Cindy

Urban Pollination

 Posted by on October 2, 2012
Oct 022012
 

Rincon
SOMA

The Lansing Street Pollinator Garden is a temporary garden and art installation at the 45 Lansing street site in the Rincon Hill Neighborhood of San Francisco. Rebar is collaborating with the Pollinator Partnership and the property owners of the 45 Lansing Street Site to bring you a pollinator garden and educational exhibit. The garden was installed in the spring of 2010 and will be on display for the 1-2 years before development plans move forward on the site.

The garden features circular planting beds made from rice straw wattle— tubes of straw wrapped in burlap. This material is entirely biodegradable. Beds are planted with a variety of pollinator attracting plants including: purple lupines, white yarrow, blue gilias, flax, orange California poppies, baby blue eyes, pink and white clarkias, red chinese houses, and purple owl’s clover.

Appearing in the garden are a series of pollinator sillhouettes. These silhouettes are large scale versions of the very types of species that are likely to appear in the garden over the coming year including the Mission blue checkerspot, Mission Bay checkerspot, Anna’s humming bird, and the honey bee.

The Rebar studio is a cross-disciplinary practice for solving the design problems of the commons.

They believe that the human environment—public space in particular—should be infused with ecological knowledge, resilient to changing social conditions, responsive to creative impulses, and filled with opportunities for benevolence, conviviality and delight, and design to make that happen.

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Street SmARTS Mural at 485 Scott Street

 Posted by on October 1, 2012
Oct 012012
 

485 Scott Street
Western Addition/NOPA

Marina Perez-Wong (aka Micho P. Wong) is an artist participating in Community Arts and Education’s StreetSmARTS program. As a native San Franciscan, Marina bridges the gap between the fine art world and the public with site-specific works of San Francisco’s Mission District. Marina is the recipient of many awards including the Precita Eyes Community Center Mural Award. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions including the Precita Eyes Benefit at SOMArts and the Children with AIDS Benefit at 111 Minna Gallery.

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Marina designed and painted this colorful mural at 485 Scott Street, which includes images of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square Park and other historic San Francisco landmarks. She collaborated with the building’s owner to design a mural that reflects contemporary San Francisco.

With the help of her long-time friend and fellow painter, Ernesto Aguilar, Marina explains the imagery she chose for the mural in this short video. Marina and Ernesto speak about their previous collaborations and explain how StreetSmARTS has allowed them to give back to their community

The Giants mural they speak of in the video can be seen here.

Richard Mayer at Hastings Law School

 Posted by on September 30, 2012
Sep 302012
 
Civic Center
Hastings Law School
200 McAllister at Hyde
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 I would like to extend a big thank you to Suzanne Parks, the Volunteer Art Curator at Hastings Law School for this information.

This sculpture  is titled “Gary Diptych #1” and is by San Francisco Bay area artist Richard Mayer. He loaned Hastings the sculpture back in the early 1980’s and then gave it to them in 2008.

In his statement, the artist said: With its affirmation and ambiguity, “Gary Diptych #1 is intended as a metaphor for our times.

Mayer sat on the board of the SFAC when Arneson was chosen to make the, at the time, highly controversial sculpture for a memorial to slain mayor George Moscone

Penguin’s Prayer

 Posted by on September 29, 2012
Sep 292012
 

1100 Lake Merced Blvd.
Sunset District

Penguin’s Prayer
by Beniamino Bufano

Placed by
Lake Merced Neighborhood Organization
Bufano Society of the Arts
Dedicated December 4, 1976

 

This sculpture by prolific, and San Francisco darling, Benny Bufano was originally made for the Treasure Island Golden Gate Exposition of 1939.

Garden of Remembrance

 Posted by on September 28, 2012
Sep 282012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Head by Shu-hie Yang – Student work

This piece resides in the Garden of Remembrance.

The Garden of Remembrance is located in the quiet courtyard between Burk Hall and the Fine Arts Building, it was dedicated in 2002. It honors the 19 former SF State students who were pulled from their classes under U.S. military and government orders and forced to live in remote camps across the country during World War II, along with the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who suffered the same fate.

Designed by Japanese American artist and honorary SF State Master of Fine Arts recipient Ruth Asawa, the garden contains 10 boulders that serve as symbolic reminders of the different internment camps. A waterfall on the east side of the memorial represents energy and renewal, and the Japanese Americans’ return to their homes. The garden also features a plaque, which provides historical information regarding internment and the SF State Students directly affected by it.

