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Sun Yat Sen

Posted by Cindy on September 8, 2011

Sep 082011

Chinatown

St Mary’s Square

Quincy, Pine, California and Kearny Streets

Sculpted by Beniaminio Bufano

This 12 foot statue is inscribed (in Chinese):

Dr. Sun Yat Sen 1866-1925

Father of the Chinese Republic and First President

Founder of the Kuo Min Tang

Champion of Democracy

Lover of mankind: Proponent of friendship and peace among the nations,

based on equality, justice and goodwill

Bufano has been in this blog before. His work usually used an easily-recognized style of glazed terra-cotta, a technique he learned from porcelain glazers while traveling in China. Also while in China, Bufano met and befriended the Chinese revolutionary leader, Dr. Sun Yat Sen. His claim to have stayed at the Sun home has never been substantiated, but it is clear he knew the man.

When Sun was in political exile, he visited San Francisco with the largest Chinese community outside Asia, to rally support for his overthrow of the Manchu Empire. Sun was successful in founding the Chinese Republic in 1911, and was inaugurated as first president on January 1, 1912. He served only six weeks, but the republic lasted more than a year. Dr. Sun lived until 1924.

In 1938, Chinatown business leaders commissioned this stainless steel and red granite statue of Sun, to commemorate Sun’s visit to the city. Bufano received the commission.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen was recently described by the People’s Daily (official paper of China) as, “the forerunner of the democratic revolution in China.…a great revolutionary and a great statesman who fought against imperialist aggression and for the independence and freedom of China.” Dr. Sun was among the first graduates of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese.

Photographers note: That is a pigeon on Dr. Sun’s head. The bane of statuary photography.

Chinatown’s Fire Station #2

Posted by Cindy on September 7, 2011

Sep 072011

Chinatown, San Francisco

1340 Powell Street

Fire Station #2

When you are in the building trades you realize that building parts can be art too. For most people, however, they are just that, parts. In the case of this fire station, Al Wong has added art that is whimsical, appropriate, and yet truly probably missed by most people that walk by.

This is etched out of the glass in the jut out on the left, when the sun is right it paints clouds on the ground below.

The bay markers also reflect “clouds”

Al Wong graduated with an MFA in 1971 from San Francisco Art Institute, and is now a professor there. This piece installed in 1994 of Ceramic Frit Marquee Glass is owned by the City of San Francisco and was Commissioned by the SF Art Commission for the San Francisco Fire Department.

Laura Campos – No One is Illegal

Posted by Cindy on September 6, 2011

Sep 062011

The Mission District – San Francisco

24th Street and Capp

This mural entitled “No One is Illegal” is by Laura Campos. Laura was born in Mexico and grew up in Texas. While young, and not yet legal she was called an illegal alien on a regular basis. When she did become legal she was still called an “alien”. This is the reason she tends to paint aliens. Her work has helped her work through her feelings for that word.

She does not use spray paint, and the brushes she uses are exceptionally small so all her work takes a very long time. She worked well over three weeks on this particular one. She doesn’t seem to mind the time, she loves to talk to neighbors and people walking past just to get their input. I spoke with her, she does love to talk, she is absolutely delightful and full of life.

Sedona Vortex

Cypress at 24th

I walked by this one and was not particularly drawn to it. I photographed it and it has languished in my files. It wasn’t until I understood Campos’ work that I understood its meaning and decided it wasn’t so bad after all. The neighbors aren’t sure how they feel about it, they say it is growing on them, but they appreciate it because it has stopped the tagging that had always taken place in their alley.

SOMA 1:AM Gallery

Posted by Cindy on September 5, 2011

Sep 052011

South of Market

1 AM Gallery

Folsom and 6th Street

1 AM Gallery has been in this site before. Their new exhibition is entitled Dark Mater. What I love about the gallery is that they always do graffiti/murals regarding the current exhibit on the side of their building.

I love the concept of just using black and white for this.

The exhibit explores the darker side of the human psyche. Gathering the voices of eight emerging contemporary artists working across mediums, the aim is to examine and confront the mysterious and sometimes sinister side of human nature.

