Keys – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Los Lobos de Loyola

Posted by Cindy on December 10, 2014

Dec 102014

University of San Francisco
Fulton Street
In Front of Gleeson Library/Geshke Center
Inner Richmond

Commissioned by USF this piece was installed November of 2011. The 2-ton work, Los Lobos de Loyola, depicts the wolves and stewpot from the family coat of arms of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. Some say the 15th-century image is a pun on the Loyola family name (“lobos y olla,” wolves and a stewpot); others suggest the pot is a symbol of hospitality and the wolves point to the family’s reputation as warriors.

Crafted by Pancho Cardenas, the eight-foot high by sixteen foot long bronze is a second edition of Cardenas’ original work created for the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City a decade ago.

Francisco Cárdenas Martínez, also known as Pancho Cárdenas, is a Mexican artist. He was born 1956, in Iztapalapa, east of Mexico City.

He is noted for his statue of Pope John Paul II with Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, made entirely with keys donated by Mexicans to symbolize that they had given him the keys to their hearts.

Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges

Posted by Cindy on March 18, 2001

Mar 182001

Lining the 200 Block of Stevenson Street
Off of 3rd near Market

Locks and Keys For Harry Bridges was commissioned by Millennium Partners/ WGB Ventures Inc and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. The piece is by artist Mildred Howard, who has been in this site before.

Howard is known for her sculptural installations and mixed media assemblage work, Mildred Howard has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Adeline Kent Award from the San Francisco Art Institute, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and a fellow-ship from the California Arts Council.

When Howard was asked how she came by the image of a key and lock for the project, she answered that she was inspired by Harry Bridges as he opened up doors and that her locks are open to reflect that.

Harry Bridges (July 28, 1901–March 30, 1990) was an Australian-born American union leader, in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which he helped form and led for over 40 years. He was prosecuted by the U.S. government during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. His conviction by a federal jury for having lied about his Communist Party membership was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1953.