in the United States, the organization sponsors and implements ongoing mural projects throughout the Bay Area and internationally. In addition, it has a direct impact on arts education in the San Francisco Mission District by offering four weekly Continue Reading

The Tanforan Cottages

 Posted by on March 21, 2013
Mar 212013
 
The Tanforan Cottages

214-220 Dolores Mission District Not far from Mission Dolores are a pair of homes considered to be the oldest in the Mission District and among some of the oldest in San Francisco: 214 and 220 Dolores Street. The Mission District, originally Mission San Francisco de Asis, was the sixteenth in a chain of  twenty missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. Mission San Francisco de Asis is affectionately called Mission Dolores after the lagoon the mission was first built on in 1776. At that time California was a part of Spain. In 1821 Mexico achieved independence from Spain and annexed California.  One Continue Reading

Carnaval on 24th

 Posted by on March 4, 2013
Mar 042013
 
Carnaval on 24th

3195 24th Street The Mission This badly faded mural is titled Carnaval and was done in 1983.  The artist was Daniel Galves with help from Dan Fontes, James Morgan, Jay Shield and Keith Sklar. Daniel Galvez is an Oakland-based muralist.  He studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland (BFA in painting in 1975) and San Francisco State University (MFA in 1979). Galvez has done murals through out the United States. On December 14, 2011 Christy Khoshaba, writer for a wonderful local ezine called Mission Local ran an article about this mural – here it is in its Continue Reading

Zio Ziegler Paints the Mission

 Posted by on February 25, 2013
Feb 252013
 
Zio Ziegler Paints the Mission

Bartlett and 24th Mission and Sycamore * * Zio Ziegler has several murals around San Francisco. According to his website:  For me painting is balance. Within this balance there is consciousness, instinct and distraction. My work is a constant fusion of all three. Torn between the classical and the contemporary in my inspirations, but constantly reminded of the paradigm shift towards the digital age around us, my paintings walk a fine line of voyeurism and awareness both is process and perception. The paintings have organic growth cycles of their own, but the inexplicable instinct of a paintings necessity for completion Continue Reading

The Movie Palaces of Mission Street

 Posted by on February 23, 2013
Feb 232013
 
The Movie Palaces of Mission Street

The Mission District Before Netflix, streaming videos and television, most people got their entertainment at a vaudeville/movie theater. These “palaces” were places to see and be seen. The Mission district was the home to at least five theaters whose marquees still can be seen amongst the graffiti and signage that marks the street. Of these theaters, the El Capitan Theater was the crown jewel. Opened on June 29, 1928, it seated 2578 patrons. The El Capitan was designed by famed theater designer Gustave Albert Lansburgh. Lansburgh was the principal architect of theaters all along the west coast from 1900 to 1930. Continue Reading

CCSF Mission Campus

 Posted by on January 29, 2013
Jan 292013
 
CCSF Mission Campus

1125 Valencia Mission District Said to be the biggest Tonalmachiotl in the world, this version of the Aztec Calendar sits at the entry way to the City College of San Francisco Mission Campus. Tonalmachiotl is called the Aztec Calendar, the Sunstone or Piedra del Sol. Scholars believe that pre-conquest Mesoamerican cultures conceived of time as circular…. [Mesoamericans] therefore thought they could predict the future by recording events from the past. Using their calendric system and mathematics, they could look both back in time to when they believed the world began, and infinitely forward. This colorful 27-foot Aztec Calendar hovering over the Continue Reading

Mission Pool and Playground Mural

 Posted by on January 28, 2013
Jan 282013
 
Mission Pool and Playground Mural

Mission District Linda Street off of 19th * * This mural was done by Emmanuel C. Montoya, Sue Cervantes and Juana Alicia.  It sits on the side of the Mission Pool and Playground which houses the New World Tree Mural. These three artists were joined by Raul Martinez and others to create the mural in the playground in 1985. It is titled Balance of Power. On the day of the inauguration of the World Tree Mural, a neighborhood organizer got Diane Feinstein, then San Francisco mayor, on tape, promising to fund murals for the neighborhood if it respected the walls and Continue Reading