Lilac Alley

Posted by Cindy on September 4, 2011

Sep 042011

Mission District – San Francisco

Lilac Alley

Lilac Street runs parallel to Mission between 24th and 26th Streets. It is one of those alleys that serves no purpose other than the backs of businesses and the entry to garages. Several organizations use the buildings in this area as canvases. I counted the Lilac Mural Project and Mission Art 415 as just two. There is not doubt the art changes regularly, and these are the ones I found most interesting on my visit. I know I will return.

Signed by Big 549K Crew

Signed by Bode, Stan 153, Terms, Cuba and Twik

A garage door

Another garage door.

Signed by King 157 and Pancho

Mission Super Heroes

Posted by Cindy on September 3, 2011

Sep 032011

Mission District – San Francisco

19th and Mission Street

This wonderfully whimsical wall is on the 19th Street side of a grocery at 2290 Mission Street. It was done by three artists, you can see their names in “bubble” style. KEB, WAND and BUTR. The skill in which they have recreated the various super heroes is really rather impressive. All in all, you can not help but smile when walking by this little gem.

The Mission District, San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on September 2, 2011

Sep 022011

The Mission District

1077 Valencia Street

Ben Eine has shown up in this site before. This is done in his circus font.

To quote his website:Ben Flynn, a.k.a. EINE, (Born 1970. London, England) shot to international fame when David Cameronpresented one of his works to President Obama as a gift on his first official state visit, but is arguably more famous for ‘Alphabet Street’ – the shutters and murals he painted in his trademark colours and typography in Middlesex Street, London– described by The Times as “a street now internationally recognized as a living piece of art with direct links to The White House.”

This piece has been painted over as of April 2013

Outer Mission – Swoon

Posted by Cindy on September 1, 2011

Sep 012011

Outer Mission – San Francisco

Hampshire and 24th Street

This was done in 2008, and is showing it’s age. But the elegance of it is worth showing, even in its present state.

Swoon is a street artist originally from Daytona Beach, Florida. She moved to New York City at age nineteen, and specializes in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures. Swoon, real name Caledonia Dance Curry, studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and started doing street art around 1999.

Swoon’s paste works depict realistically rendered people, often her friends and family, on the streets in various places around the world. Usually, pieces are pasted on uninhabited locations. Her work is inspired by both art historical and folk sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets.

This piece comments on the disappearance of young Mexican women ages 16 – 24; whose disappearances have not only been neglected, but disregarded by Mexican government officials. There are many skulls, which may comment on the vast amount of girls who have gone missing. On close inspection you can also see monarch butterflies and feathers, symbols of flight. According to Mexican folklore, the butterflies are said to present themselves as family members who have passed on.

Mission District – Bartlett Street Mural

Posted by Cindy on August 31, 2011

Aug 312011

Mission District – San Francisco

85 Bartlett Street

Right next to the bright and colorful Amate Mission mural by Jet Martinez, is this fascinating mural. It is a partial reproduction of an original found behind the altar of Old Mission Dolores. The original was believed to be painted by Mission Indians somewhere between 1791 and 1796.

Here is all the information in the Jet Martinez’s own words:

“When Ben [Ben Wood, the freelance artist who, along with archaeologist Eric Blind, photographed the mural by lowering a camera behind the 18th-century altarpiece blocking it from view] approached me, I didn’t want to do it. I grew up in Mexico. I saw a lot of murals of priests saving the souls of kneeling Indians. And this mural is really about the Catholic missionaries’ oppression of the natives. They painted those hearts — the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart of Mary — because that’s what the missionaries told them to do.

But my New Year’s Eve resolution was to be more open. Ben wanted me to restore the mural to what it would have been, but I didn’t want to. Huge sections were missing. To imagine what the mural would have been [would be] to put my own interpretation in it. I left the gaps.Working with two other painters [Bunnie Reiss and Ezra Eismont] helped me remove myself a little. People would ask me, “Why are there no Native Americans working on this mural?” Because we had one Mexican-American guy, one German guy and one Jewish woman.I thought, Native Americans were already forced to paint this once. We’re not going to make them paint it again.”

I apologize for the angle on this, but the sidewalk is narrow, and lined with cars.

