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The Embarcadero Center

Posted by Cindy on July 8, 2011

Jul 082011

When urban renewal laws took hold in the 1950’s, city planner M. Justin Herman spearheaded a plan to redevelop the site where Embarcadero Center now stands into a mixed-use “city within a city.” David Rockefeller, John Portman, and Trammel-Crow submitted the winning proposal to develop the 8.5 acre site.

Embarcadero Center’s four office towers were built in phases, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1983. The office towers, have a daily population of 16,000.

In building two on the lobby level, this little gem is tucked away in a corner near the entry to the office towers. It is titled “Rhythm of the Metropolis”. Oil on concrete, by San Francisco artist Zheng fu Lu, painted in 2000.

I tripped over this piece, and have no information about it at all. Tucked way in a corner near the Embarcadero Cleaners on the street level of building two. It has a sister piece next to it.

This is the signature piece of the Embarcadero Center. Architect and sculptor John C. Portman, Jr. makes a statement with The Tulip, a bold concrete tulip-shaped sculpture outlined with lights that spans three levels. As you can see, it functions as a ramp from one level to another, it is in water and beautifully landscaped at the base. Co-incindentally this piece was manufactured by Western Art Stone, (a large concrete casting company, no longer in business) they also cast Jaques Overhoff’s piece at City College of San Francisco.

Just outside of Embarcadero Four walking towards the Hyatt Regency and Market Street you will come across “Mistral”, a cast bronze sculpture by Elbert Weinberg that represents the warm winds that originate in Africa and sweep upwards to southern Europe.

Embarcadero Center

Posted by Cindy on July 7, 2011

Jul 072011

The Embarcadero – San Francisco

Two Columns with Wedge by William Gutmann

Visiting San Francisco, like many cities in the world, leaves one with the need for more time or many visits. The first few visits people very rarely get out of Union Square. Some people are able to get to the Ferry building and its environs. For the next couple of days I want to bring to you the Embarcadero Center. Shopping, Dining and art all in one spot. Because of the San Francisco public art laws, there is quite a bit to see at the four Embarcadero buildings and their surroundings. The collection was created by Embarcadero Center developer David Rockefeller and Embarcadero Center architect John C. Portman, Jr.

The collection changes, so I am going to bring to you the ones that are permanent and will most likely be there on your visit.

The Embarcadero buildings are really wonderful areas to be, each building has a central courtyard with a piece of art plunked down in a water feature. These all have long seating areas to lounge around with lunch or just tired feet. The public spaces are beautifully landscaped and are a magnet to office workers on lunch breaks and shoppers alike.

The above sculpture is in building one. It is a 17-ton stainless steel sculpture by William Gutmann that was fabricated out of an 82-foot long cylinder in a San Francisco wok manufacturing company, located just outside the Embarcadero theaters. The theaters, by the way, show foreign, and “art” films, a wonderful resource for offbeat movies.

Encircled by a spiral stairway between the LeMeridien San Francisco and the Old Federal Reserve Bank Building on Battery and Commercial Streets is this bronze sphere with black etchings, an untitled work by German artist Fritz Koenig.

At Two Embarcadero Center is Nicholas Schoffer’s Chronos XIV, a steel sculpture with 49 light projectors and 65 movable discs.

Still in Embarcadero Two on the Lobby level is Anne Van Kleeck’s bronze sculpture “Blocks”.

A difficult shot because of its massiveness, and shooting straight into the sun, the last piece for today is by one of my absolute favorite artists, Louise Nevelson’s Sky Tree, a soaring structure of black Corten steel set in a reflecting pool.

The Embarcadero – Sidney Walton Park

Posted by Cindy on July 6, 2011

Jul 062011

Sydney Grant Walton, for whom the park is named, was a San Francisco banker who lived from 1901 to 1960. Reportedly he was a multitalented business- man, cultural leader and vice-chairman of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. As the plaque outside the park states, he was “vital in the formation of the concept and development of the Golden Gateway.”

