Public Art in San Francisco – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Words Fly Away

Posted by Cindy on March 8, 2019

Mar 082019

Ocean View Branch Library
345 Randolph Street

Words Fly Away by John Wehrle – 2003/2004

This is a fabulous piece for a library. John Wehrle imagined the library interior as a metaphor for a book. He covered the library in jumbled letters, words and pictures.

According to the artist’s website: Created in 2004, Worlds Fly Away is a complete installation – floor to ceiling, using a variety of materials to create a theater of effects permeating the stairwell and second-floor hallway of the Ocean View Branch Library in San Francisco. Color, image, and language are the elements that transform the library interior into an allegorical experience akin to being inside of a book. It is a bit of a perceptual puzzle. The flying and falling letters, stretched to the limits of comprehension, can be assembled (with some effort) into words, sentences and ultimately meaning. The textual intarsia of the hallway required over a thousand pieces of linoleum to create letters and shadows spelling out the line from the idiomatic folk tale, “ The sky is falling. A piece of it hit me on the head. Other literary quotes are embedded in the tile faience, and, in several languages, on the ground floor of the library.

Here is a video of the piece

Born in San Antonio Texas, Pratt is a graduate of the Pratt Institute. He moved to California and became a teacher at the California Academy of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.

In 1973 he broke out on his own, he presently lives and works in Richmond, California.

The project was commissioned by the SF Arts Commission for $112,000.

Beneath the trees there is a saying. “and where is the use of a book: thought Alice, without pictures or conversation”

Art at Bernal Heights Branch Library

Posted by Cindy on March 5, 2019

Mar 052019

Bernal Branch Library
500 Cortland Avenue

Reuben Rude of Precita Eyes Murals was chosen for this project. It was a difficult decision, as it replaced a mural that had been on the walls of the library for years. A recent renovation required the removal of the old mural which the current mural attempting to pay homage to some of its elements.

This mural with its bronze book and tile embellisment was paid for by the San Francisco Arts Commission at a cost of $115,000.

Reuben Rude grew up in the woods of Northern California and studied at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. He utilizes his expertise in drawing, painting, and illustration in both the creative and commercial realms. He has shown in galleries, comic books, and magazines throughout the world.

Ocean Avenue History Staircase

Posted by Cindy on September 10, 2018

Sep 102018

Unity Plaza

Opened in 2016 Unity Plaza features a new pedestrian path that stretches from the north side of Ocean Avenue to the City College campus. The path, created in partnership with City College, features an integrated landscape and this stairway that features a collage of historic photographs of the neighborhood laid out on the steps.

In 2009, the Balboa Park Station Area Plan was adopted by the City and County of San Francisco. This was the culmination of a 10 year Better Neighborhoods Planning Process.

The plan also included a reconfiguration of the Phelan Bus Loop, now known as City College Terminal and the affordable housing project on 1100 Ocean Ave. Unity Plaza occupies the space between the bus loop and the housing development.

Some of the larger scenes in the stairway consist of:

City College students, taken in 1973

The Sundial at Ingleside Terrace

Street Cars

The Rail and Streetcar Intersection in 1904

The Ingleside Presbyterian Church founded in 1907

The project was created by Wowhaus Studios who have been in this site before. They are photographs printed on porcelain enamel tiles and installed in the risers. Wowhaus sourced the images directly from community members and the library archives.

This was paid for by the San Francisco Arts Commission with a budget not to exceed $15,000.

Shadow Kingdom

Posted by Cindy on January 27, 2017

Jan 272017

16th at Missouri
Potrero Hill

The plaque at the site reads: This artwork is inspired by the history of Mission Bay, a 5,000 year-old tidal marsh that was once the habitat of a rich array of flora and fauna. Growth of the city in the 19th century brought shipyards, warehouses and railroads and this part of the bay was eventually filled with sand and dirt from nearby development, as well as debris from the 1906 earthquake. The five panels that form Shadow Kingdom evoke this layered history. Ship masts intersect with topographical and architectural references. Some of the plants and animals that once lived here, like elk, beaver, salmon, sandpipers and pickle weed are also depicted. When viewed from a distance the sculpture takes the shape of the California grizzly bear, a species that last roamed San Francisco in the mid-1800s. As the sun arcs across the sky, these once endemic species are projected as shadows onto the terrain they once inhabited.

Adriane Colburn was the selected artist for this project. She holds a BFA in Printmaking, from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1997 and a MFANew Genres from Stanford University, 2001.

Public Art in San Francisco, Shadows, Dagget Park Colburn describes her work: In my practice I seek to reimagine maps and photographs of places (and networks) that are obscured by geography, scale or the passing of time. At the core of this is a fascination with the way that our attempts to make sense of the world around us through maps, data and images result in abstractions that are simultaneously informative and utterly ambiguous. I create my installations by transforming images through a system of physical removal, cutting out everything except imperative lines, thus creating constructions that are informed by voids as much as by positive marks. Through this cutting and display, an intricate array of reflective shadows results. All of my projects are based heavily on research and have a strong connection to place. My work tends to have a fragile appearance, however, my recent projects are constructed primarily of steel and aluminum, giving them a high level of permanence while maintaining their delicacy.

Grizzly Bears Daggett Park Adrian Colburn San Francisco Public Art * 1-dsc_0111 The San Francisco Art Commission budget for this project was $193,000. The piece sits at the entry of a 453-unit development by Equity Residential, on the edge of what is now called Dagget Park.

San Francisco Public Art Bear

Jaques Overhoff and Margaret Mead

Posted by Cindy on September 14, 2015

Sep 142015

150 Otis Street
Mission/South of Market

This sculpture, by Jaques Overhoff, has sat on the side of 170 Otis Street, The Social Services Building, since 1977.

The abstract sculpture is accompanied by a poem by Margaret Mead. At this time I am unable to determine whether or not this is part of Overhoff’s intent or a separate art piece all together.

Jaques Overhoff, who has been in this site many times before was born in the Netherlands. He attended the Graphics School of Design at the School of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, and the University of Oregon. He moved to San Francisco in the late 1950s and was well known for his civic sculptures in a variety of styles.