Amate Mission

Posted by Cindy on August 30, 2011

Aug 302011

Mission District – San Francisco

85 Bartlett Street

“Amate Mission”

This mural, by Oakland-based artist Jet Martinez, was created in partnership with The Mission Community Market, the SF Arts Commission “Streetsmarts” program, and the Mexican Museum. The title “Amate Mission” is a double entendre, according to Jet:

1. Amate style painting with a Mission District flair. (Including the ever ubiquitous deer that always seem to pop up in Mission District art).
2.”Amate” when spoken in a Central American accent means “love yourself” and in essence, “Love the Mission”

It is based on reinterpretations of traditional Mexican folk arts. According to Martinez, the title refers to a style of painting usually done on paper made from bark from the amate tree. The style is thought to have originated with the Otomi Indians in the state of Guerrero, but it’s now practiced by many artisans throughout Mexico.

Mission District Parklet

Posted by Cindy on August 29, 2011

Aug 292011

Mission District – San Francisco

Parklets

A parklet is a small urban park, often created by replacing several parallel parking spots with a patio, planters, trees, benches, café tables with chairs, and/or bicycle parking. Parklets are designed to provide a public place for citizens to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the city around them, in places where either current urban parks are lacking or if the existing sidewalk width is not large enough to accommodate activities.

The movement in San Francisco began as a temporary action. Taking over a few parking spaces on a city organized date and decorating them. The city had sought quick ways to add to the supply of open space within already developed commercial areas. Businesses pay permit and construction costs and agree to maintain the spaces. In return, they create a pedestrian attraction, often outside their front doors. Startup costs for a parklet include fees of nearly $1,000 to apply and have a site inspection, plus $650 for the removal of two parking meters and a $221 annual fee.

After six were approved on a trial basis, the program took on a life of its own. The first two rounds of proposals attracted 71 applications.

This is the very first one built by a homeowner, and allows him access to his garage, not for a car but for his many bicycles. The owner Amandeep Jawa explains the project very well.

This is Trixie, the mascot of this little parklet.

When you come to San Francisco, you won’t have to travel far to find parklets, they are springing up all over town.

Chor Boogie

Posted by Cindy on August 28, 2011

Aug 282011

Mid Market – San Francisco

2174 Market Street

Mid market is a desolate stretch of abandoned store fronts and SRO’s. This long frontage of boarded up building has been covered by an artist known as Chor. This is not any random street painter, Chor has a worldwide body of work, including a commissioned piece for the Beijing Olympics. His website
displays his incredible talent, and his blog is loaded with fabulous images of his work.

I had the privilege of seeing some of his art gallery work at “The City We Love” showing at 941 Geary street. If you are in the neighborhood, drop in and ask about him. The piece below is on Clarion Alley in the Mission District. Chor has also done it on a smaller scale, and it is on display at 941 Geary.

Bankers Heart

Posted by Cindy on August 27, 2011

Aug 272011

Financial District – San Francisco

555 California Street

This is in the center of A.P. Giannini Plaza. A.P. Giannini was born in San Jose, California and was the Italian American founder of the Bank of America. He founded the Bank of Italy in 1904. The bank was housed in a converted saloon directly across the street from the Columbus Savings & Loan as an institution for the “little fellow”. It was a new bank for the hardworking immigrants other banks would not serve. He offered those ignored customers savings accounts and loans, judging them not by how much money they already had, but by their character. His role in the 1906 earthquake is stuff of legends, he got the money out of the bank and drove it on a horse drawn wagon to his own home down the peninsula. This was vital as the city began to come back to life, he had some of the only accessible money after the fire. (others were afraid to open vaults to soon knowing the money in hot vaults could be ruined if they did so). A.P. had money to start loaning out and getting the economy back on its feet quickly. His history is one of greatness, and worth reading about if you get a hankering.

This piece is called Transcendence by Masayuki Nagare and is made of 200 tons of black Swedish granite.

Wikipedia tells of Nagare’s life. “born February 14, 1923, is a modernist Japanese sculptor who has the nickname “Samurai Artist”. In 1923, he was born in Nagasaki, to Kojuro Nakagawa, who established Ritsumeikan University. As a teenager, he lived in several temples in Kyoto where he studied the patterns of rocks, plants and water created by traditional landscape artists. In 1942, he went on to Ritsumeikan University where he studied Shintoism and sword-making, but he left before graduation. Afterwards, he entered the naval forces preliminary school, and experienced the end of the Pacific War as Zero Fighter pilot. After the War, he learned sculpture by self-study while roaming the world. Nagare’s works include “Cloud Fortress” which was destroyed at the World Trade Center.”