The above sculpture is my favorite in the park. It has always appealed to me on many levels. In 1962, Perini-Alcoa (joint developers) held a sculpture competition to locate a fountain which would complement the Peter Walker designed park. They chose “Four Seasons.” Created by frenchman, Francois Stahly, “Four Seasons” is a cast bronze and stone sculpture created in an Italian foundry then shipped to San Francisco where it was installed in this spot. The fountain, with four cast- bronze vertical water features representing the four seasons of the year, was designed so that water would cascade over the bronze spires onto a labyrinth of stones at the base.

Big Heart on The Rock

Jim Dine 1974

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1935 and studied at the Boston Museum School. Later he moved to New York. He is known for his heart sculptures.

“Pine Tree Obelisk” Joan Brown, 1987

Sydney Walton Park

Posted by Cindy on July 5, 2011

Jul 052011

This is one of the entries to Sydney Walton Park in the Embarcadero Area of San Francisco. It sits surrounded by Jackson, Pacific, Davis and Front Streets. This wonderful park is full of art, and history. It is just a marvelous oasis in the middle of lots and lots of high rises. You will also find Kokkari Restaurant across the street on Jackson, one of the best Greek restaurants you will ever have the pleasure of dining in.

The Arch above is the Colombo Market Arch on Front Street, it is the only structural piece remaining from the old San Francisco produce market, a series of brick buildings that occupied this area. This is the part of town nicknamed the Barbary Coast. By 1892 it had become a raucous district of prostitution, dance halls and thievery. The Coast continued to flourish until 1911, when Major James (Sunny Jim) Rolph initiated a clean-up. Shut down for good in the early 1920’s, it became the Produce District.

Golden Gateway Center, created in the 1960s, was designed as a mixed-use, urban residential community. At that time, it was the largest project of its kind in the country. By law, art was required as part of the project, originally the pieces were slated to be spaced around the project, and indeed some are, but later it was decided to put all the art in the park, and this is the result. The two-acre site was designed by the well-known landscape architect Peter Walker (managing partner of Sasaki Walker, later to become SWA).

Penquins by Benny Bufano was one of the original pieces and it stands outside the park on Davis Court. Bufano is one of San Francisco’s most prolific artists and you can find his pieces in many places on this website.

“Portrait of Georgia O’Keefe” Marisol Escobar, 1982

O’Keefe sits on an old tree stump like an ancient wizard, loosely dangling her walking stick and flanked by two compact woolly dogs.” This description is based on photographs Marisol Escobar took while visiting the 90-year-old O’Keefe in New Mexico. Her sculpture, with her two pet show dogs, is the product of that visit. Marisol Escobar was born in 1930 in Paris to wealthy Venezuelan parents who were traveling through Europe. As a child, Marisol was educated in private schools in Los Angeles, then continued her art studies in New York City. In 1963 the Venezuelan Marisol became U.S. citizen.

South San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 4, 2011

Jul 042011

Today’s post is, well honestly, a soap box. Most people know the City of South San Francisco because they see the above when they drive into San Francisco from the airport. That is it, that is probably all you need to know as well. It is a delightful little town with an old downtown where you can still get your shoes fixed, and the hardware store guy knows your name, and what you need. It is a split town, the freeway runs directly through it, the west side of the freeway is why it is called the Industrial City. It is miles and miles of office buildings, almost entirely feeding the biotech industry, ugly, massive and lacking all signs of humanity except the ubiquitous 500 car parking lots.

However, South San Francisco has done something that other cities should do. They built a public park that is functional, attractive, and has an art walk.

First, it has the typical things you would expect, but oh so much more. It has TWO baseball parks, Bocce ball, Tennis, Soccer, TWO kids playgrounds, an indoor swimming pool AND a skateboard park.

All this and an art walk, proving that when cities and counties want to do it right – it is all possible.

The art wasn’t anything to write home about, but here it was in the middle of a park filled, with families picnicking, playing ball, and generally just enjoying their park.

The grounds were really well maintained, and well designed. Colma Creek used to run through the area, making it marshy and unusable. During construction they tamed the creek in concrete culverts. I assume this little trail was meant to pay homage to the creek.

Oh, and did I mention there is a 1.8 acre dog park, with separate areas for big and little dogs AND it’s own art.

If you enjoy reading history, there is a nice article in the local paper covering the area from the 1800’s.

