Bruce Hasson’s Ark

 Posted by on June 15, 2015
Jun 152015
 

Father Boeddeker Park
295 Eddy Street
The Tenderloin

Bruce Hasson

The Ark – 1985 – Bronze

This piece, by Bruce Hasson, sits in Father Boeddeker Park.  The statue, as well as the park have essentially been inaccessible to everyone until the parks 2014 renovation.

According to the plaque that sits with the statue “Following a 1983 trek in the Peruvian Andes, Hasson was inspired by the mysteries of Inca stone work.  The Ark resembles a large geological artifact.  It is symbolic of a sanctuary that protects life and a reminder of the importance of preserving endangered animals and their natural habitat.”

The Ark by Bruce HassonHasson lives and works in San Francisco, and is responsible for other iron work around San Francisco.

Hasson was originally payed $20,400.  In 2010 the Ark underwent a $21,000 renovation thanks to the Koret Foundation’s donation to the ArtCare program.  The piece has the concrete base repaired, it was cleaned and then a protective coating was added.

Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

 Posted by on October 27, 2012
Oct 272012
 

7th and Bryant
SOMA

Peter Voulkos – (nicknamed)Hall of Justice – 1971
24 X 26 X 11 Feet – Bronze

Peter Voulkos   (1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.

Born in Bozeman, Montana, he first studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College), then earned an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1954, after founding the art ceramics department at the Otis College of Art and Design, called the Los Angeles County Art Institute, his work rapidly became abstract and sculptural. He moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he also founded the art ceramics department, and where he taught from 1959 until 1985.

This was the first piece restored by the organization called ArtCare.

It underwent a specialized cleaning, repatination, and application of a protective coating—all made possible with private funds (estimated at $35,000) issued by the newly formed ArtCare. The program aims to enlist private donors to complement the existing city government–provided annual budget of $300,000. Currently 15 public artworks in parks, plazas, and other public spaces are slated for repair.

According to the San Francisco Art Commission, there are approximately 3,500 objects in the collection of public art project in need of restoration, estimated in excess of $86 million dollars. The City of San Francisco allocates approximately $15,750 annually toward the care of the entire collection.

 

 

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