Sep 142012
 

 Jose Coronado Playground and Clubhouse
21st and Folsom
Mission District

Raizes/Roots, Ray Patlan and Eduardo Pineda, Jose Coronado Playground Clubhouse

The entire exterior of the Jose Coronado Clubhouse is sheathed in eleven hundred terra cotta-colored tiles, designed and hand-painted by artists Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan. The tiles depict Aztec-inspired images of birds and frogs in a repeated, checkerboard pattern. The pattern is interrupted periodically by large tile figures of animals and plant forms. Over the Center doorway are two highly stylized king buzzards (Cozcacuautli), in shades of terra cotta, near a blue coyote (Itzcuintli). A polka-dotted deer cavorts on the east wall, along with images of a hummingbird and flower, in yellow, orange and blue. The richly-textured and colored surface, with its warm, deep colors and stylized indigenous images, was created in recognition of the Mission District’s still predominantly Latino community. Artists Ray Patlan and Eduardo Pineda met with the local community and worked with the project architects before identifying a theme and materials for their art. They chose images of flora and fauna in order to highlight nature in this very urban park, as a reminder of the impact of civilization on the natural and indigenous worlds. They chose tile as a way of integrating their art into the architecture and in reference to the great Pre-Columbian ceramic tradition. In addition to designing the artwork, the artists hand colored the tiles, working over more than a dozen weekends. They were helped by Sausalito’s Heath Ceramics, which manufactured and fired the tiles, and ceramic artist Horace Washington, who advised them on the technique of spray painting and stenciling on tile. Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan have a long history of involvement with the mural movement, the Mission District and Jose Coronado Playground in particular, in fact, their work at Jose Coronado goes back more than 21 years. Ray Patlan began working with young people to paint murals in the park in 1979, as a way to combat the gang activity in the area. He and Eduardo Pineda worked with a second generation in 1986, and led a third group, including the granddaughter of one of the original artists, to complete the murals in the early ‘90’s. Both artists have committed their working lives to the community, as artists, educators, and administrators. As leaders in San Francisco’s Mural Renaissance they were instrumental in the creation of Balmy Alley, at 24th Street, where you can see their work today. Raizes/Roots was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the Recreation and Park Department. It is now part of the collection of the City and County of San Francisco.

*

*

*

 

Jun 212012
 
Western Addition
Turk and Fillmore Streets
Northern Police Station
*

*

*

This cast concrete panel by Horace Washington depicts the cultural diversity of the Western Addition and its architectural history. The panel also features the likeness of police officers of the past. The piece is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission collection and was produced in 1987. It is 3 feet high by 8 feet long.

Horace Washington (who has work on the 3rd Street Light Rail project) studied at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio before moving to California to study sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute and then completed his graduate studies at Cal State University, Sacramento. He is a San Francisco sculptor and muralist whose works include numerous projects in a variety of materials for public facilities in northern California including the International Longshoremen’s & Warehousmen’s Union mural/ scultpure, the Northern Police Station sculpture, the Martin Luther King Swimming Pool Tile Murals, and the Plaza East ceramic tile and painted mural. He exhibits his work in San Francisco and has been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, Cal State Sacramento, and for the San Francisco Unified School District. He has also taught developmentally disabled adults at the Creativity Explored Art Center. He lives and works in San Francisco.

Bayview/Hunters Point Muni Stop

 Posted by on October 3, 2011
Oct 032011
 
Bayview/Hunters Point
3rd Street Light Rail
Kirkwood/Oakdale Station
The Marquis Pole
Horace Washington was the artist for the third station.  His work represents the tradition of shipbuilding and the history of WWII in the neighborhood.
At the start of World War II the Navy recognized the need for greatly increased naval shipbuilding and repair facilities in the San Francisco bay area, and in 1940 acquired property on the waterfront and named it Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The property became one of the major shipyards of the west coast.
The first USS Pike (SS-6) was a Plunger-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy. She was laid down on December 10th, 1900 at San Francisco, California by Union Iron Works, launched on January 14th, 1903, and commissioned on May 28th, 1903 at the Mare Island Navy Yard with Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur, Jr. (the elder brother of future General of the Army Douglas MacArthur) in command. Pike operated out of the Mare Island Navy Yard for over three years, operating principally in experimental and training roles. Members of the Pike’s crew took part in the relief efforts following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires.
Launched on the 20th of August and commissioned on the 16th of October 1916 at the Union Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in San Francisco, California.  This ship was the sixth Astral, a name originating as a brand name for a water-white kerosene refined at the Pratt Works in Brooklyn, NY.  In appearance Astral was easily distinguished by three masts – the only tanker in the fleet so provided.  The Astral disappeared without a trace, and no documented reason.  Some feel she simply sank, others that she was torpedoed.
Horace Washington studied at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio before moving to California to study sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute and then completed his graduate studies at Cal State University, Sacramento. He is a San Francisco sculptor and muralist whose works include numerous projects in a variety of materials for public facilities in California.

 

error: Content is protected !!