Cindy

Embarcadero – History of Street Names

 Posted by on November 12, 2011
Nov 122011
 
The Embarcadero
Continuing to look down.
 Vallejo Street

These four are so badly worn, but this is what General Vallejo looked like
It reads: Soldier, land-owner and diplomat, General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo started life as the son of a Spanish soldier, and rose from cadet to Commandante of Monterey.  From there he assumed command of the Presidio of Yerba Buena and later was made General of all Northern Forces in California.  Founder of Sonoma, Vallejo, and Benicia.  Vallejo became the most influential Californian in the decade leading to the American conquest.  Early on General Vallejo clearly foresaw the fate of the country and through his many acts of friendship to American immigrants he became the diplomatic bridge that joined two cultures.
“The Yankees are wonderful people.  If they emigrated to hell itself, they would somehow manage to change the climate.”  General Mariano Vallejo

In 1845, W.D.M. Howard opened a store in Yerba Buena with Henry Mellus and in 1848, bought out the Hudson Bay Trading Company one week before Marshall found gold.  With well-supplied stores in Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco, Howard developed his waterfront property and Rancho San Mateo.  A gifted mimic he improvised theatricals, serenading his friends with invitations to his midnight champagne suppers.  Actively generous, Howard funded the city’s first public school, first hospital, first fire engine, and first churches.  Over six feel tall with a portly build, a direct gaze, and a deep persuasive voice, Howard organized the California National Guard, presided over the Society of California Pioneers, and chartered the Vigilance Committee.  His early death, at age 37 revealed the extent of his many hidden charities.

Howards living depended on sea trade
Looking up Howard Street today.

I don’t know why there wasn’t a bio plaque for Folsom, and instead I found this way off in a corner.  This is far more appropriate for Sam Brannan,  I wonder if the installer got something wrong.

According to Wikipedia Folsom was a U.S. Army officer and real estate investor in the early days of California’s statehood. He is the founder of what is now Folsom, California. Folsom’s controversial purchase of Rancho Rio de los Americanos from the heirs of a San Francisco merchant William Alexander Leidesdorff remained tied up in litigation for many years, eventually reaching the Supreme Court of California after Folsom’s death.

The view while standing at the plaques on Folsom

Embarcadero – History of Street Names

 Posted by on November 11, 2011
Nov 112011
 
The Embarcadero
When this is the view from the Embarcadero it is hard to look down at your feet.  If you do however, you will find some fascinating little historical tidbits.  I searched everywhere to see what organization is responsible for the following and I found nothing.  But welcome to a bit of San Francisco history.The Embarcadero runs along the waterfront.  The streets that we will be looking at run down to the Embarcadero.  These signs are all on the city side of the Embarcadero where the streets end.
It reads: In February of 1853 the United States Topographical Engineers published their first detailed survey of the city, showing new streets, many named for army and naval officers.  Fremont and Folsom were prominent officers; Harrison, Bryant and King held important city and port positions; Spear and Brannon had been pioneers in Yerba Buena before San Francisco had its name.

At every street there were these arrows.  They pointed you to the street that you were reading about.

As this one is a tad worn, in case you can not read it – here is what it says.  Businessman, City Councilman and mayoral candidate, Talbot H. Green, while at the high point of his career, was attending a charity ball, when confronted by a young woman before his friends and supporters. She denounced him as being Paul Geddes, the defaulting bank clerk who had absconded from Pennsylvania deserting his wife and two children.  The charge proved true; but Geddes, protesting his innocence, left for Panama to return East to clear his name.  Green Street had already been named for this prominent pioneer citizen and San Franciscans kept his name, perhaps as a reminder that in this city of new arrivals, not every man came wearing his true identity.
Here is the view looking up Green Street.  Another reason why it is so hard to look down.

 

North Beach – Art at the corner of Broadway, Grant and Columbus

 Posted by on November 9, 2011
Nov 092011
 
North Beach
Bill Weber is the muralist on this project, and according to his website he is an established Bay Area muralist and painter and has been creating murals nationwide since 1974. His style ranges from surreal to Trompe l’Oeil, whimsical to realistic and can be adapted to any project requirements.
Language of the Birds by Brian Goggins

Brian has written so eloquently about his project that I am just going to quote directly from his blog.