Mission District- Balmy Avenue

Posted by Cindy on July 3, 2011

Jul 032011

Balmy Alley, Mission District, San Francisco. Part II.

Part of the wooden cut out mural at the 24th end of Balmy Alley

“The birth of a silence is written in the agony of a sigh”

I continue with just a few more Balmy Alley murals today. There are many, many more and I again encourage you to make your way there when you can, and take a tour by Precita Eyes if you have the time.

Virgin of Guadalupe by Patricia Rose

Patricia Rose is the senior tour coordinator for Balmy Alley and one of the major artists in the Mission Mural Movement.

Manjushri by Marta Ayala

Tibetan Buddhist wisdom deity. The mural merges Tibetan Art with Latin American motifs. A native of El Salvador, Marta has been a resident of San Francisco since 1968. I loved the juxtaposition with the fact that the Virgin of Guadalupe is directly across the alley from the Manjushri.

Rejoice by unknown artist

Just a little fun along the way.

Mission District – Balmy Alley

Posted by Cindy on July 2, 2011

Jul 022011

Balmy Alley

Inspired by Huichol Indian Yarn Paintings by Mia Gonzales, Susan Cervantes and Others 1991

This is the beginning of Balmy Avenue. It is runs between 25th and 24th streets in the Mission District, between Harrison and Treat. This block long alley is one of several great alleys in San Francisco with a highly concentrated collection of murals. The murals began in the mid-80’s as an outlet for artists’ outrage over human rights and political abuses in Central America. Today the alley contains murals on a myriad of styles and subjects from human rights to local gentrification and Hurricane Katrina. The alley is best viewed on foot. If you plan ahead, you can get guided tours by Precita Eyes. The alley is constantly changing so repeat visits are always fun.

Naya Bihana, Painted by Marin Travers of Precita Eyes in 2002

“Una ley immoral nadie tiene que cumplirla,” “No one must comply with an immoral law.” Romero was “urging us to think for ourselves, to consider what we’re doing. We shouldn’t blindly comply with something we know is not right, Romero fought the military government for the rights of the poor in El Salvador, he was murdered in 1980. But his presence is still felt here with two murals on Balmy Alley.

A Tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero – 2001

listed as both unknown artist, and attributed to Jamie Morgan

Victorion by Sirron Norris – A Giant Robotic Victorian House

Sirron Norris was born in Cleveland, Ohio and settled down in San Francisco in 1997. Initially, Sirron worked as a production artist in the video game industry. Sirron received his first artist in residence from the De Young Museum. That year, Sirron’s career propelled into the limelight and today is known as one of San Francisco’s most notable artists.

Sun and the Moon by Frances Valesco

Valesco received her BA from UCLA and her MA from California State University, Long Beach. She teaches at City College of San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, and UC Berkeley.

Those We Love, We Remember by Edythe Boone – 1997

Edythe is a 72 year old arts educator. Another great mural she worked on was the The Women’s Building in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Indigenous Eyes by Susan Kelk Cervantes

Mission District – 24th Street Mini Park, San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 1, 2011

Jul 012011

24th and York

This is another mosaic by Colette Crutcher, this time, in collaboration with her husband, Mark Roller and friend Aileen Barr. The park is at 24th and York in San Francisco. It is a wonderful little mini park in a terrific part of the Mission District. This giant mosaic statue of the Mesoamerican snake-god Quetzalcoatl and it’s playful fountain is the focal point of the park. Quetzalcoatl started as a concrete structure and then was covered with broken commercial tile, and hundreds of handmade tiles.

The park used to be a neighborhood eyesore, filled with pretty scary folks just lounging in the park, but thanks to a million-dollar 2006 beautification project, the 24th & York Street Mini Park was transformed into an urban oasis.

Across the street is the vintage St. Francis Soda Fountain, where you can get milkshakes and sandwiches like when you were a kid, or just hang out and wait for the strolling ice cream carts to come by.

This part of town is covered with murals, thanks primarily to Precita Eyes. Precita Eyes was established in 1977 as an inner city, community based, mural arts organization. I will be coming back to them from time to time as I explore the murals in this neighborhood over the next few days.