Nico Berry on York Street

 Posted by on January 22, 2013
Jan 222013
 
Nico Berry on York Street

1354 York Street Mission/Potrero This mural is part of the San Francisco StreetSmARTS program and was done by Nico Berry. Nico Berry’s cultural perspective is shaped by his encounters with hip-hop, skateboarding, and urban youth culture while growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Over the years he has also become interested in exploring the role of culture, community, class, and religion, especially in the context of urban life. Aesthetically, Nico’s prolific experience in graphic design is extremely evident. Lettering, patterns, and the appropriation of pop and religious symbolism dominate his work. The media he works with include spray-paint, Continue Reading

Shapes and Letters

 Posted by on January 21, 2013
Jan 212013
 
Shapes and Letters

751 and 780 Valencia at 19th The Mission This mural, consisting of shapes, numbers and letters, is by 24 year old SF resident, Jonathan Matas. In 2012 Jonathan did an interview with a group in Atlanta while participating in a show called Living Walls. Here is a few interesting excerpts from the article: I have been painting all my life. Like all kids, I made art, but I kept on going, nonstop. It has always been my passion. The only time in my life that I stopped was last year for about six months, that was an excellent break and I came back Continue Reading

Where the Wild Things Gnar

 Posted by on January 14, 2013
Jan 142013
 
Where the Wild Things Gnar

20th and Mission The Mission This mural by Nosego is titled “Where the Wild Things Gnar”. Yis “Nosego” Goodwin is a Philadelphia-based artist with a passion for illustration and media arts.  He mixes fine art with a contemporary style to deliver highly energetic work. His designs feature an assemblage of patterns, vibrant colors and characters derived from his imagination and his surrounding environment.​   The South Philly native started honing his talent as child, taking classes at Fleisher Art Memorial and attending the High School of Creative and Performing Arts. His fine-art training is detectable in almost all of his paintings—whether Continue Reading

Kinetic Sculpture in Dolores Park

 Posted by on January 10, 2013
Jan 102013
 
Kinetic Sculpture in Dolores Park

Mission Dolores Park The Mission District Mission Dolores underwent a $17+ million, much-needed and beautiful transformation in 2011 and 2012.  Part of the renovation was this kinetic sculpture. The sculpture, by Lymon Whitaker is 23 feet tall. Lyman has been a practicing sculptor for over 40 years, with a unique knowledge of materials and their application. The past 19 years have primarily been focused on creating Wind Sculptures, which are all produced by hand. The Wind Sculptures are innovative and artistic with a high degree of mechanical integrity. Lyman feels that by placing the sculptures in settings dependent on natural Continue Reading

April Berger paints the Mission

 Posted by on December 27, 2012
Dec 272012
 
April Berger paints the Mission

3300 Block of 18th Mission District *   April Berger is an artist who has been living and creating art in San Francisco for thirty years. Her work is primarily non-figurative, which allows the viewer to have an immediate response to the color, texture, pattern, and forms that they are seeing. Her love of color has been the main focus of her works of art. “Color is an extremely powerful tool. Its impact is strong and far reaching. It promotes health, well being, vitality and peace.” One of Ms. Berger’s goals is to have her rich color palettes beautify walls Continue Reading

Bufano in Valencia Gardens

 Posted by on December 20, 2012
Dec 202012
 
Bufano in Valencia Gardens

Valencia Gardens Housing Project Corner of Maxwell Court and Rosa Parks Way These animal sculptures at Valencia Gardens were sculpted by Beniamino (Benny) Bufano. They were done in the 1930s for the Work Progress Administration Project at Aquatic Park.  In the 1940s, when the federal government pulled out of  San Francisco the sculptures were given to the City of San Francisco and became the charge of the San Francisco Art Commission. There are two other sculptures that were part of this grouping.  The Frog and The Seal are still at Aquatic Park. * * * * * * This collection of statuary is by Continue Reading

The Coast Miwok and California History

 Posted by on December 13, 2012
Dec 132012
 
The Coast Miwok and California History

350 16th Street and Albion Mission District * * * The Coast Miwok “We lived in harmony with the planet for thousands of years. We respected the earth and were thankful fo all the gifts it gave us With the invasion of the outsiders our lives were shattered. We were imprisoned, forced into slave labor and punished for following our beliefs. The California Rancheria Act of 1958 was the final blow in a long series of government actions designed to kill us off and gain control of our land. Over the next 40 years we found the strength to organize Continue Reading

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