He has a website that does have an English Translation page.

This piece was dubbed “The Bankers Heart” by famous San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. When NationsBank acquired BofA in 1998, a joke making the rounds said conquering Chief Executive Officer Hugh McColl Jr. was going to hijack the sculpture to the bank’s home office in Charlotte, N.C. NationsBank adopted the BofA name and took most of its operations but left its “heart” in San Francisco.

This piece was commissioned in 1969 during the construction of the building.

Claude Lane Mural

Posted by Cindy on August 26, 2011

Aug 262011

Union Square – San Francisco

Claude Lane

Claude Lane is a small alley that runs between Bush and Sutter Streets in San Francisco. It began developing in 1989 when Cafe Claude opened up with an alley entrance. It blossomed over the years and now rivals Belden Place for shopping, dining and that European cafe experience.

Mear painted this mural on the side of Gitane Restaurant at the behest of its owner. This was done in co-operation with that wonderful group 1:AM that have been in this website before. I talked to Mear via phone, as he lives in L.A. and he told me he drew his inspiration from all the colors that were in the alley, and the symbolism of people sitting and enjoying the food and the space.

You can see that vast amount of his accomplishments at his website.

The Sentinel Building in North Beach

Posted by Cindy on August 25, 2011

Aug 252011

North Beach

Sentinel Building

The Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, or to most as Zoetrope sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street. It is a flatiron building with a distinctive copper-green exterior. Designed by Salfield and Kohlberg the building is clad in white tile and copper. Construction was begun before the 1906 earthquake and fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907. The top floor initially housed the real estate offices of the notorious Abe Ruef, a local political figure who spent time in San Quentin for graft. The Kingston Trio owned the building and used it as their corporate headquarters during the 1960s.

By the early 1970s the building was falling gradually into a state of mild disrepair. The film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the building, and renovated it into the building that can be seen today. Coppola then set up his own business in the building American Zoetrope, and it remains there to this day. The bottom floor is his restaurant Zoetrope, which is what most people see and why most people call it that.

To learn more about the Sentinel Read my article at Untapped Cities

North Beach Parking Garage

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2011

Aug 242011

North Beach – San Francisco

It is hard to believe that a website dedicated to art is going to talk about a parking garage, but that is what makes this job so fun. This is the North Beach Garage at 735 Vallejo Street. The work was commissioned by the SF Arts Council in collaboration with the Department of Parking and Traffic under the guise of our two percent law, requiring two percent of the construction budget of a new public building have an art enrichment allocation.

Two local artists featured the faces of the Chinatown/North Beach community people in 11 ceramic steel portraits, on the exterior wall of the parking garage.

Harrell Fletcher and Jon Rubin went to neighborhood shops, offices and restaurants in search of family photographs, which they scanned and enlarged onto the durable ceramic steel.

For the garage interior, the artists collected the types of prophecies and insights found in fortune cookies. They have painted a different one on the ground at the end of each parking space. Here are just a few of the fun sayings.

If you park in the garage, take the walk to the top, the views are spectacular.

The Bay Bridge

St. Peter and St. Paul Church with Alcatraz in the background on the left.

Coit Tower

You can read about Harrell Fletcher at his website, and Jon Rubin at his.

Mid-Market StreeSmARTS Program

Posted by Cindy on August 23, 2011

Aug 232011

Market Street – San Francisco

998 Market at Taylor

This is courtesy of the San Francisco StreetSmARTS program, funded by the Department of Public Works. According to their website “It is by artist, Robert Harris. For this mural, Harris creates an urban/abstract landscape that offers a renewed perspective of the city’s shapes and textures. Featuring a composite of historical and contemporary views of Market Street looking towards the Ferry Building, the mural presents a timeless scene of overlapping decades. Above the city skyline, a series of paintbrushes drip bright colors becoming a metaphor for San Francisco’s creative spirit. Bordering the bottom of the mural, brightly colored painted tiles- the building blocks of the city- symbolize Market Street’s culturally diverse environment.”

San Francisco based Harris, formally studied art in San Diego, Australia and Turkey, He received his BA in Fine Art from San Diego State University in 2006. He was recently was appointed a curatorial position at the SFO Museum.