All of Quetzalcoatl with the fountain running. This is one of those fountains, that turns itself on and off and surprises you, but it is so warm in this part of town, that it is often welcoming.

Most of the walls in the park are covered in murals. Many of them by Michael Rios, who designed many of Carlos Santana’s album covers in the 1970’s. Carlos Santana and Rios grew up in the neighborhood and Rios still lives there.

These three pieces are pierced steel. They remind me of pierced steel lamps you find all over Mexico, but I could find nothing about them, nor who made them.

Golden Gate Heights – Mosaics in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on June 30, 2011

Jun 302011

This amazing set of stairs is at 16th Avenue and Moraga in San Francisco. The artists are Colette Crutcher and Aileen Barr. This 163 step stairway was a collaboration of the Golden Gate Heights Neighborhood Association and the San Francisco Parks Trust. Colette and Aileen led a group of over 300 volunteers in making 163 mosaic panels, with over 200 neighbors sponsoring handmade tiles that are embedded in the mosaic. Colette and Aileen wrote an amazing book about the project, and you can buy it through a link on Colette’s website. I suggest you visit the stairs yourself, enjoy the mosaics and climb them, the view at the top is absolutely unbelievable!

Oddities in San Francisco – Aeolian Harp

Posted by Cindy on June 29, 2011

Jun 292011

This is one of the more obscure pieces of art in the San Francisco area. It is actually in South San Francisco off Grandview Drive in the Oyster Point area. It is difficult to find, and surrounded by ugly industrial buildings that over shadow it. Which is sad, because it is really rather magnificent.

92-feet-tall sculpted by Aristides Demetrios it is one of the world’s largest aeolian harps. Named for Aeolus, the Greek god of the wind, and invented by the 17th-century polymath Athanasius Kircher, an aeolian harp is a passive instrument played by the movement of the wind.

I was there on a very windy day and what you hear throughout the area is a very low pitch hum, almost like electrical machinery, not annoying, but there. It is not so loud that you are absolutely sure that it is playing, and yet you are aware of it.

Not until I visited this site and started researching Aristides did I realize that I have seen, and truly admired, many of his works around the country.

Born in 1932 in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was author and illustrator of children’s books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and The Little House, for which she won the Caldecott prize. After graduating from Harvard, 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 at Stanford. Shortly after that, he was chosen to be the sculptor for a public art commission in Sacramento in front of the County Courthouse; subsequently, he was selected to design and fabricate the sculpture to grace the entry to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The piece I recognized right away was “Cosmos”, a large red work of steel off Highway 80 near Roseville, California as you drive up to Lake Tahoe. If you too think any of those are familiar, you can check out his website and see all of his work.

Winner of Best Public Art 2011

Posted by Cindy on June 28, 2011

Jun 282011

This is a special piece to me. The artist is Owen Smith, he is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. Smith’s WPA-style mosaic murals and bas relief sculptures at the new Laguna Honda pay homage to Glen Wessels’ W.P.A. mural series “Professions” located in the hospital’s 1926 building. Painted in oil on canvas, Wessels’ five murals portray the classical elements (fire, air, earth and water) through an associated profession. For the hospital’s lobby, Smith created three mosaic murals depicting the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, which to him represents human audacity, bravery, skill and artistic and engineering achievement. The location of the bridge, which is forged in steel (fire), is a meeting of water, earth and sky (air).

This is one of a series of 3’ x 5’ cast-stone relief sculptures representing a classical element and an associated profession.

Owen is an amazing artist, his talent is just phenomenal. However, what many artists can’t do and what my company does well, is take an artists sculpture and turn it into a final product. We specialize in cast stone and cast plaster, and were truly honored when Owen came to us to produce the final product.

To make it all that more special, Owens work at Laguna Honda was voted one of three best public artworks in the United States at the 2011 Americans for the Arts convention.

Gay Pride – June 27, 2011 – San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2011

Jun 272011

Gay Pride Parade – San Francisco – 2011. It was a beautiful day on Sunday for a parade, and the town was out in full force.