Promised Land

Posted by Cindy on July 17, 2015

Jul 172015

10th and Market Streets
Mid-Market

As part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art program this 3500 square foot Public Open Space, at the corner of 10th and Market Street, was designed by Topher Delaney and Calvin Chin.

The “official” description reads:” …cartographic layers of maps reflecting the exact location of the site in graded finishes of granite reflecting a scaled map 1:42 of San Francisco, bisected by intersecting granite trapezoids. One is etched with topographic lines indicating the California Coast and the other is etched with the watercourses of the Sacramento River which flows into the Richmond Bay surrounding San Francisco. The confluence of these two trapezoidal maps is the reason the ground upon which Promised Land is located in the city of San Francisco as we know it.”

The “flooring” for Promised Land is a map linking the delta to the bay to the ocean, with the flow of water carved into the granite like a woodcut. Much of this from staff cartographer, David Swain.

There are two granite monoliths on one is the word Promised etched and then filled with gold coloring, on the other, in the same type face is Land.

The installation continues along the side of the building incorporating more of the stunning granite.

I am thrilled to see such a visceral and organic installation on this corner. It should really help to bring the mid-market area forward into a more human space.

The project costs were in the neighborhood of $1.7million.

NYCHOS

Posted by Cindy on March 30, 2015

Mar 302015

500 Geary
Lower Nob Hill

Austrian street artist NYCHOS is in town for the opening his show “Street Anatomy” at Fifty24SF Gallery on April 18th. In conjunction with the show, he has been putting up a few pieces around town.

According to his facebook page the Austrian urban art and graffiti illustrator Nychos was born in 1982 in Styria, Austria where he grew up in a hunting family. Getting confronted by the anatomy of dead animals at an early age and being an 80’s kid with an interest for cartoons and heavy metal ended up being some of the ingredients which inspired him when he started graffiti and painting at the age of 18. Over the years he developed a distinctive style which stands out – his dissections and cross sections of human and animal bodies are easily recognized. The focus and reinterpretation of dissected motives in a combination of colorful outlines can be seen as his branding. He is well known for his huge and technically outstanding art pieces in the urban environment as well as several gallery exhibitions. Nychos is the founder of Rabbit Eye Movement:

Rabbit Eye Movement (REM) originally started as a street art concept, created by the urban/graffiti artist and illustrator Nychos in 2005. It fueled and defined the artwork Nychos spread on the streets for the next seven years, and in 2012 he acquired a home for REM to live. Located in the heart of Vienna, the Rabbit Eye Movement Art Space is now a full time gallery and agency dedicated to pushing the same movement that created it.

“I created the ‘Rabbit Eye Movement’ as an homage to all the “Rabbits” out there who are active in the Urban Art Movement. It doesn’t matter what kind of mission they are following.”
– NYCHOS

Sprinter at the Koret

Posted by Cindy on February 2, 2015

Feb 022015

Koret Health and Recreation Center
2130 Fulton Street
Inner Richmond

This bronze sculpture sits directly to the right of the entry door to the University of San Francisco’s, Koret Health and Recreation Center.

It is an 8′ tall bronze by Edith Peres-Lethmate. According to the Smithsonian the sculpture is a large-scale version of a sculpture executed in 1976. The sculpture was commissioned by the University and was funded by the university’s Class of 1986.

According to the Koret blog ““Sprinter,” was originally created on a smaller scale in celebration of the 1984 Olympic games.”

Edith Peres-Lethmate was born 1927 in Koblentz Germany and is primarily known for her sports sculptures. Ms Peres-Lethmate still resides in Germany.

@Large Ai Weiwei Part 4

Posted by Cindy on January 16, 2015

Jan 162015

Alcatraz Island
September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015

There are two audio exhibits in this exhibition. The first can be found in the first floor, cell block A of the Cellhouse. Inside each cell, you can stand, although, as you can see, stools are provided, while you listen to spoken words, poetry, and music by people who have been detained for the creative expression of their beliefs, as well as works made under conditions of incarceration. There are 12 cells and each cell features a different recording. You can hear things as diverse as Tibetan singer Lolo, who has called for his people’s independence from China; the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, opponents of Vladimir Putin’s government; and the Robben Island Singers, activists imprisoned during South Africa’s apartheid era.

All of the audios can be heard here.

The poetry or spoken words are in the language of the author so Martin Luther King was the one that I most understood, however, music is universal and those were where I found myself spending the most time.

In the hospital area are two more audio installations. They are in side by side tiled chambers in the Hospital, that were once used for the isolation and observation of mentally ill inmates. They are a Tibetan Chant and the chants of the Eagle Dance of the Hopi. The Tibetan chant is a Buddhist ceremony for the goddess Palden Lhamo, protectress of Tibet; it was recorded at the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India, a monastery historically associated with the Dalai Lama. The Hopi music comes from a traditional Eagle Dance invoking the bird’s healing powers. Hopi men were among the first prisoners of conscience on Alcatraz, held for refusing to send their children to government boarding schools in the late 19th century. If you would like to get a sense of those two chants you can listen here.

What I came for, and was only slightly disappointed in, not because of the installation but because of the concept that you have to keep people an arms length away from art, was Blossom.

To me this is quintessential Ai Weiwei. The curator tells you that: The work could be seen as symbolically offering comfort to the imprisoned, as one would send a bouquet to a hospitalized patient. The profusion of flowers rendered in a cool and brittle material could also be an ironic reference to China’s famous Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956, a brief period of government tolerance for free expression that was immediately followed by a severe crackdown against dissent.

I have always felt that Ai Weiwei has a strong connection with porcelain and that his creative juices seem to flow through this medium.

One of my favorite Ai Weiwei quotes.

“The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.”

Refraction @Large Ai Weiwei Part 3

Posted by Cindy on January 15, 2015

Jan 152015

Alcatraz Island
September 27, 2014 to April 26 2015

Photo from the For-Site Foundation Website

You are not able to view this piece from any place other than the guards catwalk above the room, while peering through panes of glass, this is why I have had to take the photo from the website. It was a very foggy day when I was there and pictures of this installation piece were almost impossible.