Union Square 1:AM

Posted by Cindy on August 22, 2011

Aug 222011

Union Square – San Francisco

Saks Fifth Avenue – Fifth Floor

It is difficult to write about Union Square when discussing art. The only form of art that you actually find is the pursuance of the all mighty dollar. It is what many think of when they travel to our fair city, and it’s center is a magnificent open space, but public art is sparse. For that reason, I was thrilled when the great people at 1 AM Gallery had the opportunity to create this piece on the fifth floor of the women’s Saks Fifth Avenue.

1:AM is a prolific group of artist both at their gallery and around town. They have shown up many times on this website. They are a super group of people doing lots of great things with their community and public art. If you get the chance, walk down to the gallery at 1000 Howard Street and see the latest exhibition.

The Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on August 21, 2011

Aug 212011

The Tenderloin – San Francisco

149 Mason Street

This block of Mason Street is looking so much brighter now that Glide has moved into the block. This is on the outside of GLIDE Economic Development Corporation’s 149 Mason Street Studios, an eight-story building which features 56 furnished studio apartments designed for people who have been chronically homeless.

The colorful tiles are by Johanna Poething. Her prolific amount of work has shown up in this website many, many times. According to her website, Johanna Poethig is a visual, public and performance artist who has exhibited internationally and has been actively creating public artworks, murals, paintings, sculpture, and multimedia installations for over 25 years

If you are interested in learning more about the housing project you can go to Glide’s website here.

The Tenderloin – GEDC Family Housing

Posted by Cindy on August 20, 2011

Aug 202011

The Tenderloin – San Francisco

125 Mason

Walking this section of Mason street, I noticed a profound difference in its essence. It was far cleaner, and brighter than I remembered from the past. This is most definitely due to two new housing buildings that have recently gone up. This one is 125 Mason Street and is the GEDC Family housing. Glide Economic Developement Committee is part of the Glide Memorial Family. The front of the building is covered with these wonderful three dimensional sayings, that lend a sense of respect to the building.

The installation is by Mildred Howard. The Chronicle describes Howard thusly: Mildred Howard takes full advantage of the latitude that modernism won for artists in the use of materials and expressive idioms. She has used photographs, glass, architecture, housewares and other found objects of all kinds.

Because she maneuvers so freely within the conceptually soft borders of “installation” work, people tend to think of her as a sculptor, but she prefers the vaguer, more open term artist.

A native San Franciscan, Howard, began her adult creative life as a dancer before shifting her energies to visual art.

Her work has appeared in exhibitions around the world and has garnered numerous awards, including the San Francisco Art Institute’s Adaline Kent Award, and fellowships from the Flintridge and Rockefeller foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lower Haight

Posted by Cindy on August 19, 2011

Aug 192011

Lower Haight – San Francisco

Oak and Scott Streets

This mural was painted by San and Escif.

Escif is a 28 year old artist from Valencia Spain. San is 29 and from Madrid. Earlier this year they traveled up and down the coast of California creating street art. All of their inspiration culminated in an exhibit at Fifty24SF art gallery in July. The exhibit, entitled “See you in Croatan” was described like this: “For the past month, the two friends have journeyed all along the coast of California, gathering inspiration to create works on walls and paper and documenting it on their blog, El Tercero En Cuestion Regarding their project, “the mission was to work as far away as possible from doctrines, imperialisms and linear reasoning, searching for beauty in errors and fortuitous tools, working with intuition and hazard; trying to light relations, transitions and processes; working with research as the way itself; understanding chaos as an ideal space for creation”. The product of their journey was on display at the opening, which consisted of an installation of various drawings, paintings, sketches, keepsakes and photographs inspired by places they have visited, such as Death Valley, Tijuana, Yosemite, Los Angeles and San Francisco.”

In an interview with the two artists I found these quotations most interesting. When San was asked his favorite medium:

I like to experiment with different techniques. I usually paint with Black 2G Montana Spray Paint and acrylic colors. I like to work with water-colors and crayons. Between, always with my Pilot 0.4 in a skeetchbook anyone.

Escif was asked about his favorite color, and then again about his favorite vacation spot and this was his answer.

I have no favourite things. When you said ” My favorite…” you are blocking new possibilities.