The first event resembling the modern San Francisco Pride celebration was held in 1970–a small “gay-in” in Golden Gate Park. Since 1972, the event has been held each year. The name of the festival has changed over the years. The Rainbow Flag identified with the Gay community was originally created by Gilbert Baker for the 1978 San Francisco Pride Parade. It originally had eight stripes, but was later simplified to the current six stripes. The parade is several hours long, and filled with everyone you can imagine from all communities around the bay area. Here are just a rambling sample of some of the parade participants.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

BART meet Carmen Miranda

(Bay Area Rapid Transit)

The Local SPCA – telling you rescuing pets is “Out of this World”

The San Francisco Opera

Great Bands

Fire Departments from all over the Bay Area

Lots and lots of dogs

Google had a huge contingency marching

The American Legion

Kaiser – Permanente’s float won first prize

Policemen and women

American Indians, and Pacific Islanders

Pennsylvania – Bucks County

Posted by Cindy on June 26, 2011

Jun 262011

Outside Philadelphia – This is the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, (Bucks County) Pennsylvania. Henry Mercer inherited his money from a maiden aunt and with this money he started collecting objects of everyday life, convinced that the history of Bucks County was the history of the world. At first he did all the collecting himself, but over the years he developed quite a network of people that would bring him items from far and wide.

His first collection burned down, thus creating the desire to house the entire new collection in a fireproof, concrete building. So in 1916, Mercer erected a 6-story concrete castle. The towering central atrium of the Museum was used to hang the largest objects such as a whale boat, stage coach and Conestoga wagon. On each level surrounding the court, smaller exhibits were installed in a warren of alcoves, niches and rooms according to Mercer’s classifications — healing arts, tinsmithing, dairying, illumination and so on. The end result of the building is a unique interior that is both logical and provocative. It requires the visitor to view objects in a new way. It is easy to follow and gives you a wonderful sense of how things were actually used.

Just down the road is his home, Fonthill. It served as a showplace for Mercer’s famed Moravian tiles that were produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Designed by Mercer, the building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles, and is significant as an early example of poured reinforced concrete.

I truly regret that we did not get a chance to tour the Moravian tile factory on the grounds of Fonthill, due to time constraints, but those are the reasons you find yourself with excuses to return to some places.

The museum is open to 7 days a week, the home Fonthill, however, requires a guided tour. The tour takes at least an hour and a half. There is not photography allowed inside the home, which is a shame, because it is rather amazing and I would love to show you some of it. I apologize for the first photo of the museum, but to get a sense of the size I really had to shoot straight into the ceiling light.

Some of the fun things just hanging out in the museum.

Moravian Tiles

Philadelphia

Posted by Cindy on June 25, 2011

Jun 252011

Philadelphia – Claes Oldenburg

Posted by Cindy on June 24, 2011

Jun 242011

In Front of the City Center building downtown Philadelphia.

I am a huge fan of Claes Oldenburg. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of a Swedish diplomat stationed in New York. In 1936 his father was transferred to Chicago where Oldenburg grew up, attending the Latin School of Chicago. He studied at Yale University from 1946 to 1950, then returned to Chicago where he took classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Many of Oldenburg’s large-scale sculptures of mundane objects elicited public ridicule before being embraced as whimsical, insightful, and fun additions to public outdoor art. Duchamp once said “concern with trying to redefine what we consider art was a very big factor in terms of my own work.” He put the concept of the “ready-made” on the map. I know that Oldenburg did not consider his work to be like Duchamp, but you must see a connection, as so much in life and art connects.

This second one is in the Sculpture Garden behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia – Following your spirit

Posted by Cindy on June 23, 2011

Jun 232011

My favorite artists are ones that find their passion and pursue it, with no thought to commercialism, or the sale. The thing that is shunned by the neighbors, until they realize you aren’t a crazy old coot, you have a vision and it is just different.

Well I found one of those in Philadelphia. His name is Isaiah Zargar. His work looks like that of an educated artist, and he is, having graduated from Pratt Institute in NYC. While a young 19 year old he discovered the folk art of Clarence Schmidt which definitely inspired his work.

In 1994, Zagar started work in the vacant lots located near his studio. After tiling the adjacent property (which is the photo above) The vacant lots became “Magic Gardens” at 1020 South Street in Philadelphia. He constructed a massive fence to protect the area and then spent the next 12 years excavating tunnels and grottoes, sculpting multi-layered walls and tiling and grouting the 3,000 square foot space. In 2002, the actual property owner wanted to sell the property, the community came together and incorporated as a non-profit to promote and preserve this wonderful slice of heaven.