The 8,000-pound sculpture is made of solar panels used to heat food in Tibet. The sculpture resembles a giant bird’s wing. The peering through the glass is another metaphor for imprisonment, and the concept of using Tibetan solar panels is a nod to Ai Weiwei’s statement that the entire country of Tibet is “imprisoned” by the Chinese.

$Pots on Refraction by Ai weiwei$ Notice the pots setting on the panels ready for the next meal to be cooked.

I encourage you to listen to the video produced for the exhibit to get a sense of how huge and difficult this piece was to construct.

$Refraction by Ai weiwei$

Lover’s Lane

Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2014

Dec 222014

Lover’s Lane
The Presidio

There is a small trail in the Presidio titled Lover’s Lane. It has a well known history that you can read on the plaque found at one end of what is still existing of this trail.

The sign reads: “This trail has witnessed the passing of Spanish soldiers, Franciscan missionaries and American soldiers of two centuries It is perhaps the oldest travel corridor in San Francisco. In 1776 this path connected the Spanish Presidio with the mission, three miles to the southeast. During the 1860s it became the main route used by off-duty solders to walk into San Francisco. Many of those men made the trip into town to meet their sweethearts, and the trail became known as Lovers’ Lane.”

Keep in mind that when they say walk into San Francisco, San Francisco at that time was the mission. However, what you also must keep in mind is that those three miles were sand dunes. That is right, not nice dirt trails, or gravel roads but hard to trod, rolling hills of sand.

This map is a compilation of several maps from the 1860’s, remember lovers lane began in 1776. I have underlined in red the Presidio at the top and the Mission on the bottom right. The original, and enlargeable map can be found here. It is part of the San Francisco Watershed Finder series of maps. This series of maps was put together with the help of Joel Pomerantz of ThinkWalks, Joel gives walks all over town to discuss these watersheds and the hidden streams and creeks of San Francisco.

If you aren’t really great at reading topo maps here are some photos from San Francisco, while from the late 1800s and early 1900s sand dunes were still prevalent.

Late 19th Century
The Richmond District looking towards Lone Mountain
Photograph from a Private Collection

Sunset District 1900 Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

Golden Gate Park construction with the Sunset District in the back – 1900
Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

So imagine how hard it must have been to trod for 3 miles over these sand dunes. Also, in 1776, these would have been the Spanish soldiers that came with Juan Bautista de Anza, and I am rather sure their boots weren’t the easiest to cross these sand dunes in either. The need to get back to town had to have been rather pressing to make a trek like that.

This bridge, which marks either the end or beginning of your trip, depending on where you start, was built around 1885. The bridge crosses Tennessee Hollow and a creek, whose source is El Polin Spring.

The presence of the spring was a reason that the Presidio was a viable place for a garrison. While not enough water for cattle and crops, which is why the Mission is 3 miles away, it was enough for horses and men. During the Spanish American War of 1898, the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment camped here, providing the name Tennessee Hollow.

While walking the Lover’s Lane path keep an eye out for Andy Goldsworthy’s Wood Line.

Abstract Sculpture in BART

Posted by Cindy on December 2, 2014

Dec 022014

16th and Mission
24th and Mission
Bart Stations
Mission District

These abstract, cast stone, pieces can be found in both the 16th and Mission and 24th and Mission BART stations.

The works are by William George Mitchell. Mitchell (born 1925) is an English sculptor, artist and designer. He is best known for his large scale concrete murals and public works of art from the 1960s and 1970s. His work is often of an abstract or stylised nature with its roots in the traditions of craft and “buildability”. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London.

After long years of neglect, many of William Mitchell’s remaining works in the United Kingdom are now being recognised for their artistic merit and contemporary historic value, and have been granted protective, listed status.

These pieces were some of the first art pieces to be placed in BART stations as part of the ART in BART program, and were installed sometime in the 1960’s.

Mission Branch Library and Leo Lentelli

Posted by Cindy on November 25, 2014

Nov 252014

Mission Branch Library
24th Between Bartlett and Orange Alley
Mission District

Leo Lentelli was one of San Francisco’s more prolific and well known sculptors during his time. Sadly very little of his work survives inside of the city. There is a beautiful piece at the Hunter Dunlin building downtown, and this sculpture over the original entry door on 24th Street of the Mission Branch Library.

Lentelli, an immigrant from Italy spent 1914-1918 in San Francisco. During that time he did a series of equestrian statues that were part of the Court of the Universe and his sculptures of Water Sprites for the Court of Abundance for the Pan Pacific Exposition

Lentelli created “Five Symbolic Figures,” a series of five statues representing Art, Literature, Philosophy, Science and Law, that were placed between the pillars above the entrance to the Old Main Library at Larkin Street. These works, made of cast stone were installed in 1918, the year after the Library opened, and were not intended to be permanent. Sadakichi Hartmann, writing for the Architecture and Engineer in 1918, praised these works for “their sturdiness of conception and attitude, their decorative expression, and a certain swing and freedom of handling.” To my horror upon learning this, and to the detriment of all, the Asian Art Museum, when taking over and renovating the Library, found that these works had deteriorated so much that no attempt was made to retain or restore them.

From the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection SFPL

The Mission Branch Library is part of the group of libraries built in San Francisco with William Carnegie monies, this particular building was built under the design guidelines of the Carnegie Standards.

California Grizzly

Posted by Cindy on October 15, 2014

Oct 152014

San Francisco Zoo
In Front of the California Grizzly Exhibit

This Grizzly sculpture is by Scientific Art Studio. From their website:

We are designers, sculptors, painters, welders, builders, crafters, fabricators, and – above all – dreamers. We live to see the world through new eyes, to laugh and play like children, and to explore boldly and fearlessly. We push boundaries and relish challenges.

For the past 33 years Scientific Art Studio has been the design and fabrication studio pushing the envelope of the latest fabrication techniques and bringing beautiful to everything we do. Under Ron Holythuysen’s creative direction, our multi-talented team has designed and built engaging exhibits, themed environments, immersive playgrounds, and engineered icons around the world.

Originaly sculpted and cast for an outdoor trail exhibit the bear statue was recast and placed in the interpretive center of Hearst Grizzly Gulch.

