SF General Hospital – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Nature of Medicine

Posted by Cindy on September 9, 2017

Sep 092017

San Francisco General Hospital
1001 Potrero Avenue
Potrero Hill
Main Lobby of the New Wing

Image by Arla Escontrias for SFGHF

When you enter the lobby of the new wing you are overwhelmed by color. The two glass mosaics and the terrazzo floor are all done by Oakland artist, Rupert Garcia, done in 2015 they are titled Nature of Medicine.

The floor art piece measures 88 feet by 52 feet. The mosaic mural above the reception desk is 190 inches by 359-1/2 inches and the mural above the stairs measures 252-7/8 inches by 305 inches

Tile mosaic in the stairwell leading to the second floor

Rupert García, born in French Camp, California, is a Chicano artist who works in poster paint, oils and pastels. He studied painting and received numerous student honors from Stockton Junior College and San Francisco State University (SFSU), where he was influenced by Photo Realism.

Rupert Garcia has a piece at the San Francisco International airport that you can read about here.

This installation was part of a $7million budget and is the responsibility of the San Francisco Art Commission.

Archipelago

Posted by Cindy on August 11, 2017

Aug 112017

San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Potrero Hill Titled Archipelago this piece is based on the concept of a river as a metaphor for life. It was created by Anna Valentina Murch and sits in the plaza connecting the old and new buildings of the hospital complex. An important feature of the installation is a 6’-tall oval-shaped stainless steel banded sculpture, which is internally illuminated at night to serve as a symbolic beacon. Additionally, a series of basket-like, stainless steel banded sculptural seating elements surround planters and companion carved granite benches. Murch was born in Scotland and grew up in Continue Reading

Breath Between Sky and Ocean

Posted by Cindy on August 9, 2017

Aug 092017

San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Potrero Hill Roof Garden of the Acute Care Building 7th Floor Breath Between Sky and Ocean by Masayuki Nagase was created in 2015 and consists of two hand-carved granite boulders (4 ft. by 4 ft. by 4 ft.), five polished and carved granite benches (5 ft. by 6 ft. by 18 in. each) and eight polished and carved pavers. The artist’s design depicts a series of ripples carved into the boulders to express themes of water and wind, and the design on the stone pavers has polished surfaces and carved cloud-like forms. Masayuki Continue Reading

River of Time

Posted by Cindy on August 8, 2017

Aug 082017

San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Potrero Hill Acute Care Building 7th Floor This piece, titled River of Time, is in three pieces. The above piece is at the end of a short hallway on the 7th floor. The other two, however, are behind locked doors. I was able to snap a photo of the others when the doors were opened by a staff member. River of Time consists of a curved glass wall 98-2/8 inches by 97-3/8 inches and the two glass light-well walls in a corridor that measure 93-5/8 inches by 246 inches. All are stained glass Continue Reading

Ethereal Bodies

Posted by Cindy on July 15, 2017

Jul 152017

San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Potrero Hill Parking entry on 22nd Street Titled Ethereal Bodies, this piece, done in 2015, is by Cliff Garten. It consists of nine undulating stainless steel sculptures lit by multicolored LED lights. The installation’s stainless steel rods range in height from 14 to 22 feet tall. The surface of each is finely worked to achieve the most interesting interaction with sunlight and the LED lights at night. Garten received a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Landscape Architecture with Distinction from the Continue Reading

Healing Hearts

Posted by Cindy on July 15, 2017

Jul 152017

San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Potrero Hill The pieces were all created by sculptor Tom Otterness who was born 1952 in Wichita, Kansas. He is a prolific public art sculptor who has been creating whimsical satirical pieces since the 1970s. * Otterness employs the “lost wax” process to cast his bronze figures, which range from monumental to palm-sized. About his sculptures, the artist says, “I try to make work that speaks a common language that people understand, a visual language that doesn’t intimidate them.” * The sculptures are part of the San Francisco Art Commission Collection and cost $700,000. Otterness Continue Reading

SFGH Healing Garden

Posted by Cindy on March 28, 2013

Mar 282013

1001 Potrero San Francisco General Hospital The artist designed this small garden, in 1993, as an extension to an existing hospital memorial garden and as a place to provide seating sheltered from the wind. A red gravel walkway, edged in white granite city-surplus curbstones, forms a double helix, which is symbolic of life. The seating is made from salvaged granite. Look closely, you can see the double helix in the planter on the left. Benny Bufano’s Madonna graces the back of the garden. Peter Richards is a long-term Artist in Residence at the Exploratorium (an innovative science museum in San Francisco, Continue Reading

Dos Leones at SFGH

Posted by Cindy on March 16, 2013

Mar 162013

1001 Potrero San Francisco General Hospital So much of the collection paid for by the San Francisco Art Commission is not readily available to the general public. This piece is no exception. On the patio of the 3rd floor of SFGH, the doors were locked, however, you can see the sculpture through the window. Titled Dos Liones, this sculpture, done in 1974, is by Mary Fuller. Mary Fuller has many pieces of public art work around the San Francisco Bay Area. Mary Fuller was born in Wichita, Kansas on October 20, 1922. Creating totemic figures, playful animals and dancing goddesses Continue Reading

American Bison at SFGH

Posted by Cindy on March 13, 2013

Mar 132013

1001 Potrero San Francisco General Hospital 2nd Floor – Cafeteria Patio Buffalo by Raimondo Puccinelli Raimondo Puccinelli, (1904-1986) born and raised in San Francisco, is known above all for his sculpture which has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His standing as a sculptor was confirmed early on, firstly by the interest shown by the great museums on the West Coast of America and then by the commitment demonstrated by influential New York galleries in which his works were exhibited alongside the great artists of the time: as did both the Ferargil Gallery with its exhibition “Degas, Maillol, Continue Reading

Madonna by Benjamin Bufano at SF General

Posted by Cindy on July 28, 2012

Jul 282012

Madonna by Benjamin Bufano at SF General

Potrero Hill San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Avenue Madonna by Benjamin (Beniamino) Bufano 1974 Benjamin (Benny) Bufano was a prolific artist in his time and has many pieces around San Francisco. This Madonna of Red Granite and mosaic sits on the edge of the comfort garden in San Francisco General Hospital, near building 80. The first buildings designated as San Francisco General Hospital were erected in 1872. Outbreaks of bubonic plague, the spread of tuberculosis, the earthquake of 1906, and the influenza epidemic of 1918 were all trials this hospital saw in its early years. Most of the present Continue Reading