There are wonderful sayings all over the place including: “I built this sanctuary to be inhabited by my ideas and my fantasies.” Another says, “Remember walking around in this work of fiction.” The top photo has a saying running through it “Art is the Center of the World.” I could put up 100 pictures, and it wouldn’t be enough. To say nothing of the fact that he has created over 130 other murals scattered throughout the South Street Area. If you get a chance to visit Philadelphia, get off the beaten path and go see the “Magical Gardens”.

Philadelphia – Playing Games

Posted by Cindy on June 22, 2011

Jun 222011

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 1417 JFK Boulevard

This installation is entitled “Your Move” by Daniel Martinez, Renee Petropoulis and Roger White, it was installed in 1979. While difficult to discern on the ground, the tiles appear to be some sort of game board, not checkers, or chess, but orderly like a game board. The tops of the blue rounds have Bingo Number/Letter combinations on them, and there are also Checker’s pieces with crowns on top. This is best seen from the observation deck of the Municipal Services Building where they are located. Since I did not go up, I appreciated them from the ground level. They include Monopoly, and Parcheesi as well as the games I already mentioned.

I would love to have found out more about them, or about the artists, but that proved impossible. I don’t know how well these actually work, they are really a great concept, but they don’t lend themselves to asking humans to be part of the open space, they just seem to be there, with no real way to interact. They are really cool to look at but…

Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary

Posted by Cindy on June 21, 2011

Jun 212011

I am in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My habit in any town is to seek the odd ball. After an entire morning spent at the Philadelphia Art Museum, I headed out to an odd ball spot. Before explaining that however, I must say, that if you have the opportunity to visit the Philadelphia Art Museum, please do. Plan on exhausting yourself. It has one of the most vast collections in the United States, and all of it is absolutely first rate. I have never seen so many great old masters on display in one location, to say nothing of their Asian Art Collection with an actual tea house, and a French Cloister in another room. Just spectacular.

On to the odd ball. This is the Eastern State Penitentiary, a former American prison located in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia that was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration with no human contact in order to find God and do “pentinence” emphasizing principles of reform rather than punishment.

Its unique wagon wheel design originally housed inmates in cells that could only be accessed by entering through a small exercise yard attached to the back of the prison; only a small portal, just large enough to pass meals, opened onto the cell blocks. As time went on, and more prisoners were added, this proved unfeasible. So two wings were added with two floors and designs we think of as prisons today. That is represented by the photo at the top.

Eventually the prison became too expensive to operate and was abandoned. It lay empty for over 20 years. In that time it became so overgrown with trees and cats, it was almost impossible to get through. It was slated for demolition and a condominium project when a very small group of preservationists and prison historians banded together to convince the state to restore it and open it up as an educational and tourist operation. In 1994, Eastern State opened to the public for historic tours.

Notorious criminals such as bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone were held inside When the building was erected it was the largest and most expensive public structure ever constructed, quickly becoming a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide. There is even a map of all the prisons around the world that adopted this method, it is somewhat haunting.

What the hallways, with the food doors would have looked like in the original prison (recreation)

What the hallways looked like at the end of the prisons life.

Philadelphia – Public Art As Playgrounds

Posted by Cindy on June 20, 2011

Jun 202011

This is entitled “White Water” by Robinson Frendenthal. It was installed in 1978, and the plaque reads “Installed as a Fine Arts Commitment as required by the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia.” So sad, sounds like the really didn’t want it. Robinson Frendenthal graduated from Penn with a degree in architecture and turned to sculpture almost immediately. His work can be seen all over Philadelphia. He died at 69 in 2009.

I don’t find anything outstanding enough about this sculpture to include it as a post in most normal circumstances, but what captured my attention immediately was the group of boys both attempting to ride their skate boards up the side, as well as run up the side. They were unsuccessful in both attempts, but there is a very shiny spot where it proves many have tried.