Historically “The Language of the Birds” was considered a divine language birds used to communicate with the initiated. Here, a flock of books takes off from the plaza to fly the urban gullies of the city. The fluttering books have left a gentle imprint of words beneath them. These serendipitously configured bits of local literature reveal the layering of culture, nature and consciousness.

Language of the Birds is a flock of twenty-three sculpted illuminated books, which appear to have just taken flight from the plaza like pigeons scared up by a passer by. Appearing to be in motion, the books have flown open creating various wing positions with the pages and bindings. The entire artwork appears to be in motion with each book holding its position as a bird does in a flock.

Each unique book is fabricated in frosted white translucent polycarbonate. These sculptural elements are suspended from a geometric web of stainless steel aircraft cables. At night LED lights embedded in the books create visual patterns, at different times one might see the flock subtly pulsing or displaying a spectacular zoetropic effect. The dynamic lights of Language of the Birds play in the night sky with the other luminous signs of the area.

Pacific Coast Stock Exchange

 Posted by on November 8, 2011
Nov 082011
 
Financial District
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange

The Pacific Stock Exchange began life as a classical U.S. Treasury building, then in the 1930’s, Timothy Pflueger was hired to turn it into the Stock Exchange.  He was growing weary of classicism but was instructed that the granite stairs and the ten Tuscan columns had to remain.  The building was essentially torn town, leaving the front we see today.  Then Pflueger met Ralph Stackpole, and a wonderful working relationship was formed.

Stackpole created the medallions on the entablature, as well as the two gorgeous art deco statues that grace the sides of the building.

 This is titled Industry
This is titled Agriculture
Ralph Ward Stackpole (May 1, 1885 – December 13, 1973) was an American sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco’s leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of social realism, especially during the Great Depression, when he was part of the Federal Art Project for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Stackpole was friends with Diego Rivera and influential in having him brought to San Francisco for work on the Pacific Club.
If you are interested in more about the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange and it’s architecture you can read about it at Untapped Cities

North Beach- Marini Plaza

 Posted by on November 7, 2011
Nov 072011
 
North Beach
Marini Plaza
These are the bears of Marini Plaza at Powell Street.  It once was a lone corner of Washington Park.   Frank Marini (1862-1952) is mentioned often in Alessandro Baccari’s book, “Saints Peter and Paul: ‘The Italian Cathedral’ of the West, 1884-1984.” Marini was a major civic benefactor, participating in the work of the Salesian groups at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. He was a sponsor of the boys’ club, to help troubled immigrant boys who had little English speaking ability, education or guidance. He was a fundraiser to pay off the debt for building the church and Salesian school. He gave the money to build a gymnasium at St. Francis Church, on Vallejo Street, for the church-sponsored basketball teams.
The bears are gold painted, metal and filled with concrete.  I could find no information on the original sculptor, but after a tree limb fell on the walking bear, and it’s paws were damaged by vandals, it was restored by conservator Genevieve Baird.
This is the pose the Golden Bear has on our California State Flag.
Drinking Man

The other statue in the park is “Drinking Man” by M. Earl Cummings.  Mr. Cummings, who was a Park Commissioner at the time, donated the statue to the city in 1905. The city then paid $1550 to have it cast in bronze.  The model for the piece also posed for St. John the Baptist by Auguste Rodin.

Mission Bay – Koret Quad

 Posted by on November 6, 2011
Nov 062011
 
Mission Bay
Mission Bay
Koret Quad
The Koret Quad is a large green space in the heart of Mission Bay.  I have discussed my abhorrence with this part of town before.  The quad is only accessible by pedestrians and is so well hidden as to be missed by most people. This is somewhat intentional I assume as Koret Quad it not legally open to the public other than the sidewalks.  While you won’t be hounded, they have made it well known so that they can throw you out if you misbehave.  One of my favorite outdoor art installations is set throughout the quad.