Recognized as the California state mammal and the symbol of the California state flag, the grizzly bear is now extinct in the state. Between 1800 and 1975, the grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states decreased from 50,000 to less than 1,000. The decline can be attributed to human development, livestock depredation control, commercial trapping and unregulated hunting.

The Carved Tree of San Francisco Zoo

Posted by Cindy on September 24, 2014

Sep 242014

San Francisco Zoo
In Front of the Mother’s House
Lakeside

This carved seat, surrounded by animals was done by Sean Eagleton, well known for his huge wood carvings on long dead trees. He prefers to call them “healing poles”. Shane feels that the huge healing poles, once planted at various points all over this earth will bring solace to Mother Earth and those that inhabit it.

Shane “Tonu” Eagleton is a Polynesian master wood carver, whose work can be found in Golden Gate National Park, the San Francisco Zoo, Presidio National Park, the California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, and Shoreline Amphitheater.

Shane has served as the Artist-In-Residence for The Cultural Conservancy in San Francisco, where he worked to preserve sustainable indigenous art traditions and use environmental art to educate people about the preciousness of the planet. Through Shane’s ecologically-based sculptures, wood block prints, furniture, and healing poles, he communicates the importance of using natural products from the Earth that have been abandoned as waste. All of Shane’s wood is salvaged from parks, dumps, and landfills. Through the restoration of indigenous wood carving traditions, Shane inspires communities to re-connect with their roots, protect endangered species and cultural traditions, and celebrate the mana (spiritual life force) that connects all things in the universe.

Koala

Penquin

Mother Kohola sculpture by Shane Eagleton on display at Crissy Field on San Francisco Bay at the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association’s Aloha Festival in 1996. It is carved from a single 5 ton 40 foot long 2000 year old abandoned redwood log salvaged from a defunct sawmill in Mendocino County, California.

Gwynn Murrill at the San Francisco Zoo

Posted by Cindy on September 15, 2014

Sep 152014

San Francisco Zoo
Sloat and The Great Highway
Lakeside

Cougar III by Gwynn Murrill

Gwynn Murrill is a Los Angeles based artist who received her MFA from UCLA in 1972. Murrill has three sculptures at the San Francisco Zoo. Cougar III and Tiger 2 are at the front entryway and Hawk V is located at the Koret Animal Resource Center.

Tiger 2

Gwynn Murrill has always worked with animals as her subject matter. Stripped of surface detail the sculptures are almost abstract in form.

Hawk V

The Arts Commission purchased Hawk V for $29,000. Tiger 2 was purchased for $85,000, and Cougar III for $65,000. All three sculptures were purchased with funds generated by the City’s percent-for-art program, which allocates 2% of capital projects for art enrichment.

While I think that all three of these sculptures are lovely, and truly adored by children that visit the zoo, I am not sure why Ms. Merrill (while a Californian, not a San Franciscan) has been given the exclusive commissions for the bronzes in the zoo. There are many bronzes sitting throughout the zoo and they are every bit as spectacular, including two by local Doctor Burt Brent.

Hans Shiller Plaza

Posted by Cindy on August 27, 2014

Aug 272014

Corner of Peabody and Leland
Visitation Valley

Opening in March 2001, Hans Schiller Plaza was the first Visitacion Valley Greenway site to be completed. Construction was supervised by the Trust for Public Land with funding from the Columbia Foundation founded by the late Madeleine Haas Russell. The gift was made in memory of her friend Hans J. Schiller.

Hans J. Schiller was a Bay Area architect and environmental activist. Mr. Schiller’ s career spanned more than 50 years. Schiller settled in the Bay Area in the 1940s and established the firm, Hans J. Schiller Associates, in Mill Valley. Schiller’s passion for his work was matched by his commitment to ensuring that people from all walks of life had access to parks and open space. It was these commitments that lead to his appointment by Governor Jerry Brown as Commissioner of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission in 1978.

The Landscape architect on the project were Sarah Sutton and Chris Kukula of Wolfe Mason and Associates.

The Visitacion Valley Greenway is composed of a linear series of six publicly owned parcels (each a block long), cutting a swath through the heart of Visitacion Valley. Over a period of 16 years it has been developed by the members of the Visitacion Valley Greenway Project in partnership with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (SFRPD) and the Trust for Public Land. Originally a PUC easement, it took 5 years of negotiations to gain permission to build the Greenway. The Visitacion Valley Greenway is a Parks Partner of the San Francisco Parks Trust.

Visitation Valley Greenway would never have been possible without the tireless effort of artists Fran Martin, Anne Seeman and Jim Growden.

Fran Martin, Design Coordinator for Visitacion Valley Greenway was responsible for the tile work.

Fran holds an MA in art and worked as a sculptor until 1995. In 1994 she began working full time as a co-ordinator of the Visitation Valley Greenway Project.

Jim Growden was the designer for the entry gates and fencing.

Jim received an M.A. in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1972. Jim worked as a sculptor of wood and steel, for 25 in San Francisco. In 1993 he moved to Visitacion Valley where he became involved with the Visitacion Valley Greenway.

Jim Growden has created 8 of the Greenway’s 12 signature gates and finials, as well as the cut steel images of native animals and plants seen at the Native Plant Garden, as well as on Leland Avenue.

Fran Martin created 2 of the Greenway’s gates, weir walls, tile work and patios with columns sites.

Heron’s Head Park

Posted by Cindy on July 28, 2014

Jul 282014

Heron’s Head Park
Evans and Jennings
Bay View / Hunter’s Point

Heron’s Head Park was “born” in the early 1970s, when the Port began filling the bay to construct what was to be the Pier 98 shipping terminal. The terminal construction never materialized, and the peninsula remained undeveloped.

Over years of settlement and exposure to the tides, a salt marsh emerged, attracting shorebirds, waterfowl and aquatic wildlife. In the late 1990s, with funding from the City and County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Port, the California Coastal Conservancy and the San Francisco Bay Trail Project, the Port undertook a major renovation of Pier 98.

The project enhanced and expanded the marsh by removing over 5,000 tons of concrete, asphalt, metal and other debris, created a tidal channel to improve circulation, and constructed upland trails, picnic and bird-viewing areas and a fishing pier. In 1999, the former Pier 98 officially reopened to the public as Heron’s Head Park, named for its resemblance – when viewed from the air – to one of its residents: the Great Blue Heron.

