8th and Mission
SOMA
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These two bas-reliefs in cast stone, titled Power and Light, sit on the 8th Street side of the Pacific Gas and Electric Mission Substation. The building was designed in 1948 by William Merchant. The sculptor was Robert B. Howard.
William Gladstone Merchant was a San Francisco architect who trained in the offices of John Galen Howard and Bernard Maybeck. Merchant obtained his architectural license in 1918 and from 1917 to 1928, worked in the office of George W. Kelham. Merchant opened his own firm in San Francisco in 1930, designing a number of commercial buildings in San Francisco. From 1932-1939, he was the consulting architect for the San Francisco Recreation Commission; he was also a member of the Architectural Commission of Golden Gate International Exposition (1939). William G. Merchant & Associates was the successor firm to Bernard Maybeck.
A sculptor and painter, Robert Boardman Howard was born in New York City on September 20, 1896, the son of Mary Bradbury and architect John Galen Howard. At six years of age Robert Howard moved to Berkeley, CA with his family. Upon graduating from Berkeley High School, he studied art at the California School of Arts and Crafts under Xavier Martinez. He moved on to the University of California and studied under Worth Ryder and Perham Nahi, and with Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League in New York City. Howard was married to highly successful artist Adeline Kent, from Kentfield, California. He died in 1983.
On September 16, 1964, San Francisco artist Mary McChesney interviewed Robert Howard. Howard speaks of his background and education; his early paintings and sculptures; his involvement with the Federal Art Project in San Francisco; Coit Tower; and his opinions of federal support for the arts, you can read the transcript here.
Howard worked on many public projects in his lifetime, including Coit Tower. One highly recognizable piece is in the Mural Room at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.