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Aristides Demetrios At SFSU

 Posted by on September 27, 2012
Sep 272012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Caring by Aristides Demetrios

Aristides Demetrios has several pieces around San Francisco. Aristides Burton Demetrios (1932-  ) was born and raised in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was the renowned author and illustrator of children’s books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and The Little House, for which she won the prestigious Caldecott prize. After graduating from Harvard College, Mr. Demetrios spent three years as an officer in the Navy and then studied at the George Demetrios School for three years. In 1963, he won his first national sculpture competition when his proposed design was selected for a major fountain commission on the campus of Stanford University (The White Memorial Fountain: “Mem Claw” ). Shortly thereafter, he was chosen to be the sculptor for a public art commission in Sacramento in front of the County Courthouse; subsequently, he was selected by David and Lucille Packard to design and fabricate the sculpture to grace the entry to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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William Wareham at SFSU

 Posted by on September 26, 2012
Sep 262012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Buckeye and the Benches by William Wareham
In front of the Gymnasium

Buckeye is an abstract modern sculpture.To enhance its functionality,Wareham was commissioned to build three benches consistent to the central piece. Throughout his distinguished career as a sculptor, William Wareham has remained true to his inner spirit, capturing viewer’s consciousness through his powerful abstract works. A compatriot of Mark di Suvero, Wareham creates works with a strong common thread, using recycled steel as his primary material. Featured in many strong National collections, William Wareham achieves some of the most consistently accomplished compositions in contemporary sculpture.

His impressive education includes:

1971 MFA University of California, Berkeley, CA
1969 MA University of California, Berkeley, CA
1964 BFA Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1964-67 Peace Corps, Cuzco, Peru
1963 Yale university, Award Scholarship, Summer Program of Music and Art, Norfolk, CT
1962 University of the Americas, Mexico City, Mexico

 

The Mathematical Concept of Tau in Sculpture

 Posted by on September 25, 2012
Sep 252012
 

160 Spear Street
SOMA’s Financial District

Tau by Roger Berry – Stainless Steel – 1984
96″ Diameter 14″ Deep

Each of the four intersecting cones of Tau describes the form of the solar year. The forward side is in full light in the winter the back surfaces are filled with the summer sun. The building to the south of Tau casts a shadow on the sculpture much of the day.

A prominent and highly respected northern California sculptor, Roger Berry, who has been called a “monumental master” has been commissioned to make over 30 site-specific sculptural works for municipalities and corporations from the West Coast to the United Kingdom. Berry attended Raymond College at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California and graduated in 1972.

This piece is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program.

Asian Pacific Celebration

 Posted by on September 24, 2012
Sep 242012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER MURAL David Cho & Albert Yip

Created in 2004, The Asian & Pacific Islander Mural tells the story of hard-working and determined people who fought for the rights of their community, as well as honoring those who continue the fight today.

Among the people included on the mural are: Yuri Kochiyama, Angel Santos, Mohandas Gandhi, Tupua Tamasese, Queen Liliuokalani, Queen Salote, Lakshmi Bai, Larry Dulay Itliong, Ahn Chang Ho and Haunani-Kay Trask.

The Japanese American Redress and Reparations, Third World Strike at SFSU, Chinatown Red Guard Party and the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan also appear on the mural, as well as a kava bowl, a central tree with Elephants of Laos, rice stalks and a dove.

Kochiyama, who is a Bay Area native, is a strong voice for ethnic studies and workers’ rights and works towards reparations for the Japanese-Americans incarcerated during World War II. She is shown on the mural with her fist held tightly in the air.

Surrounding Kochiyama on the mural are Gandhi, Santos – who served as democratic senator in the Guam legislatures; former Samoan Head of State Tamasese – who was one of the framers of the Constitution of Samoa; and the depiction of rice stalks and a dove – which are symbolic of peace.

The last monarch of the Hawai’ian islands, Queen Liliuokalani, sits near a central tree with three Elephants of Laos, which represent the different regions and cultures of Laos, and a large kava bowl, which signifies unity and hospitality.

Also shown on the mural is Queen Salote, who was the Queen of Tonga from 1918-1965, and was the last monarch in Polynesia. Positioned near Salote is Bai, who was the queen of a principality called Jhansi in northern India in the 17th century. Only in her 20s, she was a great heroine of India’s War of Independence in 1857 against the British. Embodying nationalism and heroism, she died in the revolt.

