Benny Bufano’s Grave

 Posted by on October 19, 2019
Oct 192019
 

Holy Cross Cemetery
Colma, California

Bufano’s gravesite is marked by his own sculpture of St. Francis. The statue overlooks that part of the cemetery that holds the unmarked graves of indigent children, the only part of the cemetery that permitted the type of statuary marking Bufano’s grave.

Bufano was a well known San Francisco artist whose work has been in this site many times.

Beniamino Bufano (October 15, 1890 – August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes. He worked in ceramics, stone, stainless steel, and mosaic, and sometimes combined two or more of these media and some of his works are cast stone replicas.

The tile work on this Saint Francis was done by Alfonso Pardiñas. Alfonso Pardiñas created a number of mosaics in San Francisco, including several for BART stations. His firm was called Byzantine Mosaics.

Saint Francis – Prince of Peace
To the human congregation of the United Nations
-A message to live by-
Lord
Make me an instrument of thy peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy

O Divine master
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be understood as to understand
To be loved, as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

Beniamino Benevento Bufano
October 15, 1890
August 18, 1970

 

A Duel Fought Over Slavery

 Posted by on April 30, 2018
Apr 302018
 
A Duel Fought Over Slavery

The site is in an unamed park Off of Lake Merced Boulevard Access is available off of El Portal Way near number 79 Daly City just South of the San Francisco City Limits Just after the discovery of gold the State of California found that its citizens were as divided as the rest of the nation in regards to slavery. California was home to people from the North—often referred to as free-soilers—who were against slavery, and Southerners who supported slavery and called themselves the Chivs (for chivalry). California entered the United States as a free-state, however, its vague antislavery constitution Continue Reading

Dendroids by Roxy Paine

 Posted by on February 21, 2018
Feb 212018
 
Dendroids by Roxy Paine

Philadelphia – February 2018 Benjamin Franklin Parkway 24th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue This piece, titled Symbiosis by Roxy Paine, was installed in 2014.  It is stainless steel and part of Paine’s “Dendroid” series of stainless steel treelike structures. “Dendroids”is a greek word that combines Dendron meaning tree and oid a suffix meaning form. The piece is 34 feet tall and is hand-fabricated from thousands of pieces of pipe, plate and rods, welded and polished to create these two forms that weigh and buttress each other. Roxy Paine was born in New York City in 1966. He was educated at both Continue Reading

Civil Rights Monument

 Posted by on March 31, 2017
Mar 312017
 
Civil Rights Monument

Capitol Park Richmond, VA March 2017 The Virginia Civil Rights Memorial sits on the grounds of Capitol Square in Richmond VA and commemorates the protests which helped bring about school desegregation in the state. Unveiled in 2008 this $2.8 memorial was designed by Stanley Bleifield. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “A Commonwealth once synonymous with defiance of court-ordered school integration celebrated the latest symbol of its often-difficult embrace of equality with the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial in 2008. It represents a key moment in the history of the civil-rights movement in Virginia. The statue spotlights the African-American students in rural Prince Continue Reading

Reconciliation Triangle

 Posted by on March 28, 2017
Mar 282017
 
Reconciliation Triangle

East Main Street Richmond, VA March 2017 Reconciliation Triangle has a fascinating and worldwide story. The statue represents Richmond, Virginia’s place in slave history.  With the addition of Liverpool, England, and the republic of Benin, West Africa, identical statues by Liverpool artist Stephen Broadbent are in place in each country marking the three points of the infamous slave trade triangle. The statues symbolize a commitment to new relationships based on honesty, forgiveness and reconciliation. In 1999, President Mathieu Kerekou of the Republic of Benin convened an international gathering at which he apologized for Benin’s part in selling fellow Africans to Continue Reading

Maynard Dixon and A Pageant of Traditions

 Posted by on March 23, 2015
Mar 232015
 
Maynard Dixon and A Pageant of Traditions

The Stanley Mosk Library and Court Building Gillis Hall 914 Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA I recently toured the newly restored California State Library building.  The $62 million restoration brought the library/courts building into the modern age. (The project came in under budget at around $49 million). Although this Maynard Dixon mural experienced a small amount of damage during the restoration, it remains in Gillis Hall for all to enjoy. Titled, A Pageant of Traditions, the mural is sixty nine feet long and fourteen feet tall. The mural, painted after the library was opened in 1928, symbolically depicts the greatest influences Continue Reading