Roy McMakin’s untitled collection of furniture was installed  in July 2004. His materials include concrete, fiberglass, wood, bronze, enamel, steel, and stone. The piece uses an ultra-functional double-sided concrete bench design devised by the artist, which seems to have been arranged in a regular pattern around the perimeter of Mission Bay’s primary outdoor space. But the bench module has then been transformed, and rearranged in all kinds of different ways, and also reproduced in four shades of red and orange polyester.

It is as if the occupants of nearby buildings had come out and arranged the outdoor furniture and then made it their own. The installation extends across two acres and combines 125 different items, including a number of laboratory “minus 80” freezers and cardboard “banker’s boxes” reproduced in enamel. There are contemporary disposable plastic patio chairs, 19th century wood schoolroom chairs, and Eames side chairs – all cast in bronze. There are also natural boulders, bronze tree stumps in place of some of the planted trees (and reproducing their bark) , and bronze replicas of weathered planks.

Minus 80 Refrigerator
File Boxes

Mission Bay – HEAL

 Posted by on November 5, 2011
Nov 052011
 
Mission Bay
UCSF Campus
Heal by Miroslaw Balka
Miroslaw Balka was born in Ottwock, Poland, near Warsaw, and continues to live and work there.  He turned his family home into a studio. Austere, with a sense of absence and empty space, his work is defined by the people that interact with it.
 HEAL is a stainless steel structure standing at an angle, on a large concrete square public space. Looking up the word is in reverse and hard to figure out, but looking down, the shadow of the word is projected on the pavement below, moving and changing throughout the day with the path of the sun.
I was especially charmed by the fact that it incorporates a water fountain.

Candlestick Park – Endangered Garden

 Posted by on November 4, 2011
Nov 042011
 
Candlestick Park
The Endangered Garden by Patricia Johanson
“Endangered Garden”, a linear park along San Francisco Bay was commissioned in 1987 by the San Francisco Arts Commission. As co-designer of the thirty million dollar “Sunnydale Facilities”, a pump station and holding tank for water and sewage, Patricia Johanson’s intent was to present this functional structure as a work of art and a productive landscape. Other goals included increasing food and habitat for wildlife, and providing maximum public access to San Francisco Bay. Tidal sculpture, butterfly meadow, habitat restoration, seating, and overlook are all incorporated into the image of the endangered San Francisco Garter Snake, as is a public access baywalk, thirty feet wide and one-third of a mile long that coincides with the roof of the new transport / storage sewer.
This portion is the head of the garter snake.  While it is hard to discern at this point, if you are on the freeway driving into the city from the airport, you know it is a snake.  The colors of the pavement represent  the colors of the garter snake.
“Ribbon Worm-Tide Pools”, is a small sculpture within the “body” of the snake.  It provides a path down to the marsh and mudflats of San Francisco Bay. The intention was for the  worm itself to be  in tangled masses among mussels and barnacles during high tide, but judging by the amount of trash in amongst it, that doesn’t happen very often.
Depressions in the pavement, modeled on California Indian petroglyphs, fill with rainwater for birds. Hundreds of prehistoric shell mounds once dotted the shores of San Francisco Bay, and this site was continuously occupied from around 1500 B.C. by Native Americans who fished in the bay, hunted waterfowl in the marshes, and foraged for shellfish along the mudflats. When excavated in 1910, many human burials and artifacts were recovered from a shell mound on this site, which today lies buried under twenty-five feet of “landfill”.

Sunset District – Propeller on the Walk Way

 Posted by on November 3, 2011
Nov 032011
 
The Sunset District
The Great Highway at Riviera
Standing here, looking out towards the Pacific you will find art at your feet.  You will also guess, at this point that it is covered in a lot of sand.
Propeller by Richard Deutsch
This granite and marble terrazzo paving piece has bronze nautical elements inlaid into the surface.
Richard Deutsch has been featured on this site before.  He is an accomplished artist, with work all over the world, and pieces in great museums across the country.
This piece was commissioned by the SFAC for $9000 in 1988