The Mission & The Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on August 18, 2011

Aug 182011

Tenderloin – San Francisco

The Mission District – San Francisco

Taken on Hemlock just off Polk

The rabbit is by internationally know ROA. He has an amazing body of work that you can view at this website. Born in Ghent, Belgium, his start in the art world was like most graffiti artist, under bridges and on subway walls, but as you can see he has grown substantially. ROA strives for precise anatomical detail, and his works often come across as unsentimental, feral beasts whose looming scale and piercing gaze can present a real challenge to the viewer.

“Belgian graffiti artist ROA is obsessed with bringing nature back to the streets. Because of him, pigs sleep in alleyways in London and oxen and bears rest in Warsaw. Executed in trademark black and white paint and usually on a gigantic scale, his pieces often show a darker side to wildlife – recurring crows plucking at the eyes of men and rabbits, or animals with their internal organs on show. Notoriously private, he is elusive in interviews but has exhibited across Europe”

Spencer Keaton Cunningham followed him around while he was in San Francisco and posted 3 short videos here on Vimeo but ROA’s face is blurred, and he really doesn’t say to awfully much.

Hardly matters, his art speaks for him.

These were taken on Bartlet Street between Mission and Valencia and 21st and 22nd.

The 2 large seals are standing on the one that shows in the last picture. While huge, the mural is also behind several chain link fences. Understandable that the property owners would put up fences, there wasn’t a square inch on the block that had not been tagged or paint balled. Sadly, once again disrespecting tags on someone else’s work. Alas, fences make for poor photographs, I wish I could have gotten it all in one shot.

UPDATE – The Roa in the Tenderloin is no longer available.

Banksy in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2011

Aug 172011

Banksy in San Francisco

SOMA

8th Street between Folsom and Harrison

Quoting from wikipedia “Banksy is a pseudonymous England based graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.” ” Banksy’s first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released in the UK on 5 March 2010. In January 2011, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film.”

When Banksy started to show up around down it caused quite a store even the S.F. Chronicle got involved.

This is on the corner of Commercial Street and Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Francisco. This one is now protected by plexiglass. I am not sure what that means, street art evolved into high art? Building owner wants it to remain to bring more people to his stores vicinity? I am stumped. The colorful piece was done afterwards by Twick.

If at first you don’t succeed, call an airstrike. This is at the corner of Broadway and Columbus in North Beach.

The Tenderloin – Friedel Klussman, The Cable Car Lady

Posted by Cindy on August 16, 2011

Aug 162011

Tenderloin, San Francisco

Polk and Hemlock

This mural, commissioned by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Workforce and Development as part of the Polk Street Alley’s Program, was painted by Dray. It is “Friedel Klussman, the Cable Car Lady”. I happened upon Dray while he was cleaning the tags off the mural and we got into a great history chat about the cable cars and its depiction in his mural. Front and center you see a horse. That is because originally horses drew the cars, often with heavy loads. On a typically damp summer day in 1869 one of these cars slipped back, flipped over and killed five horses. While a frightening sight to anyone, it was witnessed by Andrew Smith Hallidie who at the time had the resources and know how to do something about it.

Hallidie had been born in England and moved to the U.S. in 1852. His father filed the first patent in Great Britain for the manufacture of wire- rope. As a young man, Hallidie found uses for this technology in California’s Gold Country. He used the wire-rope when designing and building a suspension bridge across Sacramento’s American River. He also found another use for the wire-rope when pulling heavy ore cars out of the underground mines on tracks. The technology was in place for pulling cable cars. The first successful cable car run was August 2nd, 1873.

Then in 1947, Mayor of San Francisco Roger Lapham proposed the closure of the two Powell Street cable car lines, which were owned by the city as part of the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Onto the scene steps Friedel Klussmann, a prominent San Franciscan that had started the San Francisco Beautiful Committee. She gathered a group of 27 women’s organizations and formed the Citizens’ Committee to Save the Cable Cars. In a famous battle of wills, the citizen’s committee eventually forced a referendum on an amendment to the city charter, compelling the city to continue operating the Powell Street lines.