Heron’s Head Park is now used for education and recreation by thousands of walkers, bird-watchers, students, and visitors from around the City and the Greater Bay area, and more than 100 bird species each year.

The sculpture was created by Macchiarini Creative Design.

Macchiarini studio and gallery was founded by Peter Macchiarini and his wife Virginia. Upon Peter’s death the studio was taken over by his son Daniel, and now, his daughter Emma Macchiarini Mankin

Daniel started basic Metal Arts & Sculpture Training 1962-1970, with his father, Peter Macchiarini. He studied at S.F. State University (1971-73) Arts Major Honor Society, Pottery, Painting, Life Drawing, Glass and Bronze Foundry course work.

Macchiarini Studios worked with The Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ) group on this project. LEJ’s youth employment program trains paid interns to work on local issues relating to environmental health and food security. The interns bring a youth voice to neighborhood projects such as redevelopment of a naval shipyard Superfund site—the largest redevelopment project in the history of San Francisco.

SFAC Shame on You

Posted by Cindy on July 21, 2014

Jul 212014

1351 24th Avenue
Outer Sunset

This travesty sits in front of the San Francisco Department of Public Health Building.

The only photograph I could find was through the Smithsonian Institute.

The sculpture, titled Sailor and Mermaid, originally was made of copper sheets, cut, pounded, and welded, with bronze. It sits on a concrete pad. It was done in 1970 by Henry Marie-Rose.

Marie-Rose, who died in 2010, has been in this blog before with work both on a fire station in the financial district and about his work as a teacher. His death makes this even more tragic as it is now absolutely irreplaceable.

Photo from the Potrero View

There is absolutely no excuse for this piece to be in this state, especially as it sits in front of a San Francisco government building. The San Francisco Art Commission, which is the owner of the piece, has a lot to answer for.

UPDATE

I want to thank Joe Eskenazi for this wonderful follow up article. After he read my post he tracked down someone at the SFAC and the result was this article on Tuesday August 5th in SF Weekly

Raiders of the Lost Art: Another San Francisco Sculpture Goes Missing
By Joe Eskenazi
@EskSF

For 30-odd years, Cindy Casey and her husband, Michael, renovated ornate elements of city buildings and works of art here in San Francisco. Not so long ago, Michael died. Now Cindy maintains a blog about public art here in the city.

Or, sometimes, the lack thereof. On a recent trip past the Ocean Park Health Center on 24th Avenue, she was expecting to find Sailor and Mermaid, a glorious, 12-foot high copper sculpture crafted in 1970 by Henri Marie-Rose. Instead, all that remains is a stump roughly the size of a garden gnome.

As it turns out, the statue had been gone a long time.

Years ago, the artist’s son, Dr. Pierre-Joseph Marie-Rose, a pediatrician with the city’s Department of Public Health, visited the site for a meeting. He was shocked to find only the gnome-sized stump. He was even more shocked at the nonchalant explanation health center personnel offered him: They allowed the foliage to cover the sculpture for years and, when they finally cut it back, Sailor and Mermaid was gone.

The San Francisco Arts Commission believes the sculpture was swiped in the early 1990s. Dr. Marie-Rose made his serendipitous discovery in the late 1990s. It was left to him to inform his father of the loss.

In fact, Henri Marie-Rose’s lost work could stand in for any number of Arts Commission pieces. The body is undertaking a yearslong comprehensive survey to chart the whereabouts of its 4,000-plus items, many of which are unaccounted for. The commission has additionally loaned out some 754 works to 183 city agencies and offices. It does not know where many of them are.

The list of public artwork stolen or vandalized since 2007 runs to 15 pages. Among the more memorable losses are the serial thefts of the Mahatma’s spectacles from the Ferry Plaza Gandhi memorial; the filching of plaques from the Shakespeare Garden; and the theft of all four bronze tortoises from the eponymous Fountain of the Tortoises in Huntington Park. Hundreds of instances of graffiti are documented, including one wit who chose to scrawl “Just sit your fat ass down and relax” on the bronze chairs near the Church and Duboce Muni stop.

Kate Patterson-Murphy, the Arts Commission’s spokeswoman, urged concerned residents to report vandalism and contribute to the city’s ArtCare fund.

That won’t bring back Sailor and Mermaid, however.

Henri Marie-Rose died in 2010. His sole accounting on the Arts Commission’s list of public works is a copper relief emplacement on the exterior of a fire station on Sansome Street. It is mounted several stories above the sidewalk.

And, as such, it is still there.

Island Fever

Posted by Cindy on March 24, 2014

Mar 242014

50 8th Street
SOMA/Civic Center

I am a huge fan of Lady Mags and Amanda Lynn, and they have been on this website many times. I have also been walking by this piece for quite a while, admiring it and yet not quite having a chance to take pictures when it wasn’t blocked by cars. Finally, I had the chance, so here it is for your pleasure.

According to Amanda Lynn’s website:

Lady Mags and I (aka Alynn-Mags) recently completed the largest mural production we have ever created, and it all happened in less than 5 days! We were asked to collaborate with JanSport and their ‘Live Outside’ campaign, to create a mural any size and any content that we could imagine. Mags and I decided to go bigger than ever and create a piece that was enhanced by elements of our fine art collaborations, traditional graffiti, and of course some lovely ladies! We are so honored and humbled by all the amazing support we have received with this project, and look forward to doing many more. Stay tuned for the official campaign launch and accompanying video of the whole process.

If you follow this website often, you will notice that I have been doing fewer and fewer murals. The reason is they have become repetitive. I am in awe with anyone that can take brush or spray can to a wall and create something of beauty. However, the art of so many of the artists I have focused on in this website can be recognized without the help of a guide. The same might be said of Alynn-Mags, but it isn’t quite true. Their work, while often of beautiful women, are of the same genre, but the paintings themselves are each unique and beautiful.

I look forward to catching other great street artists breaking out of their molds.

