North Beach – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

North-Shore Pump Station Stained Glass

Posted by Cindy on August 4, 2018

Aug 042018

North Shore Pump Station
The intersection of Bay Street and Embarcadero

The stained glass window in the North Shore Pump Station was created by Narcissus Quagliata.

The piece was commissioned in 1980-81. According to the Arts Commission meeting minutes of July 12, 1982, the total cost for the commission of a 12-panel window was $6665.

Narcissus Quagliata has been on this site before.

He was born in Rome, Italy in 1942 where he studied painting with Giorgio De Chirico. Narcissus moved to the United States in 1962 and studied at the San Francisco Art Institute receiving both a Bachelors and a Masters degree.

Quagliata’s main residence is in Mexico, but he also works in the United States and Europe.

The glass is difficult to see from the outside of the building, and the building does not have public access.

Nuotatori

Posted by Cindy on June 21, 2018

Jun 212018

North Beach Pool 661 Lombard Street This piece, by Vicki Saulls, is an actual cast of 23 residents of North Beach shown in their swim gear. Ms. Saulls also created Locus, a second piece of art that can be found at this North Beach pool. Vicki Saulls was born in Idaho and raised in the northwest, Georgia, and California. Saulls graduated with a degree in Art from University of California at Santa Cruz. Vicki embarked on a career as a museum modelmaker and sculptor for natural history museums, aquariums, and parks, at such venues as Monterey Bay Aquarium, Yosemite National Continue Reading

Guglielmo Marconi Memorial

Posted by Cindy on October 31, 2013

Oct 312013

Lombard Avenue On the drive up to Coit Tower North Beach This memorial to Guglielmo Marconi was placed sometime in 1938-1939. A group called the Marconi Memorial Foundation incorporated in the 1930s for the purpose of enshrining Marconi as the inventor of the wireless (a fact contested by the Russians). They placed two memorials one on the slopes of San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill and one at 16th and Lamont Streets in Washington D.C.. The Foundation collected public subscriptions from the supportive Italian-American community in North Beach, and on April 13, 1938, received permission from the U.S. Congress and President Continue Reading

Frank Marini

Posted by Cindy on August 31, 2013

Aug 312013

Marini Plaza North Beach Frank Marini (1862-1952) is mentioned often in Alessandro Baccari’s book, “Saints Peter and Paul: ‘The Italian Cathedral’ of the West, 1884-1984.” Marini was a major civic benefactor, participating in the work of the Salesian groups at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. He was a sponsor of the boys’ club, to help troubled immigrant boys who had little English speaking ability, education or guidance. He was a fundraiser to pay off the debt for building the church and Salesian school. He gave the money to build a gymnasium at St. Francis Church, on Vallejo Street, Continue Reading

The Bridge between North Beach and Chinatown

Posted by Cindy on August 5, 2013

Aug 052013

The Bridge between North Beach and Chinatown

Grant Avenue and Jack Kerouac Alley Chinatown/North Beach This community mural is on the corner of Jack Kerouac Alley and Grant Street. Titled The Bridge, the lead painter was Robert Minervini along with over a dozen local youth from Chinatown. It was sponsored by the Chinatown Community Development Center and the Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Empowerment Project with funds from the City of San Francisco Community Challenge Grant. Robert Minervini is a painter who creates invented spaces based on, but slightly askew from reality. He draws from notions of utopia and the sublime. His works utilize traditional motifs of still life and Continue Reading

A Gothic Revival Gem

Posted by Cindy on May 3, 2013

May 032013

St. Francis of Assisi Church 624 Vallejo Street North Beach This was the first parish church in San Francisco after Mission Dolores. The cornerstone of the present building was laid in December, 1857, and the church was dedicated in 1860. This twin towered Victorian Gothic Revival church, in the heart of North Beach, was gutted by the fire of 1906. It was rebuilt in 1913. The walls and the two towers survived the fire, so the church we see today is almost identical to the original that was built in the 1850’s. The original architect was Charles J. Devlin. The Thomas Continue Reading

The Sentinel a Flat Iron Building that Makes its Mark

Posted by Cindy on March 30, 2013

Mar 302013

The Sentinel a Flat Iron Building that Makes its Mark

916 Geary North Beach The Sentinel Building, also known as Columbus Tower, sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street. The building is a classic Beaux-Arts flatiron. Flatiron buildings were structures built primarily between 1880 and 1926. Most flatirons were built in either the Beaux-Arts or Renaissance Revival architectural style that was popular at the time. These types of buildings are called flatirons because they are shaped like a flat clothes iron. This design is necessary for the trapezoid or triangular-shaped lots that are commonly found in 19th-and-20th century city grids. These odd-shaped lots appeared when Continue Reading