The far right of the mural features Itliong who was the founder of the Filipino Farm Labor Union in California in 1956, cofounder of the United Farm Workers of America, and a key organizer and vice president of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee. Near him is Ho, who established the Young Korean Association, and was a leader and organizer in the early Korean American community and Korean Independence Movement. Lastly, Trask is shown with her fist clenched in the air. She is a professor of Hawai’ian Studies at the University of Hawai’i and a Native Hawaiian nationalist.

The mural was commissioned by the Student Center Governing Board and is located on the South Plaza of Cesar Chavez Student Center.

 

200 California Street

 Posted by on September 23, 2012
Sep 232012
 

200 California Street
Financial District

Hawaiian by Gwynn Murrill – Bronze- 2002

This is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program.

San Francisco’s “Downtown Plan” adopted in 1985, was developed under the fundamental assumption that significant employment and office development growth would occur. New commercial development would provide new revenue sources to cover a portion of the costs of necessary urban service improvements. Specific programs were created to satisfy needs for additional housing, transit, childcare, open space, and art. The public art requirement created by this 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.

 Gwynn Murill was born in Michigan and raised in Southern California, Murrill received her BFA and MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Hidden Sea near Moscone Center

 Posted by on September 22, 2012
Sep 222012
 

321 Clementina
SOMA

Hidden Sea by Ned Kahn 2000

Recipient Organization: Tenants and Owners Development Corporation

In late 1999, artist Ned Kahn collaborated with the staff of the Tenants and Owners Development Corporation (TODCO) and the residents of their housing projects to create a public artwork for the exterior wall of Ceatrice Polite apartment building at Fourth and Clementina Streets. The apartment is in the Yerba Buena redevelopment area.

Ned Kahn’s public artworks encourage people to observe and interact with natural processes. Upon talking with the advisory group, his concept for this project became to create a piece that captures the feeling of watching a field of tall grass blowing in the wind. Both Kahn and John Elberling, Executive Vice President of TODCO, felt that the residents would benefit from being offered a glimpse into a natural phenomenon, a bit of calm and beauty in the context of their increasingly dense and bustling urban landscape.

The artwork, “Hidden Sea” consists of 6,000 small aluminum “leaves” mounted in an aluminum framework and hinged to move freely in the wind. The individual leaves measure three inches by three inches and are held by low friction bearings. The entire 40-foot tall by 25-foot wide artwork reveals the shape of the wind and creates the intended impression of waves in a field of metallic grass. The mirror-like surfaces of the aluminum leaves reflect light from different parts of the sky and the surrounding buildings.

“Hidden Sea” was fabricated by Ace Precision Machine in Santa Rosa and assembled in Ned Kahn’s studio. Benji Young and Michael Ehrlich of Young Rigging in San Francisco installed the artwork at the beginning of the year 2000.

Ned Kahn writes of the context for this project:

For the last 15 years, I have created public artworks that use wind, water, fog and other natural processes as their primary medium. Many of these artworks were intended to reveal a hidden or unnoticed force in the site such as the air currents or the ambient light from the sky. The design of a number of these projects was based on an aspect of the natural history or geology of the region that was not commonly known. My artworks often function as small-scale “observatories” in that they frame and enhance our perception of natural phenomena and create places that encourage contemplation.

 

Ode to Hank

 Posted by on September 21, 2012
Sep 212012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

ODE TO HANK by Terry Marashlian Created in 2008

This installation piece replaced “Midnight Hour,” an installation piece by Hank De RIcco. “Midnight Hour” was five wooden totems that stood on the campus for twenty years, but outdoor exposure had deteriorated them beyond repair. Campus Officials and artist Terry Marashlian, an instructor and former student at SFSU, decided to honor the totems by recreating them using aluminum coated with a specially engineered finish normally used for automobiles and marine vessels.These are located on the North side wall of Cesar Chavez Student Center.

 

 Hank DiRicco’s Midnight Hour

Carlos II, King of Spain Gazes out over Harding Park

 Posted by on September 19, 2012
Sep 192012
 

7-99 Harding Road
Lake Merced – Sunset District

The sculpture of Carlos III was a gift to the city from King Juan Carlos I of Spain in honor of the Bicentennial of the City of San Francisco.

CARLOS III, KING OF SPAIN

Settler of California, champion of the cause of the American
Independence, who directed Colonel Don Juan Bautista de Anza
to establish a presidio, a mission and a city in San Francisco,
in the year 1776.

Donated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain on the Bicentennial of
the City of San Francisco, 1976.