Love and Marriage San Francisco Style

Posted by Cindy on February 14, 2014

Feb 142014

City Hall
South Light Court

In 2004, San Francisco General Hospital launched Hearts in San Francisco to generate revenue to support its numerous programs. This heart, in City Hall’s South light court, was part of that program. Designed by Deborah Oropallo the interlocking Heart, titled LOVE + MARRIAGE, was sponsored by Ambassador James Hormel and Timothy Wu. The heart displays the first names of many of the gay couples married in San Francisco in 2004.

ARTIST’S THOUGHTS: “I wanted to make a heart that would not just be decorative, but somehow be relevant to what is going on in San Francisco today. The list of same-sex names represents some of the 4,161 gay marriages that took place in 29 days, and has now become an important part of our city’s history. The names were done on my computer and printed onto canvas with a digital permanent pigment printer. At the center of the heart and the literal focal point are the names of Del Martin, 83, and Phyllis Lyon, 79, who were the first couple to get married on Feb 12. The names fade out away from the center like a drop of water in the middle and its ripple effect. I was extremely happy that the heart was appropriately placed on the spot where these marriages took place.”

Deborah Oropallo is a Bay Area painter and sculptor who has exhibited her work at various museums around the country including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. and the Whitney Museum in New York City.

Oropallo got her MA and MFA from the University of California, Berkeley

Whispering Dishes

Posted by Cindy on January 28, 2014

Jan 282014

Market Street and Yerba Buena Lane
Financial District

This exhibit is the first of a series titled Living Innovation Zones. Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) are new public spaces opening up along Market Street between Octavia and The Embarcadero. The LIZ’s are collaborationa between the community, innovators, and the City to enhance the public good, foster learning and sharing, and showcase innovation. The City plans to streamline permitting in order to boost participation in the program and bring more projects to sidewalks.

“Whispering Dishes” is the first exhibit, and is a partnership between the Exploratorium and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. It features two 8-foot-tall dishes facing each other on the sidewalk 50 feet apart. They focus sound in such a way that two people whispering across the 50-foot distance are able to hear each other even with surrounding street noise.

The project was funded through Indiegogo. The goal was $75,000. The amount raised was $32,696. with an additional $5000 matching funds by the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District (YBCBA).

This is the “Singing Bench.” It is next to the Whispering Dishes. If two people sit down, each places one bare arm or hand on the metal-plated armrests, then they hold hands with the other, a tune plays as a subtle electric current courses through this newly created circuit.

These two projects are some of the favorites at the Exploratorium on the Embarcadero, which is how they were chosen.

This piece no longer resides on Market Street

Windmills of Portola

Posted by Cindy on January 14, 2014

Jan 142014

Palega Park
500 Felton
Portola District

In November of 2013 eighty year old Palega Park underwent a $21.2 million Restoration.

The Park’s new clubhouse features a mosaic mural by Kelly Ording commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission through the city’s two-percent-for-art ordinance. Located behind the clubhouse’s portico windows and visible from the street, Windmills pays homage to the Portola’s past as the center of the city’s commercial flower industry. The mural cost $127,400.

According to Ording, “This mural contains four main elements that I found fascinating when researching this neighborhood; the wind, the windmills, the greenhouses and the fertile land. I used these elements to create an image of how this neighborhood may have once looked; calm and peaceful, yet, alive.”

The windmills and greenhouses featured in the mural were once abundant in the Portola District. The mural depicts three types of flowers, which were selected by the artist because of their specific meanings to the area. The California Poppy represents resilience and beauty, the Maltese Cross reflects the diversity of the people who call the neighborhood home, and the Rose recalls a time when the Portola’s many nurseries supplied cut flowers to the city.

Kelly Ording a San Francisco, Bay Area born artist received her B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000

Tile Benches at Alta Plaza

Posted by Cindy on January 13, 2014

Jan 132014

Alta Plaza
Steiner/Clay/Scott/Jackson
Pacific Heights

There are two benches in the children’s area of Alta Plaza Playground covered in beautiful tile mosaics.

Commissioned by Friends of Alta Plaza Park, the artist, Aileen Barr, combined handmade tile and mosaic to create the two seating walls for the newly renovated playground. A series of donor tiles are integrated into the design, which display the names of community members who contributed to the fund for the renovation. The seating walls measure 30 ft and 50 ft in length.

Aileen Barr has been in this website many times, you can see her other work here.

The scope of this renovation was focused on the play area, which was renovated to comply with the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guidelines for playground safety, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Title 24 of the California Building Code. An accessible route to the play area was provided as a part of the project, along with ADA renovations to the existing restroom. The cost of the renovation was $817,850.

Stefan Novak and Redwood

Posted by Cindy on November 15, 2013

Nov 152013

Clipper and Diamond Heights Blvd
Noe Valley/Twin Peaks

This piece titled Redwood Sculpture, was done in 1968 by Stefan Novak.

Mr. Novak and his family are very private people, so there is little information regarding the artist. He was an instructor in the architecture department at UC Berkeley. He was born on August 22, 1918 and died on April 29, 2006 at 87 years old.

The piece is owned by the SFAC.

Goldsworthy III

Posted by Cindy on November 1, 2013

Nov 012013

San Francisco Presidio
Main Parade Ground
Anza and Sheridan

This is the third installation of Andy Goldsworthy’s at the Presidio in San Francisco. It is titled Tree Fall. There are two other Goldsworthy’s on the Presidio Grounds that have appeared in this site before and can be seen here.

The exhibit is in the Old Stone Powder Magazine on the Main Parade Ground. The room is 20 X 17 feet with walls two feet thick. The building dates to 1863, is one of the oldest structures at the fort and has never been opened to the public. Originally a domed roof topped the structure. This was so that in the event of an explosion the blast would project upward. The tile roof was added in 1941 as the post adopted a uniform Mission style of architecture. The building was used to store blank rounds for the daily 5pm evening gun salute until 1994 when the Army departed the post.

Goldsworthy’s team was not allowed to touch the walls. They built four walls inside the four walls with ventilation holes along the bottom, they then put in a dropped ceiling and poured a cement floor.

The tree is a Eucalyptus felled during the reconstruction of Doyle Drive.

An assembly line of community volunteers were brought in to mix the clay. The primary material was dirt unearthed during excavation for the nearby officers’ club restoration. The binding agent is a combination of straw and human hair from local salons. The clay was then put on by Goldsworthy himself.