Burls will be Burls

 Posted by on October 20, 2014
Oct 202014
 
Burls will be Burls

6th Avenue between Burnside and Ash Portland, OR According to the TriMet website: Burls Will be Burls, by Bruce Conkle, is a tribute to snowmen and to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. The cast bronze figures of Burls Will be Burls represent what might happen when a snowman melts and nourishes a living tree—water is absorbed by the roots and carries the spirit of the snowman up into the tree where it manifests itself as burls. According to Conkle’s own website: Bruce Conkle declares an affinity for mysterious natural phenomenon such as snow, crystals, volcanos, rainbows, fire, tree burls, Continue Reading

Tying One on for Big Game

 Posted by on August 21, 2014
Aug 212014
 
Tying One on for Big Game

Michael sculpted this for his father-in-law Cecil Mark, a big Bear Backer.  Cecil was a natty dresser who always dressed to the nines for football games.  Though the photograph does not show it well, there are little Cal bears on the tie.  Michael was also proud of the fact that he caught the very small stomach of thin and fit Cecil. The sculpture was painted by one of Michael’s dearest friends, Dennis King, a phenomenal painter. Yes the title is a double entendre, as tail gate parties were a big part of every game.  Michael once commented to Cecil that he had Continue Reading

Hotel Pacific

 Posted by on August 19, 2014
Aug 192014
 
Hotel Pacific

300 Pacific Street Monterey, California Michael H. Casey sculpted these fountains for the Hotel Pacific in 1986. The joy of working on a beautiful hotel such as this is that you get to stay there while installing the fountains.  It became the go to place to stay whenever we were in the Monterey area. Including when Michael H. Casey and Cecil Mark sailed the “Question Mark” a 36′ sail boat to Monterey and back.

Parget

 Posted by on August 17, 2014
Aug 172014
 
Parget

California State Capitol Parget was common throughout the California State Capitol, but like much work throughout the ages it was lost due to remodeling for new amenities such as electricity and air-conditioning, as well as adding desks and finding more space for an ever growing government. A painted fragment was found when workers removed a duct and the decision to replace much of the parget was made.  The problem was, how?  There were many theories tossed about, but eventually, Michael H. Casey, a chef at the Black Pearl in Newport, Rhode Island, prior to becoming the Artist-in-Residence at the California Continue Reading

Chimney Rock Winery

 Posted by on August 17, 2014
Aug 172014
 
Chimney Rock Winery

Chimney Rock Winery 5350 Silverado Trail Napa Valley, California 1989 This was our first big job as Michael H. Casey Designs.  The winery, at the time was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Hack Wilson.  The Wilson’s had been the Coca-Cola distributors in South Africa and they wanted to bring the Dutch-Cape style architecture of Mrs. Wilson’s homeland to the Napa Valley. The design was given to Michael H. Casey. The Wilson’s wanted to replicate the oldest winery in Cape Town, Groot Constantia.  The tympanum sculpture was originally done on the Cloete Wine Cellar by Anton Anreth.  It is titled the Continue Reading

Creatures in the Assembly

 Posted by on August 16, 2014
Aug 162014
 
Creatures in the Assembly

California State Capitol Assembly Chambers Artists that worked on the California State Capitol Restoration left little tidbits of themselves throughout the project. Michael H. Casey was no different.  When installing the ornamentation that he had worked on in the Assembly he added a little creature that expressed his feelings about the goings on in the Assembly Hall.  This little fellow happens to face the dais and says oodles about Michael’s sense of humor. While no one every actually has stated who was responsible, it seems silly that it remains a secret now that Michael is no longer alive.  I also Continue Reading

Minerva

 Posted by on August 16, 2014
Aug 162014
 
Minerva

California State Capital Senate Chambers According to ancient Roman myth, the goddess Minerva was born fully grown. Just as Minerva was born fully grown, so California became a state without first having been a territory. Minerva’s image on the Great Seal symbolizes California’s direct rise to statehood.   Minerva originally was in both chambers but sits only in the Senate today.  Michael H. Casey sculpted the new minerva that resides in the present Senate Chamber. Minerva is actually cast in plaster with a bronze paint finish.  Michael H. Casey was the Artist-in-Residence for the California State Capitol Project at the Continue Reading

South Hall

 Posted by on August 16, 2014
Aug 162014
 
South Hall

South Hall University of California, Berkeley  South Hall is the oldest extant building on the University of California campus.  The entryway, originally in wood, was completely restored in GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) in 1996.  The architect on the project was Irving Gonzales and the General Contractor was BBI. Michael H. Casey Designs was hired to completely rebuild the entryway portico in GFRC.  This required making molds and casting all elements.  This also required sculpture where elements were missing. True to form, as in the El Granada Building, Michael Casey sculpted a small Cal Bear, if you look very closely you will Continue Reading