Federico Coullaut – sculptor

Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia (1912–1989) was a Spanish sculptor. The son of sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut-Valera, he was born in Madrid.
He continued the work begun by his father in the Plaza de España. Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia finished the monument in this square between 1956 and 1957. Another statue of Carlos III by Coullaut-Valera stands in Olvera Street, Los Angeles. It was presented in 1976 and dedicated by Juan Carlos I of Spain and Sofia of Spain in 1987. Carlos had ordered the founding of the town that became Los Angeles.

This statue was relocated from Justin Herman Plaza, along with Juan Bautista de Anza in 2003. At that time he was placed upon a new base. The bronze is 9-1/2 ‘ H x 38 ” W x 44 ” D and weighs approximately 2000 pounds.

Juan Bautista de Anza at Lake Merced

 Posted by on September 18, 2012
Sep 182012
 

Lake Merced

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This equestrian statue of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, founder of the City San Francisco, is located in a parking lot off Lake Merced Boulevard on the north shore of the Lake. A plaque, in both Spanish and English, on the statue base reads:

As a high tribute to an illustrious historical
figure born in Sonora, founder of
the City of San Francisco and with the purpose of
strengthening the friendly ties between the
peoples of Mexico and of the United States,
the state of Sonora of the Republic of Mexico
presents this statue to the City of San Francisco
this month of August of 1967,
at which time Lic. Luis Encinas was governor
of Sonora, the Honorable Ronald Reagan
Governor of California and the Honorable
John F. Shelly mayor of the City
of San Francisco.

The artist is Julian Martinez, a prolific sculptor of heroic Hispanic figures, about whom very little is known.

Juan Bautista de Anza found an overland route from Sonora Mexico to San Francisco in 1776.  Anza’s diary tells of him camping at Mountain Lake Park near what is now Lake Street as he explored the area. From what is assumed to be the Golden Gate Bridge overlook area he chose the site for the Presidio. He then proceeded to the southeast to select the site for Mission Dolores. In 1990, Congress acknowledged the significance of the Anza expeditions by establishing the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. The sculpture was a gift to the City from Luis Encina, the Governor of the State of Sonora, Mexico in 1967. Sculpture dimensions:Bronze: 11-1/2 ‘ H x 42” W x 70 “, weighs approximately 8,000 lbs.

This statue, along with Carlos III of Spain resided in Justin Herman Plaza.  In 2003 they were moved to Lake Merced to accommodate construction.The original intent was to have the two statues together near the de Anza National Historic Trail.  That did not happen. Why Lake Merced was chosen is unknown.

The pedestal was recast when de Anza was moved to Lake Merced.

Firefly on the new SFPUC Building

 Posted by on September 17, 2012
Sep 172012
 

525 Golden Gate Avenue
Civic Center

This is the new Public Utilities building in San Francisco.  It is touted as one of the more “green buildings” built in the US. Four egg-beater-like wind turbines are on view behind a 200-foot-high, 22-foot-wide curtain of polycarbonate squares called Firefly.

Ned Kahn’s Firefly is a lattice of tens of thousands of five-inch-square, clear-polycarbonate panels that are hinged so that they can freely move in the wind. During the day, the ever-changing wind pressure profile on the building appears as undulating waves. At night, this movement is converted into light. As the wind presses the hinged panels inward a small embedded magnet connected to an electrical reed switch triggers the flickering of tiny LED lights. The lights are colored to mimic fireflies which are a threatened species due to their dependence on riparian ecosystems. The entire sculpture requires less energy than a 75-Watt light bulb.

 An artist from Northern California, Kahn replicates the forms and forces of nature. Kahn combines science, art and technology to integrate natural, human, and artificial systems, and his specific works emphasise natural elements, such as water, fire, wind and sand; how these behave independently, and how they interact.

After graduating from college with an environmental studies degree, from 1982 to 1996 he designed educational exhibits at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. He apprenticed there to Frank Oppenheimer, the centre’s founder and brother of atomic physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Ned Kahn presents projects both in scientific settings and in art contexts.

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Wind Turbine taken from inside the building

 

Aileen Barr’s work at West Portal Playground

 Posted by on September 16, 2012
Sep 162012
 

West Portal Playground
131 Lenox Way

A $1.5 million renovation project in 2005 saw the West Portal Park’s original clubhouse expanded and upgraded. The park includes a picnic area, playground and large play field. The building also features artwork commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission Public Art Program.

“The Secret Garden,” a series of hand-carved tiles by artist Aileen Barr, depicts various flora and fauna native to the area, including leaves, flowers, plants, insects and birds.