Birds at the J.P. Murphy Playground

 Posted by on November 2, 2011
Nov 022011
 
Inner Sunset
J. P. Murphy Playground
1960 9th Avenue
Woman with Birds by Michael J. Carey
This divine park, that includes several tennis courts and a wonderful rec room is surrounded by these giant hedges.  The hedges make a perfect backdrop for this sculpture.
Michael Carey said: ““My intent with the sculpture for the J. P. Murphy playground is to celebrate the Center’s community purpose and natural setting by evoking a beneficent and free spirit in the work,”
Woman with Birds was funded by the J.P. Murphy Clubhouse Renovation construction budget, in fulfillment of San Francisco’s Art Enrichment Ordinance, and produced by the Public Art Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission. This piece was part of the 2006-07 budget and cost $29,000.
While this piece is in steel if you go to Michael’s website, you will see some wonderful pieces that he has also done of wood.

Western Addition – Sunnyside Conservatory

 Posted by on October 31, 2011
Oct 312011
 
Sunnyside Conservatory
236 Monterey Boulevard
The Sunnyside Menagerie is a collaboration between Scott Constable and Ene Oseteraas-Constable.  They have a company called Wowhaus.  They described the creatures: “The concept behind our menagerie is to complement the Victorian sense of wonder and discovery by suggesting plausible creatures that might inhabit the gardens surrounding the building. The result is a series of four creatures hybridized from actual fauna associated with the native origins of the plantings.”
Scott Constable is a woodworker. His work, ranging from furniture to architecture and environmental sculpture, has been exhibited internationally.  Ene is the daughter of  Estonian immigrants,  she accompanied her parents at age 8 while collecting oral histories in West Africa. This formative experience contributed to Ene’s interest in cultural identity and oral traditions such as gardening and cooking.  She works and teaches about gardening for many entities.
There are three of these, apparently, they make a wonderful musical instrument if you run a stick down their backs.

Marina Green – Phillip Burton

 Posted by on October 30, 2011
Oct 302011
 
Marina Green
Phillip Burton Bronze
Phillip Burton (June 1, 1926 – April 10, 1983) was a United States Representative from California. He was instrumental in creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Burton was one of the first members of Congress to acknowledge the need for AIDS research and introduce an AIDS bill.

Not far from this sculpture is the “Sky Mirror”

The color of the sky varies depending on the density of the atmosphere. Sunlight from the horizon travels through about 38 times more air than light streaming down from the zenith. Sky Mirror allows visitors to compare patches of sky from different altitudes, revealing the surprising range of shades and hues in what often seems a uniformly blue dome.

Charles Sowers had long been looking for a way to create a device that would compare the variations in color at different areas of the sky. Neuroscientist Richard Brown suggested placing one mirror on top of another with an angling feature. Charles created a prototype using lego motors and then later created the finished exhibit that you see here.  This is part of Outdoor Exhibits for the Exploratorium.

Mission Bay – Ballast

 Posted by on October 29, 2011
Oct 292011
 
Mission Bay
Ballast by Richard Serra
Corten Steel
One of my absolute favorite mediums for massive outdoor sculpture is Corten Steel.  Weathering steel, best-known under the trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as “Corten steel”, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance if exposed to the weather for several years.  “Weathering” means that due to their chemical compositions, these steels exhibit increased resistance to atmospheric corrosion compared to other steels. This is because the steel forms a protective layer on its surface under the influence of the weather.
The corrosion-retarding effect of the protective layer is produced by the particular distribution and concentration of alloying elements in it. The layer protecting the surface develops and regenerates continuously when subjected to the influence of the weather. In other words, the steel is allowed to rust in order to form the ‘protective’ coating.
These massive slabs will change with the time, not so that one would notice, but gradually and beautifully like a fine wine.
San Francisco native Richard Serra lives and works in New York City and Nova Scotia. One of the foremost artists of his time, Serra has redefined the idea of sculpture since the 1960s, making the experience of place, time, and movement essential to his work. For Serra, the art is not as much about the objects themselves as it is about the individual experience of the viewer in relation to the whole context, measured and defined by his massive interventions.
Installed in the UCSF campus east plaza in March 2005, Ballast consists of two plates of corten steel that appear to cut into the surrounding plaza, each measures 49’2″ by 14’9″ and weighs 70 tons. The steel plates are located at equal distances from the ends of the space and from each other, dividing the plaza lengthwise into three equal intervals. Each tilts 18″ sideways, in opposite directions. The scale, weight, placement, and in my opinion, especially the angle, of the steel plates define the whole plaza.