1940 Packard Building Comes Back to Life

 Posted by on August 16, 2014
Aug 162014
 
1940 Packard Building Comes Back to Life

865 The Alameda San Jose, California This photo shows the Packard Buidling in 1940.  Notice the wonderful sculptural detailing over the windows and the doors.  As often happened during the 1960’s and 1970’s many buildings were stripped of their ornamentation to reflect the modernism trend that was sweeping the country. In 2009 the engineering firm Biggs Cardosa, who bought the building in 2007,  hired Michael H. Casey Designs to re-create all of the cast stone ornamentation that was originally over the doors and window. The projected was done in panels, originally sculpted by Michael H. Casey, to make the installation Continue Reading

Mar 212014
 
Neptune Society Loses its Ruffle Shirt in the Loma Prieta Earthquake

729 South 2nd Street San Jose, California After the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake the owners of this building came to work to find that the ornamentation on the front of the building had cracked, broken and in some cases fallen off. Upon further inspection they found that the building was a wood structure and that the original plaster ornamentation was simply nailed onto the wood structure and adhered with a bit of stucco.  The front of the building needed to be completely restored. After taking field molds of the pieces, Michael H. Casey Designs brought the pieces back to their studio Continue Reading

Jan 242014
 
EL Granada Apartment Building Goes Back to Its Roots

EL Granada At Sather Gate 2510 Bancroft Berkeley, California The Granada was built by Patrick O’Brien in 1904, and had been passed down in the family ever since. He built it so that everybody in the family would always have a roof over their heads, and so the building would always support the family. Like so many projects that go through time, the ornamentation was removed in the 1960’s or 1970’s to create a more streamlined effect.  In 1995 The Munger Brothers hired Michael H. Casey to recreate the two highly ornamented decorations above the windows.  Working from old photographs from Continue Reading

Ford Elementary School Lunette

 Posted by on December 23, 2013
Dec 232013
 
Ford Elementary School Lunette

Ford Elementary School 2711 Maricopa Avenue Richmond, California Sally Swanson Architects of San Francisco designed a new $19 million energy-efficient school to replace the outdated original Ford Elementary School in Richmond, California. The new school’s design is a modern interpretation of the Mission Style. The school’s framework, a repeating 30-foot grid, creates the flexibility for the educational programming in the interior, and easily accommodates a variety of alternative teaching methodologies. The light-filled corridors, with articulated beams, double as a collaborative in-between area where learning can also take place.  On the second floor, the corridor is transformed into a street for the innovative learning Continue Reading

Salinas – Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe Casa

 Posted by on December 1, 2011
Dec 012011
 
Salinas - Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe Casa

Salinas, California The choice of building materials for the early Spanish settlers and Mission builders of California and much of the southwest of the U.S. was adobe.  Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, and/or manure), which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for some of the oldest existing buildings in the world. In hot climates, compared with wooden buildings, adobe buildings offer significant Continue Reading

El Camino Real

 Posted by on November 30, 2011
Nov 302011
 
El Camino Real

California Missions The El Camino Real Tomes have been written about the history of the Spanish and the Missions of California.  It was a difficult period in the history of California, fraught with inhumanity, as well as, expansion and progress. Much of California’s history began with the Spanish Missions. The chain of 21 missions along California’s El Camino Real (“The Royal Highway”) represent the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California. Life for the California Native Americans was forever changed. In addition to Christianity and disease, the missions brought livestock, fruits, flowers, grains and industry. If you are interested I suggest Continue Reading

Coalinga – Richfield Gas

 Posted by on November 29, 2011
Nov 292011
 
Coalinga - Richfield Gas

Coalinga Central Valley California If you have ever driven Highway 5 down the center of California you have undoubtedly stopped at Harris Ranch,  a half-way point between the metropolitan areas of northern and southern California.  Just on the other side of the highway is the town of Coalinga. In the early years of railroading, before the extensive development of oil production in California, the steam locomotives were powered by the burning of coal obtained from the northern foothills of Mount Diablo. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company established the site as a coaling station in 1888, and it was called simply Coaling Continue Reading