In 1951, the three cable car lines owned by the private California Street Cable Railroad (Cal Cable) were shut down when the company was unable to afford insurance. The city purchased and re-opened the lines in 1952, but the amendment to the city charter did not protect these lines, and the city proceeded with plans to replace them with buses. Again Mrs Klussmann came to the rescue, but with less success this time. The result was a compromise protected system made up of the California Street line from Cal Cable, the Powell-Mason line already in municipal ownership, and a third hybrid line made up by grafting the Hyde Street section of Cal Cable’s O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line onto a truncated Powell-Washington-Jackson line (now known as the Powell-Hyde line).

When Mrs Klussmann died at the age of 90 in 1986, the cable cars were decorated in black in her memory. In 1997, the city dedicated the turntable at the outer terminal of the Powell-Hyde line to Mrs Klussmann

I am often asked if tagging another persons mural is unseemly, well yes it is, and it does force someone to come clean up the mess. As sad as that is it led to my having the absolute pleasure of meeting Dray as he worked.

Some other works of Drays’ in the block are a little decoration for Maharani, an Indian Restaurant on Polk.

You can find Dray on Facebook under Visual Compositions by Dray.

Hayes Valley

Posted by Cindy on August 15, 2011

Aug 152011

Hayes Valley – San Francisco

580 Hayes Street

On the side of Hayes & Kabob – a terrific Mediterranean restaurant – there are these bright and happy dog murals.

In front of the restaurant is a parking lot that used to be an “Elder Art Park” Fortunately, at least these pieces remain.

Because it is a parking lot, I had to shoot this at an angle, but it is called “Hula-hooping Dog” by Delaine Hackney A local mosaisist, Delaine once owned a dog grooming service, her love of dogs is obvious.

This one is by Christine Heath

According to Christines website: Glass as an artistic medium has always satisfied a dangerous glee in me… literally playing with broken glass to create my sculptures and stain glass windows. Glass is a resilient material able to weather centuries of time yet it is fragile to the touch and can be easily destroyed. It is glass’ fragile nature and beauty that I exploit in my work, using kaotic shards of glass to manipulate and cover these forms. Glue acting as a primordial ooze holds the glass to the forms, establishing an entanglement of process and product creating a new form full of individual spirit retaining the essence but not the function of it’s past incarnation.

At the end of the building, one will find this mural by decorative painter John Baden

Hayes Valley is an amazing place for shopping and dining. Plan to spend at minimum a half day in the area, if you are coming to visit, do your homework, there are so many restaurants to choose from, and even in these difficult financial times, many times, lines are out the door.

A slight addendum, within days of my shooting these the first one was replaced by this. Such is the ethereal nature of art in San Francisco.

SOMA & The Haight – EL Mac

Posted by Cindy on August 13, 2011

Aug 132011

SOMA – San Francisco
The Haight – San Francisco

This is on the corner of Russ and Howard Streets, South of Market.

Miles “Mac” McGregor. Goes by The Mac or El Mac. According to his own website El Mac was “born in Los Angeles in 1980 to an engineer and an artist, Mac has been creating and studying art independently since childhood. His primary focus has been the lifelike rendering of human faces and figures. He has drawn inspiration from the surrounding Mexican & Chicano culture of Phoenix and the American Southwest, religious art, pin-up art, graffiti, and a wide range of classic artists such as Caravaggio, Mucha, and Vermeer. He began painting with acrylics and painting graffiti in the mid ’90s, and has since worked consistently towards mastering his signature portrait style. Around 1998 he began to paint technicolor aerosol versions of classic paintings by old European masters. This led to being commissioned in 2003 by the Groeninge Museum in Brugge, Belgium to paint his interpretations of classic Flemish Primitive paintings in the museum’s collection. He has since been commissioned to paint murals across the US, as well as in Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, South Korea, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Singapore, Germany, Ireland, and Vietnam.”

While I am grateful for the murals that he has done in San Francisco, please go to his website and check out some of the amazing work he has done around the world. If you go to the spraypaint section and get as far as page 9, you will find, what I hesitate to label as my favorite, but certainly worth seeking out – Young Scribe.

This is on Fillmore between Haight and Waller.

Civic Center – High School of Commerce

Posted by Cindy on August 12, 2011

Aug 122011

Civic Center
San Francisco

135 Van Ness Avenue

There are so many wonderful building on the Van Ness Corridor, sadly, most people are driving either in or out of San Francisco and much to busy to notice them. This building is near Market Street, not far from City Hall, if you are in the area, take a stroll.