Mission Bay – Brought To Light

 Posted by on October 28, 2011
Oct 282011
 
Mission Bay
Brought to Light by Lawrence Weiner

Lawrence Weiner grew up in the Bronx and attended Stuyvesant High School, working as a longshoreman in the early mornings before classes. As a young man he hitchhiked to San Francisco and lived among the Beat poets. His earliest work was done in Mill Valley, in 1960.

BROUGHT TO LIGHT, grew out of a visit he made in 2009, when Weiner spent time walking the campus and speaking with researchers and others in the community. The work was proposed as “an essential gesture, to be stated here in a colored, light filled outdoor balcony”.  It is high up on one of the main buildings of the UCSF campus, the Rutter Center, which was designed by Ricardo Legorreta.  This piece is a part of the Bishop Collection,  and is visible from several blocks away.

Subsequently allowed to Dissipate
These discs are scattered throughout the campus and are part of the installation by Weiner.

Mission Bay -I’m Alive

 Posted by on October 27, 2011
Oct 272011
 
Mission Bay
409-499 Illinois
I’m Alive by Tony Cragg – 2004 Stainless Steel

Tony Cragg was born in liverpool in 1949. He attended Gloucestershire College of Art and Design, Cheltenham College, and the Royal College of Art, London (1973-77). Cragg has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany, since 1977.

I’m Alive exudes movement and vitality and is the perfect expression of its title. It is simple, serpentine and, despite its highly wrought form and reflective surface, it is very natural.  I also love it’s placement, the lawn, just emphasizes all that is right with this piece.

 

Mission Bay – Doppel Fountain

 Posted by on October 26, 2011
Oct 262011
 
Mission Bay
Doppel Fountain by Shawn Smith

In his own words: In 2006, I was commissioned to create a monumental sculpture by SKS Investments/ X-4 Dolphin LLC in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. I designed a pixilated stainless steel fountain that appears to be frozen in mid-air. The pixilated fountain is made of varying lengths of 2″ square tubing that are lined up vertically and overlapped to create pixels. The tubing remains open at the top and bottom so that from above or below the sculpture, viewers are able to see through the tubing, giving the fountain a feeling of transparency like water. The sculpture has a mirror finish to reflect the colors of its environment. As people enter the building, they pass underneath the sculpture, giving them the sense that water is pouring over them.

I think he captured the feeling just perfectly, when you stand and look up it is truly an amazing feeling of sky and art melding together.

Shawn Smith was born in 1972 in Dallas, TX where he attended Arts Magnet High School and Brookhaven College before graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, MO with a BFA in Printmaking in 1995.  Smith received his MFA in Sculpture from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2005.

 

Mission Bay – Hulls

 Posted by on October 25, 2011
Oct 252011
 
Mission Bay
500 A. Terry Francois Blvd at Pierpoint Lane
*
Hulls by Richard Deutsch

Hulls commemorates Mission Bay’s waterfront, which is steeped in maritime history.  During the 16th century Ohlone Indians, sustained by hunting and fishing, built boats from reeds of the bay’s shallow waters.  The 1800’s saw a vibrant industry of wooden schooners and ferryboat builders, which later lead to the fabrication of large metal World War 1 and II submarines and battleships.

Born in Los Angles, Richards work is extensive with pieces all over the world, as can be seen on his website

 

SOMA, San Francisco – October 24, 2011

 Posted by on October 24, 2011
Oct 242011
 
Fourth and Bryant
SOMA
These doors have been tagged for years, and finally someone decided murals might keep that from happening.  Kemit Aminophis is responsible for these two doors.  There are four doors to the auto body shop, so I have to assume that there is more to come.  I promise to bring them to you when they are finished.  As always, it is hard to shoot building sides when cars block your view of the overall image, but here are some shots for your review.
Notice the really fine brush work.
This of course is definitely a take on Tron, I just love it!