San Joaquin Valley

 Posted by on November 28, 2011
Nov 282011
 
San Joaquin Valley

Central Valley California I spent my Thanksgiving holiday driving the back roads of the San Joaquin portion of the Central Valley of California.  For those unfamiliar with the area it is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California’s most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately 450 miles from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is referred to as the Sacramento Valley, and its southern half as the San Joaquin Valley. The Central Valley covers an area of approximately 22,500 square miles, making it slightly Continue Reading

South San Francisco

 Posted by on July 4, 2011
Jul 042011
 
South San Francisco

Today’s post is, well honestly, a soap box.  Most people know the City of South San Francisco because they see the above when they drive into San Francisco from the airport.  That is it, that is probably all you need to know as well.  It is a delightful little town with an old downtown where you can still get your shoes fixed, and the hardware store guy knows your name, and what you need.  It is a split town, the freeway runs directly through it, the west side of the freeway is why it is called the Industrial City.  It Continue Reading

Oddities in San Francisco – Aeolian Harp

 Posted by on June 29, 2011
Jun 292011
 
Oddities in San Francisco - Aeolian Harp

This is one of the more obscure pieces of art in the San Francisco area.  It is actually in South San Francisco off Grandview Drive in the Oyster Point area.  It is difficult to find, and surrounded by ugly industrial buildings that over shadow it.  Which is sad, because it is really rather magnificent. 92-feet-tall sculpted by Aristides Demetrios it is one of the world’s largest aeolian harps. Named for Aeolus, the Greek god of the wind, and invented by the 17th-century polymath Athanasius Kircher, an aeolian harp is a passive instrument played by the movement of the wind. I Continue Reading

Pennsylvania – Bucks County

 Posted by on June 26, 2011
Jun 262011
 
Pennsylvania - Bucks County

Outside Philadelphia – This is the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, (Bucks County) Pennsylvania.  Henry Mercer inherited his money from a maiden aunt and with this money he started collecting objects of everyday life, convinced that the history of Bucks County was the history of the world. At first he did all the collecting himself, but over the years he developed quite a network of people that would bring him items from far and wide. His first collection burned down, thus creating the desire to house the entire new collection in a fireproof, concrete building.  So in 1916, Mercer erected a Continue Reading

Palm Springs Art Museum – Glass as Art

 Posted by on May 19, 2011
May 192011
 
Palm Springs Art Museum - Glass as Art

Like many people, my first exposure to glass as art was the stuff that you see in street fairs.  It wasn’t my favorite medium.  As I have gotten older, and visited more museums I fell in love with cast glass.  Glass casting is the process in which glass objects are cast by pouring molten glass into a mould where it solidifies. The technique has been used since the Egyptian period. Modern cast glass is formed by a variety of processes such as kiln casting, or casting into sand, graphite or metal moulds. I think I am still mostly drawn to Continue Reading

Van Nuys – Strolling in a sewer plant.

 Posted by on May 14, 2011
May 142011
 
Van Nuys - Strolling in a sewer plant.

This story is going to take a while to unfold, so grab a cup of coffee and come along with me on a journey.  I took the above photograph in Kenrokuen Gardens, Kanazawa, Japan.   This is considered one of the three best gardens in all of Japan.  (The Japanese do all their “bests” in threes).  The photograph is not the best of the hundreds of shots I took that day, but it is going to illustrate my point most perfectly.  I would like to confess, straight up, I am a nut about Japanese culture.  It is in my soul, Continue Reading

Palm Springs – Art Moderne

 Posted by on May 13, 2011
May 132011
 
Palm Springs - Art Moderne

This little Depression Era “Art Moderne” gem is at 342 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.  There is very little known about it.  It is assumed to be built around 1935-1936, the first actual knowledge of its existence is a listing in the 1937 phone book.  At that time is was Simpson’s Radio and Fridgidaire.  Clarence Simpson was a local civic leader that passed away in 1944.  It has been the Cork and Bottle since 1950. Art Moderne, also called Streamline Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s. Its architectural Continue Reading

Palm Springs – Oddities

 Posted by on May 13, 2011
May 132011
 
Palm Springs - Oddities

This is one of my favorite types of architecture.  Scavenger, innovative, a tad crazy and an absolute representation of the person that built it.  This is the home of Cabot Yerxa.  He was the son of a fabulously wealthy family that lost it all.  He was a creative, innovative and wealthy man by his own right, but when it all went south, he went to the desert.  He was 17 when he headed off to the 1898 Gold Rush to make his fortune, he met Teddy Rosevelt there who later made him the Postmaster General in the Pasadena, California area, Continue Reading

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