Aileen has tile work in many places throughout San Francisco. Aileen Barr studied Ceramic Design at the National College of Art and Design In Dublin, Ireland, graduating in 1985. She worked in New York for a number of years and it was here that she discovered her fascination with handmade tile.

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Avenida del Rio Bike Path and Greenbelt

 Posted by on September 15, 2012
Sep 152012
 

16th and Harrison
Mission District / SOMA

 

Mission Creek Mosaic Mural
Ceramic tile and mirror mosaic, 15 ft. x 8.5 ft.
Funding provided by Potrero Nuevo Fund administered by New Langton Arts.

Avenida del Rio tile mural marks one end of  what is hoped to be the Mission Creek Bikeway and Greenbelt.

The bikeway will follow the path of the now-buried creek. When the Forty-Niners arrived, they filled the creek in and built a railroad on top. Now what remains is a curved urban anomaly of a street cutting through the San Francisco street grid. The trail would follow this scar and bring life and activity to the area, and connect the Mission to Mission Bay once again.The Mission Creek Bikeway will begin at 16th and Harrison Streets, winding around the nose of Potrero Hill, crossing 7th Street and the Caltrain tracks, continuing along the south side of the Mission Creek Channel and connecting with the new Giants stadium, and, of course, the waterfront. A spur of the bikeway will extend from the 8th and Townsend traffic circle along Townsend Street, connecting with the Caltrain station, where a BikeStation is also being planned.

THE VISION:
The Bikeway will reclaim much-needed open space, creating space for recreation, vegetation, and an opportunity to enhance public awareness of the environment. The Mission Creek Bikeway will also serve as a critical transportation link in a city where 1 of 25 adults relies on a bicycle for daily commuting. With one end in the Mission area — a densely populated neighborhood popular among bicyclists — and the other in South of Market (SOMA) — a quickly changing area begging for greater transportation choices, the Bikeway bridges an important gap in the city’s Bicycle Network. Once completed, a person will be able to ride a bike from most locations in the Mission district to most locations downtown and in SOMA and Mission Bay almost entirely on comfortable, convenient bike paths and bike lanes.

Artists for this mosaic were Lillian Sizemore and Laurel True.

Lillian Sizemore has studied mosaics at the prestigious Studio Arte del Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy, Art History at the Universita de Bolgna and holds degrees in Fine Art and Italian from Indiana University.  As a professional artist, educator and independent scholar, she is faculty at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland and a visiting artist as the Getty Villa, in Los Angeles, The Legion of Honor in San Francisco and The Field Museum in Chicago.

Laurel True is an artist and educator specializing in mixed media, glass and ceramic mosaic and public art. She received her BA in African Art and Cultures and has studied at Studio Arte del Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy, Universite Chiek Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, Parsons School of Design and the Art Institute of Chicago. True is the co- founder of the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, CA and has fostered education in the mosaic arts through teaching and lecturing around the world.

 

 

 

Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan Grace the Jose Coronado Playground

 Posted by on September 14, 2012
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.

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Ornamental Gates at Rolph Playground

 Posted by on September 13, 2012
Sep 132012
 

Rolph Playground
Potrero at 25th &
Utah and 25th
Mission/Potrero Hill

Isis Rodriguez has created two rolled iron ornamental artworks, one for each side of Rolph Playground.

 

Isis Rodriguez is a second generation Mid-Western Latina who grew up in Topeka, Kansas and received her first lessons in art from copying Hannah-Barbera cartoons by hand. She attended the University of Kansas where she received her BFA in Painting in 1988.

Two years later, she moved to San Francisco to pursue her cartoon inspired artwork using various art forms: murals, paintings, silk screens, graffiti, flyers, and posters. Isis worked on murals for the Clarion Alley Mural Project in San Francisco from 1993 to 2002 and as a result, she emerged as one of the artists from an ad hoc artistic movement known as “The Mission school”, that included painters like Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Rigo, Carolyn Castaño, and Aarron Noble.

In 2003, Isis completed her first public art commission of designing cartoon mosaics for “Parque Niños Unidos” at 23rd and Treat, San Francisco and received the Norcal Sanitary Fill Artist in Residency Program, San Francisco.

Isis Rodriquez now resides in San Miquel de Allende, Mexico.

 

Peace by Bufano

 Posted by 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.

Heart Song for Japan

 Posted by on September 11, 2012
Sep 112012
 

485 Scott Street
Western Addition/NOPA

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This mural, titled Heart Song for Japan was done by Marina Perez-Wong in 2011.