“There is a lot of love and understanding with clay that has been won over many years,” he says, “and you never know how it will turn out.”

His hope was that the clay would dry and crack into puzzle pieces, to give the art detail and intricacy. This is a concept that Goldsworthy has been refining since he first built a clay wall, at the Haines Gallery at 49 Geary St., in 1996 (shown here in a San Francisco Chronicle Photograph). The Haines Gallery is the founder of the Fore-Site Foundation, and curator of all three of Goldsworthy’s installation at the Presidio.

Please don’t get me wrong. I have been a big, big fan of Andy Goldsworthy since I first discovered his book Stone in 1994, and I do own every one of his books. I also have traveled out of my way by many miles to see an installation if there is one near where I am. However, it is time, Presidio Trust and For-Site Foundation, to give other artists space. We have so very many great artists in California, and especially the city of San Francisco, it is time we honored them with space as unique and fabulous as the public space of the Presidio.

The textures and play of light in this exhibit are a photographers dream.

This is the only light that enters the magazine.

The plaque reads:

OLD STONE POWDER MAGAZINE
Constructed by the U.S. Army
After the presidio was occupied
by American Forces
Built of materials salvaged from earlier
Spanish of Mexican structures
It dates back to the period of 1847-1863
Plaque presented by the Presidio Society Inc.
1958

The public can view the exhibit on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm through December 1, or on weekdays by reservation.

The Artist of Cayuga Playground

Posted by Cindy on October 29, 2013

Oct 292013

Cayuga and Naglee Avenue
Outer Mission

In 2011 I read this wonderful article in Conversations.org and was intrigued to visit Cayuga Park and Demetrio Braceros’ work. I drove to Cayuga Playground to discover that it was closed. The sign said it would reopen in a few months. Alas, the work took until August of 2013 to actually finish the work.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

…Demetrio was born in the Philippines. He had taught industrial arts there. He’d come to the Bay Area in 1977, I think He’d worked at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park for three years.

I didn’t get the details about how he was given responsibility for the undeveloped parcel of land on Cayuga Street, but it happened in 1986, twenty years ago. At that time the place was just a raw stand of weeds and unkempt trees. In the neighborhood, he told us, “there were prostitutes, drug dealers and crime. People got killed up there,” Demetrio told us, pointing to houses along the southern edge of the park. It was bad. “I thought to myself, how can I help this place?” he told us.

Speaking to Carlo, he tried to explain himself by quoting a biblical reference, “Let there be Light.” It was hard to make out the words. Demetrio took Carlo by the arm and we all walked over to another one of his sculptures, a bust which might have been the head of Jesus. It was hard to say, but under it was written, “Let there be Light.” Demetrio pointed to it. “There was darkness here,” he said. “Evil. It needed light.” “These are not mine,” he said, speaking of all the pieces of sculpture he’d made. Across the language barrier I made out something like this: “Whatever this creative ability it is that has been given to me, it is not mine to claim for myself, but to use for the good of all.” All that he did, he told us, was for someone else: his employer, “the taxpayers,” he said, pointing to us. It went beyond that, I knew.

The explanation was another piece of shorthand. Braceros, as best I could understand, landscaped the entire site, choosing the plants and getting them planted, and he’s maintained it ever since. But that was only the beginning of his work, the part he was being paid to do. There was another part, the part he felt called to do for other reasons. All the wood for his carvings comes from the park itself, he told us. The first large piece came from a big Monterey Cypress that had blown over. “Here it is, over here,” he said, leading us to an impressive carved figure that, somehow, I’d missed before. It was tucked into a half circle of large bushes. He explained that the piece showed a man reading “The Book of Knowledge.” As he searched for words to explain his idea more fully, I remembered what he’d said when my wife and I had met him earlier: “I wanted to inspire the kids.” This piece was about the importance of learning, of getting an education…

The City of San Francisco and the SFAC worked with conservators to stabilize roughly 130 of Braceros’s sculptures. The process entailed removing the sculptures from the park, clearing away accumulated detritus such as dirt, mold and bugs, and applying a protective coating to help the artworks better withstand the elements. The revitalized sculptures are on display throughout the park, while the remainder are in storage or have been left in place to be reclaimed by the soil.

There are entirely too many sculptures for me to show them all to you here, but one day, take a stroll in the Cayuga Playground and just marvel at the work of Demetrio Braceros, and celebrate the fact that the city did right by Mr. Braceros, the neighbors, and the park by maintaining the sculptures as an integral part of the design.

Demetrio retired in 2008.

L’Octagon by Pol Bury

Posted by Cindy on April 16, 2013

Apr 162013

353 Sansome Street
The Financial District

L’Octagon by Pol Bury – Marble and Steel

L’Octagon is a result of the 1% for Art program in San Francisco. It is available for viewing between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. M-F

This lovely sculpture actually moves. The balls slightly fill with water on the bottom and roll approximately 90 degrees, once the water drains they roll back to their upright position.

Pol Bury was born on April 26, 1922 in Haine-Saint-Pierre, Belgium. In 1939 he met the poets Achille Chavée and Andre Lorent and joined their Groupe de recherches surréalistes (Surrealist research group): Ruptures. He then discovered the work of Tanguy and started to paint, influenced by the work of René Magritte.

In 1947 Bury turned towards abstract painting and entered the Jeune Peinture Belge (Young Belgian Painting) group. In 1949 Bury broke away from the group and committed himself to geometric abstraction.

After seeing the Alexander Calder exhibition at the Maeght Gallery in Paris in 1950, Bury began to move away from painting towards three-dimensional work. He moved to Paris in 1961. He became professor at Paris’s Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (National School of Fine Arts), where he led a class in monumental sculpture until 1987.

Pol Bury died on September 27, 2005 at the age of 83, in Paris.

The public art requirement created by the downtown plan is commonly known as the “1% for Art” program. This requirement, governed by Section 429 of the Planning Code, provides that construction of a new building or addition of 25,000 square feet or more within the downtown C‐3 district, triggers a requirement that provide public art that equals at least 1% of the total construction cost be provided.

