Peace

Posted by Cindy on March 31, 2014

Mar 312014

154 McAllister Street
Civic Center

According to Reka’s own website:

James Reka – Melbourne, Australia

Self-taught artist

James Reka is a young contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, Germany. His origins lie in the alleyways and train lines of Melbourne’s inner-suburbs where he spent over a decade refining his now-emblematic aesthetic. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street (much to his mother’s joy). With influences in pop culture, cartoons and illustration, Reka’s style has become known for its fusion of high and low art. This style emerged from his Pop-Art-influenced logo design background, featuring simple but striking lines and colour ways. Over time, the logos and symbols he created for clients evolved into more structured, animated forms and embraced variances of the different media he began experimenting with.

This is Reka’s art: a paradox between sharp design and graffiti, held together with a fuse of passion and spray paint.

This installation was a result of Reka’s show at White Walls Gallery titled 3am Femmes. The show ran October 12 – November 2, 2013.

Peace by Bufano

Posted by Cindy on September 12, 2012

Sep 122012

800 Brotherhood Way

Peace by Benny Bufano

Located at the entrance to the San Francisco Airport for almost forty years”Peace” was relocated to make way for a parking garage. After restoration it was moved to Brotherhood Way, where it stands now.

Benny Bufano was born in Italy in 1898, Beniamino Benvenuto Bufano came to the United States at young age with his family. After studying art in New York City, he eventually moved to San Francisco where he taught both at UC-Berkeley and at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. He died in 1970.

On the back of the circular base is inscribed:

Dedicated April 19, 1958
George Christopher, Mayor

On the front of the circular base is inscribed:

Presented to the Citizens of San Francisco by the San Francisco Chronicle
Dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man and the Ideal of Peace Among all the Peoples of the World

UPDATE – April 17, 2013 – Where is the statue?

Brotherhood Way was originally called Stanley Way. But in 1958, under Mayor George Christopher, the city, which owned all of the land on the south side of the street, turned that property over to a long list of religious institutions and renamed the street to reflect its role as a place for houses of worship. It’s now home to six churches or synagogues and nine religious schools. It has its own (religious) neighborhood association.

On May 19, 2005, the Planning Commission approved an expansion of the Park Merced apartment complex to add up to 182 units on the north side of the street.

There has been a contentious battle over this plan ever since.

Opponents of the project say the area was set aside for educational and religious uses, not housing — and they argue that the expansion of Park Merced will add too much congestion to the area. Supporters say the west side of town needs to accept more housing and more density.

In April of 2010 a Letter of Agreement was executed between the San Francisco Arts Commission and the project property owner to protect the Bufano sculpture adjacent to the project site during project construction. The Agreement identifies a specific site for relocation of the statue. The Agreement also sets forth specific tasks and conditions for de-installing, storing, and re-installing the sculpture at a time agreed upon by the project sponsor and the Arts Commission. If you are interested in keeping up to date on the progress, here is the link to the SFAC page about the project.

As of February 1, 2013 all the plans have been approved by the City, however, the opponents are continuing their battle in court. The trees have been removed, the water and sewer pipes are being prepared to be installed and the developer is moving forward. The Bufano has been removed and I will report where Peace ends up when this is all over.

A little about Park Merced: Metlife owned and carefully maintained the property until the early 1970s, when it sold it to Leona Helmsley and the property began to deteriorate. There were a succession of owners and management companies beginning in the late 1990s. The commercial areas of the development were sold off to investors, and other parts sold to the California State University system. As of 2008, 116 of the original 150 acres are owned and maintained by a single investor, who purchased the property for $700 million and has committed $110 million in upgrades. The architecture of Park Merced is very unique and I hope to write a post about that in the near future.

2018

This piece is back in its original position off of Brotherhood Way. It is now amongst the homes of Park Merced but still visible from the street.

Benny Bufano at Fort Mason

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2012

Aug 172012

Fort Mason Green

Peace by Benny Bufano

Benjamin Bufano has many pieces throughout San Francisco.

This statue, featuring a child within a larger statue represents the peaceful blending of cultures.

The green sits on the hill above the actual fort. Called Fort Mason since 1882, the location at Point San Jose, as this area was known, was originally little more than a field of sand dunes. Following the Spanish American War, however, the military realized the need for its own shipping facility on the San Francisco waterfront.

As the United States began establishing a presence in the Pacific, Fort Mason’s shallow cove was soon home to three piers and four warehouses. By World War II, the fort was the headquarters for the San Francisco Port of Embarkation and over 20 million tons of cargo and more than a million troops were deployed through here. Fort Mason loaded ships like the Liberty Jeremiah O’Brien, which can now be seen at Pier 45. Also active through the Korean War and the early 1960s, Fort Mason ceased transportation depot operations in 1964.

In 1972, due to legislation introduced and supported by Congressman Phil Burton, Ft. Mason and 34,000 acres of shore land were designated as a National Park. Known as the Golden Gate Recreation Area, it became the largest urban National Park in the world.

Fort Mason is once again in for some changes. On May 6th the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story announcing that the city is hosting a design competition seeking “creative and practical design concepts” for the 13 acres of parking lots and former military buildings that sit midway between Aquatic Park and Marina Green.