Marina, who also goes by Micha P-Wong has several murals around San Francisco, and is a participant in the Street SmARTS program in San Francisco.

The Presidio Pet Cemetery

 Posted by on September 10, 2012
Sep 102012
 

Presidio
McDowell and Crissy Field Avenues

This military pet cemetery is a hidden treasure of San Francisco.  If you are in the area when construction of Doyle Drive is completed, have a stroll, it is a really sweet place to wander.

Surrounded by a white picket fence and shaded by Monterey pines, the pet cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of loyal animals owned by families stationed at the Presidio. Most of the grave markers mimic those found in military cemeteries and sometimes reflect the pets’ military lifestyle—listing birthplaces including China, England, Australia, and Germany. Many markers also include family names and owners’ ranks, which include majors, colonels, and generals. Others contain only a simple epitaph, such as “A GI pet. He did his time.” As in many military cemeteries, there are also markers to several “unknowns”.

Grave markers in the pet cemetery date back to the 1950’s, when the Presidio was home to approximately 2,000 army families. Though there are no official records regarding the site, some credit authorization of the pet cemetery to Lt. General Joseph M. Swing, who was the commander of the Presidio at the time. In any case, there are numerous legends surrounding the cemetery, which some believe was originally a burial ground for nineteenth-century cavalry horses or World War II guard dogs

During the 1970’s, the pet cemetery fell into disrepair. Legend has it that an anonymous former Navy man became the unofficial caretaker in those years and repaired the deteriorating headstones and repainted the fence. It is believed that he placed the military-style cautionary sign seen at the cemetery entrance. Today, the pet cemetery is officially closed to new interments.

Doyle Drive is the multilane elevated freeway that rises above the former Presidio Army Base to shuttle motorists from the streets of the city to the foot of the bridge. Built in the 1930s, at the same time as the Golden Gate Bridge, Doyle Drive is now a seismic hazard, so it is being completely rebuilt. But the new construction intersects with the pet cemetery so, to preserve the site, the cemetery has been fenced off.  A sign placed at the entrance says that the “Presidio Parkway project is taking special care to protect the beloved pet cemetery, which has been designated an environmentally sensitive area and is maintained as an important cultural landmark.  The pet cemetery is situated directly below the new, southbound bridge currently under construction.  In order to protect graves like those of Willie the hamster and Buddy the bird, falsework (temporary structure used to build the new bridge) has been installed to span the entire length of the cemetery to support the long span span, 105-foot-long beams were placed across the cemetery and covered to prevent any debris from entering.”  Sadly, a lot of damage was done by the construction before these steps were taken, I do hope when the project is over, attention will be paid to restoring this little hidden treasure of San Francisco history for all to enjoy.

Hidden Gems in Bernal Heights

 Posted by on September 8, 2012
Sep 082012
 

82 Coleridge Street
Bernal Heights

This tile mosaic is titled Colloidal Pool and is by Peter Almeida. Done in 1988 it is suggestive of a puddle with ripples moving concentrically over leaf sheaves.

 The view from Coleridge Mini Park

Coleridge Mini Park

Electric Substation and the Art World

 Posted by on September 7, 2012
Sep 072012
 

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.

Watching the Wind at the Randall Museum

 Posted by on September 6, 2012
Sep 062012
 

Randall Museum
199 Museum Way
Castro

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The plaque that accompanies the piece reads:

Charles Sowers is an artist whose practice links art and science.  Here wind currents activate over 500 aluminum arrows to reveal the ever-changing ways the wind interacts with the building and its environment.  “My work presents actual physical phenomena, often of striking visual beauty, that draw people into careful noticing and interaction”

This piece is from the Collection of the City and County of San Francisco commissioned by the SFAC for the Randall Museum Funded by the Public Utilities Company.

According to a February 21, 2012 S.F. Chronicle article 

The new exhibit took four years to make, required dozens of prototypes and tests, and ultimately uses 612 individually balanced aluminum arrows spaced 1 foot apart on architectural facade material covering the side of a local museum.

I spent over a year-and-a-half designing and testing wind arrow designs,” he said. “I first prototyped arrow designs in paper. Then I made a prototype panel fitted with six different arrow designs and mounted it on-site for a year of testing.

“I also mounted arrows outside my apartment at Baker Beach, which was great for the intense wind. And I even held them outside my car window. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to mount them on the building.”