It was tough to find out much about Kemit, other than he has studied at CCAC, CCS and City College of San Francisco.  He seems to be employed, when not creating art, by event planning organizations.  Here is a link to his Facebook Page

As of 2015, this mural has been removed.

In Dollar We Trust on Potrero Hill

 Posted by on October 23, 2011
Oct 232011
 
Potrero Hill / Mission District
Alabama between 17th and Mariposa

This long mural is titled “In Dollar We Trust” and is by two artists from Apotik Komik (Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia artist collective), Samuel Indratama and Arie Dyanto.   I read a fascinating article by Jim Sullivan of Mira Costa College, about how art expresses the lost dreams of California.  In it  Mr. Sullivan  explains that this piece “condemns the California Dream of a money dependent government and emphasizes the importance of severing individuals’ obedience to greedy authorities. At first glance, spontaneous groups of blood-shot eyes are featured throughout the mural as they vigorously attach to a young man and attack him relentlessly until they burn the soles of his shoes. The eyes easily manage to surround the man, allowing him no feasible escape. These unforgiving eyes are our government that is starved of money and determined to stalk the red hooded man until he submits to their immense greed.

Eventually, the eyes begin to invade the man as they protrude from his jacket and take place where his heart and vital organs would reside. This depicts that the eyes of our authorities allow no room for independence as they, “dictate the rhythm of life throughout California”  and monitor every aspect of our lives in order to ultimately hold tight reins over an individual’s decisions and where an individual’s money is spent. Upon further inspection of the mural, a single eye raids the man’s wallet making it apparent he is simply another duplicative pawn to the government as the eyes brainwash him to follow the ideal that he is only worth what money values him at. However, it is apparent the man longs to be freed of this money-deprived government as he peers up past the dollar bill he’s captured in, yearning for a present that would deem him free of constant watch and regulation. As our money engrossed government remains constant surveillance over society, individuals undisputedly wish to cease their obedience to the dysfunction and ultimately be free. ”

While I find this explanation rather fascinating, especially since the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is starting to spread across this country, I also find it difficult to completely swallow.  The artists that produced this are actually Indonesian.  Both gentlemen’s art suffered under the Suharto Government. They are both known to use subtle references to express social and economic concerns in their art.  I am sure that their personal experiences were far more influential than the theories the professor puts forward.
The Alabama St. Mural was sponsored by Southern Exposure, who collaborated with Clarion Alley Mural Project, Intersection for the Arts, and Sama sama/You’re Welcome.  Sama sama/You’re Welcome is an international collaboration and exchange program between SF and Indonesian artists, designed to foster an understanding of contemporary art and culture between the communities.

Caledonia – Ape Do Good

 Posted by on October 22, 2011
Oct 222011
 
Mission District
Caledonia Street
On the Wall of Ape Do Good Print Shop
I apologize for bringing this to you in pieces, but the alley is very, very narrow and the mural is very long.  It was pretty impossible to do it in any other manner.  This mural has shown up in the blogsphere many times, but I have yet to find anyone that knows who painted it.  It has such a wonderful Dr. Seuss quality to it.  Look very closely at the first photo and you will see a real hanger in there.
This reads: “breaking cracking leaves. 100 sneezes echoing i need a lulaby[sic]. sleep creeping in under my cheekbones and fingers slow words spilling in half time like instant replay in some sick and twisted dream game and my head is playing faint songs I’ve never heard. Typewriter on my knees and paper shaking searching madly for some word some scrap of something written down and lost again. I want to know what it feels like to hold a handful of worms in the crepuscular predawn of some stormy sunday. we are doing a dull thing with style not nodding or shaking our heads now you are trapped in my dreamworld. blink”

Homes as Canvas

 Posted by on October 21, 2011
Oct 212011
 

Mission District
Castro District

3014 22nd Street
So many times I walk by homes that look like canvases.  I fantasize that some wonderful artist lives in this abode.  I have no way of knowing but here are a few that I have enjoyed.
This is the garage door of a home at the corner of Saturn and Lower Terrace.
Notice the stenciled 2nd floor and the “mosaic” gutter.
The neighbors did the same.

