1100 Lake Merced Blvd.
Sunset District
Penguin’s Prayer
by Beniamino Bufano
Placed by
Lake Merced Neighborhood Organization
Bufano Society of the Arts
Dedicated December 4, 1976
This sculpture by prolific, and San Francisco darling, Benny Bufano was originally made for the Treasure Island Golden Gate Exposition of 1939.
This statue of “Pacifica” is in the courtyard of the Diego Rivera Theater on the City College of San Francisco Ocean Avenue Campus. Originally, an 80 foot tall sculpture of Pacifica graced the Golden Gate International Exhibition on Treasure Island, she was destroyed by the Navy in 1941 when they took possession of the island. Sal Daguarda undertook the project of reproducing a smaller version of Pacifica because of his ties to the long ago event. DeGuarda was a swimmer and performer for the Billy Rose Aquacade, entertaining the crowds during the 1939-1940 Exhibition. One day a photographer took his picture when he was in his swimming suit, and when he asked what it was for, the photographer said for a painting. Little did he know that he would be immortalized in Diego Rivera’s mural that was painted during the Exhibition, and is now on display inside the theater. On the 50th anniversary of the Exhibition, DeGuarda hit on the idea to reproduce the statue as a gesture to the West Coast “Statue of Liberty,” welcoming all people of the Pacific Rim. The result is a 15 ft. tall fiberglass likeness of the original in every detail.