Sowers also spent considerable time hand-balancing each arrow, studying the possibilities using computer-aided drafting software. “Balance was a big part of the design,” he said. “Important, and tedious. I balanced every one, working in groups of 25 arrows. My shoulders ached.”
He also had to decide whether the “V” of the arrow’s wings should slope toward the wall or away. “I learned that the V sloping out caught the wind and made it vibrate or oscillate. It was not behaving correctly, so they are sloped inward.”

Sowers, who is 45 and earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology at Oberlin College – where he studied physics early on – has long been fascinated with the tapestry of nature, whether the swirling of fog, the formation of ice, the unexpected rippling in a mud puddle, or the effects of water and wind on sand.

The Randall Museum was the inspiration of Josephine D. Randall. Ms. Randall received her Masters degree in zoology from Stanford University in 1910. By 1915, she had organized one of the first Girl Scout troops in the United States as well as one of the first Camp Fire Girl troops. She went on to become San Francisco’s first Superintendent of Recreation, a position she held for a quarter of a century. In 1948 she received an honorary Doctorate from the University of California. Under her direction, the San Francisco Recreation Department achieved national recognition as one of the most outstanding services of its kind.

One of Ms. Randall’s long-term goals was the establishment of a museum for children. In 1937 her vision came to fruition. Simply called the “Junior Museum,” it originally opened in the city’s old jail on Ocean Avenue. In 1947, Ms. Randall shepherded a $12,000,000 bond issue for recreation capital projects, including a new museum. In 1951, the museum opened in its current facilities on a 16-acre park over looking San Francisco Bay and was renamed the Josephine D. Randall Junior Museum in honor of its founder.

 

Fire creates Firehouse Art

 Posted by on September 5, 2012
Sep 052012
 

1091 Portola Drive
St Francis Wood/Mt. Davidson

Station #39

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 This 30″ Blown Glass Rondella, done in 1997,  is by Mark McDonnell.

Mark McDonnell (1945-   ) is a visual artist whose work can be found in the permanent collections of the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Corning Museum of Glass. He has extensively researched and photographed glasshouses and glass architecture. He is the former chairman of the Glass Department at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and presently lives in San Francisco.

Having taken up writing Mark McDonnell, explores the intriguing locations that Chihuly is drawn to and his ongoing interest in glass buildings in the 2002 book Chihuly Gardens & Glass .

 

 

A Gluers Mosaic at Douglass Playground

 Posted by on September 4, 2012
Sep 042012
 

Douglass Playground
26th and Douglass
Noe Valley

This mosaic, done in 1987 by Lois Anderson, is on the side of the Douglass Playground Clubhouse. Tile, glass, metal, buttons, jewelry on fiberglass, and wood corresponds to the architectural details or emblems found on many neighborhood buildings.

Her obituary, which ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 10, 2004 reads:

“…a Marin artist known for her bejeweled assemblages, died of cancer at her Mill Valley home Sunday surrounded by friends. She was 77. Ms. Anderson was born in Milwaukee, Wis., and received her bachelor’s degree in 1949 from Wisconsin State University. In 1960, Ms. Anderson received a master’s degree from UC Berkeley and moved to Marin County.

There she became known as Lotus Carnation and was a prominent figure in the Mill Valley countercultural art scene. Her work was displayed at the Unknown Museum, a gallery for ’60s-inspired artists.

In 1999, her piece “The Throne” an old armchair transformed into a glittery, regal sculpture, was displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art during its “Far Out: Bay Area Design 1967-73” retrospective exhibit of psychedelic art. “In the ’60s, they called us gluers,” Ms. Anderson told The Chronicle in 1991. “Now we’re assemblage artists.”

In addition to being an artist, Ms. Anderson worked as a Marin County librarian for 30 years. The Chronicle’s article said there were “three faces of Lois: By day, she is a mild-mannered librarian; night, she’s a wild artist; and weekends, she rummages Marin for the bits and pieces that will turn into art or her furniture.”

She considered herself an accomplished thrift store shopper and was often found picking through items at Goodwill stores or local flea markets.
Journalists and friends marveled at her Mill Valley cottage, which The Chronicle called a “cross between Gumps’ Christmas windows, the Sistine Chapel and Woolworths in the ’40s.”

She also created a grand altar in her living room after the National Endowment for the Arts awarded her a grant in 1978. Her proposal for the grant consisted of two sentences: “I always wanted to make an altar. But I don’t have the time or the money.”

Many of her pieces are owned by celebrities and art collectors. The rest of her collection will be permanently displayed in the Oakland Art Museum’s new wing for visionary art.