Caledonia Street

 Posted by on October 20, 2011
Oct 202011
 
Mission District
Caledonia Street
Between 15th and 16th
and Mission and Valencia Streets
Caledonia is another one of those alley’s in the Mission District that only serves as an entry into garages and backs of buildings.  So needless to say it is a haven from graffiti artists.  These are some of the better ones I found.
This beauty is by Mike Kershnar a talented artist that established a non profit called Elemental Awareness which aims to utilize art and skateboarding to enrich the lives of children.
These 2 are actually stencils.
This has such a disjointed look, I wondered if it wasn’t done by two different people.
After all that edgy work, this 60’s flashback made me laugh out loud.

Ghost Busters in SOMA

 Posted by on October 19, 2011
Oct 192011
 
SOMA
8th and Bryant

This fun mural is essentially the Simpson’s gang in Ghostbusters clothing.  While it is not signed, according  Live Soma the artist did have permission, even if he wouldn’t give his name.

This says Diet, I am sure a message to the Stay Puft monster.
The artist did tell Jeremy that he was influenced by Dean Fraser of Springfield Punx, whose work is really very fun and very, very good.

Dan Plasma in the Mission

 Posted by on October 18, 2011
Oct 182011
 
Mission District
15th and Valencia
This is the side wall of restaurant Pica Pica.  Dan Plasma had originally painted a tiger mural on this wall, then over the course of a few days other aerosol muralists covered it over with their work.  This made Mr. Plasma rather angry, so when he took the wall back he commemorated the little war with this piece.

 

 

Parrots of Telegraph Hill

 Posted by on October 17, 2011
Oct 172011
 
Telegraph Hill

While this website is about art and architecture in San Francisco, every once in a while I spot a celebrity, and I thought I would bring them to you.

This flock of feral parrots, primarily Red-masked Parakeets (Aratinga erythrogenys,) descended from escaped or released pets. The flock was popularized by a book and subsequent documentary, both titled The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

The birds, known as Cherry-headed Conures, are native to Peru and Ecuador; they have established a breeding colony, with the support of some residents, and through the help of volunteers with Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. They range widely, including along The Embarcadero and in the Presidio.

A controversial San Francisco city ordinance passed on June 5, 2007, prohibits the feeding of parrots in public spaces. The feeding ban was championed by Mark Bittner, the birds’ most outspoken supporter  who fed them for years and wrote the book and the documentary.

Here are just a few, of what is estimated to be about 200.

Mark maintains a website about the parrots if you would like to read more.

Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy

 Posted by on October 16, 2011
Oct 162011
 

Castro District
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy

 
The “Books & Reading” Mural is located at the school’s facade. This mural is a part 1 of a triptych. Created by students with Artist in Residence Ellen Blakeley in 2000, each child drew a 4″ picture of their favorite book or a picture of themselves reading. Materials included paper, glass, metal, and paint. This section is approximately 18′ x 6′.
The “Math & Numbers” Mural is part 2 of the triptych. Each child worked out a math problem on paper.
The “Civil Rights, Human Rights” Mural is part 3 of the triptych.
About the school…The original campus housed Douglass Elementary School until the early 1950′s.  On June 25, 1996, San Francisco Unified School District’s Board of Education voted to rename Douglass School to Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy. Their mission is to empower student learning by teaching tolerance and non-violence, celebrating diversity, achieving academic excellence, and fostering strong family-school-community connections.

 

Castro – A Celebration of Love

 Posted by on October 15, 2011
Oct 152011
 
Castro District
Noe and 19th Street
This is a Precita Eyes Mural.  It was done in 2008 and is titled
“A Celebration of Love”

Eureka Valley Rec Center

 Posted by on October 14, 2011
Oct 142011
 

Castro District/Eureka Valley
Eureka Valley Rec Center
157 Collingwood Street

Time After Time
by Betsie Miller-Kusz
2005

 

Betsie was Born in Los Alamos, New Mexico and resides in Jemez, New Mexico.  This is from her website “I paint and only paint.  My installations are extensions of this act, which gives meaning to my existence. These paintings speak about the field of consciousness as it transforms itself, with a great guardian figure as the mediator.  Through rivers, into seas, through trees and mesas, the sentience of life flows into the light. This is the territory which I have then painted into reality, and in the New Mexico paintings, brought back into the land, guarded by my protector figure.