Credit is given to Pol Bury at the cornerstone of the building.

Harvey Milk Rec Center

Posted by Cindy on April 15, 2013

Apr 152013

50 Scott
Castro

This saying is over the back entry way to the Harvey Milk Recreation Center. It is in Architectural foam and is by Michael Davis and Susan Schwartzenberg.

This phrase comes from “A City of Neighborhoods,” speech Harvey Milk delivered during his inaugural dinner after his election to the Board of Supervisors in 1977. “Let’s make no mistake about this: the American dream starts with the neighborhoods, If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods. and to do that we must understand that the quality of life is more important than the standard of living…”

The artists said that as daylight shifts across the buildings facade, Milk’s words are revealed, obscured, and then reappear, reminding us of his enduring influence throughout the passage of time.

Susan Schwartzenberg works as an independent artist and holds a senior artist position at the Exploratorium. She has taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, California College of Art, and Stanford University, and is a Loeb Fellow for Advanced Environmental Studies in The School of Design at Harvard University. Recent endeavors include works for the Stanford School of Medicine, San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Office of Cultural Affairs in Los Angeles. At the Exploratorium, she has developed numerous projects exploring the intersections of art and science. She is currently principal curator for the Observatory—a social and environmental look at the contemporary San Francisco landscape scheduled to open at piers 15 and 17 in 2013.

Susan was also one of the artists on the Philosophers Walk at McClaren Park.

Michael Davis is a native of Los Angeles, and received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts from Cal State Fullerton. He lives and works in San Pedro, CA. Davis’ sculptures and installations can be found in public, private, and institutional settings throughout the country. His public art collaborations can be found in North Hollywood, Dallas, Miami, and Anaheim, and he is working to complete projects for Santa Monica, San Antonio, New York, Santa Fe Springs, San Jose, and Long Beach.

This piece was commissioned for the SF Rec and Parks Department by the SFAC for $62,000.

Called to Rise

Posted by Cindy on April 13, 2013

Apr 132013

235 Pine Street
Financial District

Called to Rise features individuals who have contributed significantly to the history of San Francisco. The figures include, Juan Bautista De Anza, Eadweard Muybridge, Makato Hagiwara, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Chingwah Lee, Ishi, Alfred Louis Kroeber, Philip Burton, Amadeo Peter Giannini, Benjamin Franklin Norris, Timothy Pflueger, Douglas Tilden, Kurt Herbert Adler, Mary Ann Magnin, Harry Bridges, Robert Dollar, John C. Young, Howard Thurman, John Swett, Charlotte Amanda Blake Brown, Michael Maurice O’Shaughnessey.

Done in 1990 the sculptor was Thomas Marsh who has another piece here in San Francisco.

This bronze is part of the San Francisco 1% for Art Program.

The two bronze panels on each side of the door below the light explain the contributions of each person. Links are provided to art works representing the appropriate person or structure.

Juan Bautista de Anza (2735-c1788) Between 774 and 1776, De Anza brought settlers across vast deserts of the Spanish Southwest, without loss of life, into Alta California and the Bay of San Francisco.

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) Muybridge took a series of photographs at the Stanford Farm in Palo Alto that led directly to the invention of the motion picture camera.

Makato Hagiwara (1854-1925) Hagiwara conceived of the idea of the “fortune cookie” and, together with his son established the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.

Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919) Mother of William Randlolph Hearst, the San Francisco newspaper tycoon, Mrs. Hearst devoted herself to the improvement and expansion of the University of California.

Chungwah Lee (1901-1980) Lee, a Hollywood actor for 40 years helped establish Boy Scout Troop 3, the first all-chinese troop in the United States and the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Ishi (c1860-1916) Alfred Louis Kroeber (1876-1960) Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi people, worked in association with Kroeber to document the vanished language, customs, and values of his people.

Philip Burton (1926-1983) As author of the Golden Gate National Recreation Act, U.S. Congressman Burton helped preserve the headlands of Marin and northern edges of the San Francisco peninsula.

Amadeo Peter Giannini (1870-1949) Giannini established the Bank of Italy in North Beach, which he latr developed into the Bank of America, the premier bank of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin Norris (1870-1902) A writer of fiction, Norris helped establish the reputation of San Francisco as a romantic seaport city, alive with mystery and adventure.

Timothy Pflueger (1892-1946) Pflueger’s notable architectural achievements include the Pacific Stock Exchange Building, the Castro Theater, the Pacific Telephone Building on New Montgomery Street, and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Douglas Tilden (1860-1935) Tilden is famous for his bronze sculptures; the Mechanics Monument on Market Street and the Baseball Player and Junipero Serra statues in Golden Gate Park.

Kurt Herbert Adler (1905-1988( Under Adler, the San Francisco Opera won fame for its bold re-staging of classics and its willingness to produce new or previously obscure works.

Mary Ann Magnin (1849-1943) Magnin, a pioneer business woman opened a notions and fine needlework shop which later grew into I. Magnin & Co., specializing in imported European clothing.

Harry Bridges (1901-1990) Bridges, a longshoreman on the docks of San Francisco played a major role in a coastwide strike spearheaded by the International Longshoreman’s Association

Robert Dollar (1844-1932) Dollar is considered a pioneer in the evolution of San Francisco as in important trade and shipping center for the Asia Pacific Basin in the early twentieth century.

John C. Young (1912-1987) An Engineer from Stanford University, Young devoted himself to the improvement of San Francisco’s Chinatown and helped found the annual Chinese New Years Parade.

Howard Thurman (1900-1981) As a preacher writer and social activist, Reverend Thurman helped establish the intellectual and moral foundations of the Civil Rights Movement in America.

John Swett (1830-1913) Devoted to teaching and developing the public schools of San Francisco Swett helped form Lowell High School and pioneered the education of children in preparation for college.

Charlotte Amanda Blake Brown (1846-1904) Dr. Brown, a specialist in the care of women and children helped found Children’s Hospital. She also played a major role in establishing nursing education in San Francisco.

Michael Maurice O’Shaughnessey (1864-1934) As city engineer O’Shaughnessey laid out the municipal railway streetcar system and is mainly noted for his contributions to the Hetch Hetchy water and power system.

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