Friends said Ms. Anderson was an important fixture in the community. Her parties were warm and fun affairs, and her home, with two beloved cats, reflected her lively and spiritual character, they said.

“She was warm, wonderful and fun to be around,” said friend Pamela Nichols. “Her home was filled with her magnificent art, flowers, Buddhas and her fabulous self. ”

 

The Tragedy of the Gartland Apartments

 Posted by on September 3, 2012
Sep 032012
 

Harrison and Alameda
Mission/SOMA

Mission Wall Dances is subtitled with a Robert Frost quote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” 

During the 1970’s San Francisco’s Mission and SOMA areas were wracked by arson fires, many thought to be intentional.  A fire that has left a large scar on the mission was the Gartland Apartments Fire.

From a San Francisco Chronicle article of  September 14, 2002:

On the night of Dec. 12, (1975) somebody poured gasoline down the Gartland’s main stairwell and ignited it. The fire spread so quickly, so intensely that even veteran firefighters were stunned.

“I’ve never heard the type of anxiety in a radio transmission that I did that night,” said San Francisco Fire Capt. Elmer Carr, an arson inspector. “Usually, everybody sounds kind of steely on the radio, but people knew that we couldn’t get to everybody. It was a horrible night for us.”  Nobody was ever charged in connection with the blaze, Carr said.

The Fire Department’s report lists 14 dead, 15 firefighters injured and four residents burned. But Carr said, “There’s no way of telling how many people were in that building.

Within days the building was torn down and a hole, known as the Gartland Pit, remained for years afterwards. Continuing with the article…

(Victor) Miller wouldn’t let the issue die. First as a community organizer, and later as the editor of the neighborhood paper, (New Mission News) Miller wrote constantly about the neighborhood’s arson fires.

To keep the public’s focus on rebuilding there, Miller inspired others to reclaim the Pit. In 1983, he approached Plate and other artists and suggested they create performance art pieces there. For years, the Pit was an illegal showcase for murals, band gigs and poetry readings. Others created a mock graveyard.

Meanwhile, activists fought development proposals that they felt would change the neighborhood’s character — much as activists do today.

Finally, in 1987, after cooperation between the Mission Housing Development Corp. and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Development, ground was broken for low-income apartments on the site. Today, nearly two dozen families live there.

The mural was painted in 2002 by Josef Norris.  It was commissioned by Jo Kreiter of Fly Away Productions and was the backdrop for an aerial production honoring Victor Miller upon his death.

Dancing on the roof of the building and rappelling off its side was a small company of aerial dancers from San Francisco’s Flyaway Productions. During the free 35-minute productions “Wall Dances” traced the Gartland’s death and resurrection.  The dancers portrayed everything from lovers lost in the fire to classic Mission characters, like the women who sell flowers on the street. The ethereal soundtrack featured the voices of displaced Mission residents, explaining how they define “home.”
“It’s about how people deal with displacement,” said Flyaway founder Jo Kreiter. Flyaway co-produced the piece with the Mission-based Intersection for the Arts.

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Noe Valley Natives – Plants that is.

 Posted by on September 2, 2012
Sep 022012
 

295 Day Street
Noe Valley

SAN FRANCISCO WALL FLOWER “ERYSIMUM FRANCISCANUM”

This installation is titled Noe Valley Natives, and these pieces sit on fence posts at the Upper Noe Valley Rec Center.  The artist is Troy Corliss.  In 1993 Troy graduated from the studio art program at the University of California at Davis. While at UC Davis, he studied figure drawing and sculpture. Today, he lives with his wife Anne Liston in Truckee, CA. Corliss has been artist in residence at the Center for Land-Based Learning in Winters, California, the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, and the John Muir Institute of the Environment at UC Davis.

Manufactured in 2007 the flora is forged and fabricated steel.  It was funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission

Rising from the top of six of the center’s gateposts stainless steel and glass plant forms represent the coastal dune and coastal prairie plant communities that once dominated this region of San Francisco. Troy Corliss searched the nearby hillsides, photographed and drew four tiny plants to be cut, forged and welded into these freestanding sculptures. Speaking of his method, Corliss says: “My intent in crafting this work is to emphasize plant diversity through the material handling and the sculptural design of the steel and glass forms”.

BEACH SAGE “ARTEMSIA”

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YELLOW VERBENA “ABRONIA LATIFOLIA”

COAST BUCKWHEAT “ERLOGONUM LATIFOLIA”

 

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