In the past several years, I have flown over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the South China Sea, the Inland Sea of Japan, the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes. During this time, my life has undergone profound changes, and yet has seemed tranquil and at peace on its surface. So this my imagery, after many years of painting the human figure, speaking of respite available in the midst of turbulence.

I hope the paintings invoke the life force which was needed to paint them. They are simply the brush in my hands, close to the earth.”

First painted in 1993, this mural was dedicated to Claire Anderson, a popular director at the recreation center for 35 years, and the mural depicts waves of music as color moving out from a piano. The original composition was extended to cover two sides of the new Teen Center building when the builing was renovated in 2006.  The new work was done by Vicki Saulls.  The original mural, sponsored by the Eureka Valley Trails & Art Network, was painted with help from the surrounding community.

This mural is on the side of the rec center.  There is a very narrow alley and then the dog park.  You can not really get a clear shot of the mural as a whole so I had to bring it to you through the chain link fence and inside the dog park.

Mona Caron Brings You a Garden

 Posted by on October 13, 2011
Oct 132011
 
Noe Valley/Castro
Corner of Church and 22nd Streets
Botanical Mural by Mona Caron

This mural is immense.  It is impossible to capture it in one photo and have any idea of what is being portrayed, so I have chosen to shoot it and show it to you in sections.  Mona Caron has shown up several times in this website.  This mural features greatly magnified botanical illustrations of locally occurring, small wild plants, both native species and non-native, invasive weeds.

This is a real eye catcher, the massive scale of the plants and insects is just spectacular.

The mural was painted in 2006.  Ms. Caron received sponsorship from counterPulse as well as a $5000 grant for materials from San Francisco Beautiful and another grant from San Francisco’s Neighborhood Challenge Grant Program

Noe Valley — Market Street Railway Mural

 Posted by on October 12, 2011
Oct 122011
 
Noe Valley
Eureka Valley
Market Street Railway by Mona Caron
300 Church Street near 15th
38′ X 12′

This is Mona Caron’s own description of this wonderful mural.

The Market Street Railway mural shows a 180-degree bird’s-eye view of San Francisco’s Market Street through time.

The connecting theme of the mural is the historic Market Street Railway: streetcars from the 1920’s are shown traveling the whole length of the mural, passing through different eras and historic events, from their heyday in the 1920’s, through many changes in the traffic composition of Market Street over the years, into the present, and into the future.

The mural seeks to showcase a wide range of uses that Market Street as a public space has been able to accommodate over the years. Examples shown include normal daily life in different eras, a formal parade, a mass demonstration, a free-form celebration, a violent police riot (all based on real events). This is meant as a tribute to the urban center as a place uniquely conducive to both individual and collective expression, a place where history is made and politics become visible. It is also an homage to San Francisco in particular, as a place where people keep inventing new ways of utilizing the streets they share, which is what makes this a vibrant and engaging place to live.

The last section of the mural is a fantasy of what Market Street might look like in the future, with day lighted creeks, new transit modes, repurposed buildings, etcetera.”

I love the clean Venetian canals in this last panel. The mural is dedicated to Dave Pharr, streetcar mechanic and preservationist. This is his obituary, he passed away in 2003.

David L. Pharr, who played a key role in the restoration and operation of the vintage streetcars that run on San Francisco’s Market Street, died Sunday of heart failure at the California Pacific Medical Center. Mr. Pharr, who lived in San Francisco, was 70.

Mr. Pharr was a self-taught expert on the interior workings of electric streetcars, trolley buses and diesel transit vehicles, and he applied it to restoring cable cars and streetcars in partnership with the city’s Municipal Railway.

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