Fire, Air, Earth and Water

Posted by Cindy on October 18, 2012

Oct 182012

Helen Willis Park Broadway and Larkin These columns, titled Fire, Air, Earth and Water were done in 2004 by San Francisco resident, Amy Blackstone. Amy has several pieces around the Bay Area. Excerpt from a March 6, 2004 SF Chronicle piece about Amy Blackstone: “I love gardens. To me, especially in an urban setting, a garden is kind of magical and the gateway is kind of a trumpet announcement.” Gates are one of Blackstone’s specialties. These pieces are made with steel, fiberglass and patina. The pipes were donated by Naylor Pipe Company. They were commissioned by the SFAC for Continue Reading

Washington Square – Fireman’s Memorial

Posted by Cindy on June 28, 2012

Jun 282012

North Beach Washington Square Firemen Memorial by Haig Patigian * To Commemorate the Volunteer Fire Department of San Francisco 1819-1866 Erected 1933 By Bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit. This sculpture by Haig Patigian was erected with funds left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an honorary member of Knickerbocker Volunteer Fire Company No. 5, and was originally meant for Coit Tower. The geodetic survey marker, dating from 1869, was placed there by Dr. George Davidson, for whom Mount Davison was named. In 1937, the latitude and longitude of Washington Square were carved onto the monument. Three firemen grouped on a circular base, are standing, Continue Reading

North Beach – Ben Franklin

Posted by Cindy on May 9, 2012

May 092012

North Beach Washington Square * Time Capsule 1979-2979 AD Dedicated to The Citzens of San Francisco Cal Seltzer * * Benjamin Franklin – Artist – unknown This statue of Benjamin Franklin is the earliest – still existing – monument placed in San Francisco. It was originally located at Kearny and Market, but was moved to its present location in 1904. The statue is cast iron and sits atop a granite pedestal. The statue was donated to the city by Henry Cogswell, a dentist whose investments in stocks and real estate during the gold rush made him one of the city’s Continue Reading

North Beach – Art at the corner of Broadway, Grant and Columbus

Posted by Cindy on November 9, 2011

Nov 092011

North Beach - Art at the corner of Broadway, Grant and Columbus

North Beach Bill Weber is the muralist on this project, and according to his website he is an established Bay Area muralist and painter and has been creating murals nationwide since 1974. His style ranges from surreal to Trompe l’Oeil, whimsical to realistic and can be adapted to any project requirements. Language of the Birds by Brian Goggins Brian has written so eloquently about his project that I am just going to quote directly from his blog. Historically “The Language of the Birds” was considered a divine language birds used to communicate with the initiated. Here, a flock of books Continue Reading

North Beach- Marini Plaza

Posted by Cindy on November 7, 2011

Nov 072011

North Beach Marini Plaza These are the bears of Marini Plaza at Powell Street. It once was a lone corner of Washington Park. Frank Marini (1862-1952) is mentioned often in Alessandro Baccari’s book, “Saints Peter and Paul: ‘The Italian Cathedral’ of the West, 1884-1984.” Marini was a major civic benefactor, participating in the work of the Salesian groups at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. He was a sponsor of the boys’ club, to help troubled immigrant boys who had little English speaking ability, education or guidance. He was a fundraiser to pay off the debt for building Continue Reading

North Beach Swimming Pool

Posted by Cindy on September 21, 2011

Sep 212011

North Beach Swimming Pool and Clubhouse Lombard and Mason Streets Artist Vicki Saulls was selected for this site-specific commission through the Arts Commission’s Public Art Program which, by city ordinance, allocates 2% of the construction cost of civic buildings, new parks, and other capital projects for public art. This is the entry door to the North Beach Clubhouse. “Locus” is a sliding sculptural door on the eastern side of the clubhouse adjoining the pool building. The surface of the metallic gray door depicts a stylized topographical map of the North Beach neighborhood. Although no locations are identified on the map, Continue Reading

The Sentinel Building in North Beach

Posted by Cindy on August 25, 2011

Aug 252011

North Beach Sentinel Building The Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, or to most as Zoetrope sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street. It is a flatiron building with a distinctive copper-green exterior. Designed by Salfield and Kohlberg the building is clad in white tile and copper. Construction was begun before the 1906 earthquake and fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907. The top floor initially housed the real estate offices of the notorious Abe Ruef, a local political figure who spent time in San Quentin Continue Reading

North Beach Parking Garage

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2011

Aug 242011

North Beach – San Francisco It is hard to believe that a website dedicated to art is going to talk about a parking garage, but that is what makes this job so fun. This is the North Beach Garage at 735 Vallejo Street. The work was commissioned by the SF Arts Council in collaboration with the Department of Parking and Traffic under the guise of our two percent law, requiring two percent of the construction budget of a new public building have an art enrichment allocation. Two local artists featured the faces of the Chinatown/North Beach community people Continue Reading

Banksy in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2011

Aug 172011

Banksy in San Francisco SOMA 8th Street between Folsom and Harrison Quoting from wikipedia “Banksy is a pseudonymous England based graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.” ” Banksy’s first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released in the Continue Reading

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