The High School of Commerce, designed by John Reid, Jr, was built in 1926-1927. In 1952, Commerce became the central office for the school district and has remained in that use ever since.

John Reid, was born in San Francisco in 1879, he attended Lowell High School, UC Berkeley and Ecole de Beaux Arts. He was the brother-in-law of Mayor “Sunny” James Rolph. He became city architect in 1911 after the untimely death of Newton Thorp, another prominent architect of the time.

This classic Spanish Colonial Revival grabs my heart whenever I go by it for the wonderfully sculpted faces on the column capitals at the front door.

Hayes Valley Farm

Posted by Cindy on August 11, 2011

Aug 112011

Hayes Valley – San Francisco

Hayes Valley Farm

Thanks to the efforts of Colonel Thomas Hayes, Hayes Valley became the first outlying area of the vast Western Addition to develop. Hayes was born in 1823 in Ireland. Afflicted by gold fever, Hayes and his two brothers set sail for San Francisco, and acquired a 160-acre tract through the use of a preemption deed—effectively exercising squatters’ rights. His claim was confirmed by the Van Ness Ordinance in 1855. According to historian Bill Kostura, the boundaries of Hayes’ property can by described thusly: “This tract began near the intersection of Fulton and Polk streets, ran northwest to Turk and Laguna, thence southwest to Oak and Webster, thence south east to a point just south of Market Street, and finally northeast to the point of commencement.”

Hayes initially tried farming but he soon discovered that fog, wind, and shifting sand dunes confounded his efforts. Isn’t it fun what 100+ years and the destruction of a freeway can bring.

The farm is the result of the destruction of the Central Freeway after the Loma Prieta earthquake. It is there on a temporary basis, as a city sanctioned temporary green space. It is a wonderful use of a neglected and ugly scar on the landscape.

The SolarPump Charging Station is a self-contained island of free solar power available for the public to charge any electronic device (electric bicycles to cellphones and laptops, etc.) using a standard 110v AC plug. The bus stop-sized station inspires conversation about energy consumption, solar power and growing adoption of electric mobility.

Update 2013 – The farm has run its course and is no longer there. The construction of a 182-unit semi-luxury condos construction project has begun.

Western Addition – Pastime

Posted by Cindy on August 10, 2011

Aug 102011

Western Addition – San Francisco

Corner of Franklin, Page and Market Street

It is no secret that I consider graffiti to be an art form. Do not confuse that with tagging, (those single color scribbles) or bombing (just really, really large tags) which fall into a whole other category. But the question is, where does graffiti leave off and art begin. I can not, nor do I want to, answer that question. The above is why I am on this subject. This fabulously colored wall is by a graffiti artist known as Pastime. So is this just graffiti, or is it a fabulous piece of art?

Pastime is a member of the Lords. According to Graffiti blog Graffhead the:

LORDS Production Crew has been operating in San Francisco for almost two decades, manipulating the stark walls of the urban landscape to make the wasteland a tad more livable for those of us lucky enough to notice and appreciate their nocturnal artwork. For example, the wall across from Amoeba Records on Haight is one of their collaborative murals, generally referred to as “productions” in graffiti lingo. LORDS members have been featured in the documentary ‘Piece By Piece’ (chronicling 20 years of SF graffiti), as well as the independent feature film ‘Quality of Life’ (a fictional drama about SF graffiti writers).

I have borrowed the following photograph from Fatcap another graffiti blog.

This is what all the work I have ever seen by Pastime looks like. So again, the question: When does tagging become graffiti become art?

This piece is no longer available for viewing, the building has been torn down.

SOMA – Freeway Prophecy

Posted by Cindy on August 9, 2011

Aug 092011

SOMA – San Francisco

Clementina and 8th Street

Freeway Prophecy

Subtitled “a surrealistic look at the future of transportation” this is another mural by Johanna Poethig sharing “lead artist” credit with Sofie Siegmann. “Freeway Prophecy” was a major coordinated production crediting, besides Siegmann, nine other Artist Collaborators, seventeen Youth Artists and the Writers Corps poet Donna Ho.I am hard pressed to actually understand the definition of this mural, but if you would like a rather ethereal, and complicated description you can find one here on this blog.

the trees have grown to cover so much of the mural, but if you are in the neighborhood, stop by and take a look.

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