I find the climbing onto, or skating onto public art offensive. However, my husband, a sculptor finds it a marvelous interaction of public and public space. I assume, that as long as no real damage is done, it is only a matter of opinion rather than the soap box I would like to climb up on.

Philadelphia – Government of the People

Posted by Cindy on June 19, 2011

Jun 192011

“Government of the People” is located in front of the Municipal Services Building in Philadelphia. A piece by Jacques Lipchitz it was dedicated in 1976. It seeks to portray the artist’s ideas regarding the struggle for freedom and the push to ensure democracy

Lipchitz (1891-1973) was a Lithuanian. In 1909 he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian and fell into the art scene there with such notables as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Juan Gris He was recognized as the most significant ‘Cubist’ sculptor of his time. His work was widely viewed as more rounded in form than traditional cubists and it portrayed his interests in myths, epic tales and religious symbolism.

According to the official description this sculpture bears resemblance to a “conglomeration” of human forms. From the base of the statue to the very top, one sees a number of elements: a family group (parents and child), a young couple and an older couple. Each element represents the building blocks of humanity and each phase of their progress through life. Each block builds on the other and implies a process of struggle, support and dedication, and achievement.

Philadelphia – Maxfield Parish meets Tiffany

Posted by Cindy on June 18, 2011

Jun 182011

Dream Garden is an enormous glass mosaic designed by artist Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), and executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios, for the lobby of the Curtis Publishing Building in Philadelphia — home of The Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. The work was commissioned by Edward Bok, Senior Editor of the Curtis Publishing Company. Over a one-month period, prior to being installed in the Curtis Building, the work was exhibited at Tiffany Studios in New York City, attracting more than 7,000 viewers. The Dream Garden took six months to install in Philadelphia.

Maxfield Parrish was known as a “master of make-believe,” charming readers with illustrations for children’s books and magazine covers. Parrish’s method of alternating transparent oil paints with varnish added the illusion of light to his landscapes.

Measuring 15 by 49 feet, Dream Garden was produced by the Tiffany Studios in 1916, using over 100,000 pieces of favrile glass, each hand-fired to achieve perfection in each of the 260 colors. The partnership of Tiffany and Parrish had been called “one of the major artistic collaborations in early 20th Century America.”

Apparently, the relationship between Maxfield Parrish and Louis Comfort Tiffany was tumultuous, based on a rueful assessment of each other’s artistic merit. While Parrish complained that Tiffany’s translation of his design lacked subtlety and “painterliness,” Tiffany countered that the design sketches were technically vague. Something that continues to day in most artistic collaboration between designer and installer.

In June of 1998, Dream Garden was sold to casino owner Steve Wynn, who planned to move it to Las Vegas. Philadelphia historians, artists, activitists (notably the Arts Defense League), and press protested the proposed move — and the Pew Charitable Trusts agreed to provide $3.5 million to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in order to purchase the important work. The work is now owned by the Pennsylvania Academy, and is permanently installed in the Curtis Center lobby.

Philadelphia – Feeling the Love

Posted by Cindy on June 17, 2011

Jun 172011

Okay, you knew this was coming. I am in Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love. City of Brotherly Love isn’t actually a nickname. It is merely a translation of the Greek phrase “brotherly love” from philos “love” and adelphos “brother”. William Penn was an English Quaker, a Latin and Greek scholar who was educated at Oxford. He chose the name when he established a peaceful and friendly city in the colony in the New World so that his fellow religionists could escape the persecution they were suffering in their native land.

In 1976 the Robert Indiana sculpture was installed in John F. Kennedy Plaza, northwest of City Hall.

The image was originally designed as a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in 1964. The image has been rendered and parodied countless times including by the U.S. Post Office in 1973. (It was an 8 cent stamp).

JFK Plaza was built in 1965 and designed by architect Vincent Kling. Though the official name of the park is JFK Plaza, when Robert Indiana’s sculpture was installed at the park, it quickly became known as Love Park. The sculpture was commissioned for the country’s Bicentennial but was removed two years later. After protests from both city officials and residents, it was brought back to the park and has remained there ever since.

As a Californian, I was also just blown away by the fountain. The amount of water and the force with which it reaches to the sky is phenomenal. Not something you see in a drought-ridden state. The power was very much a part of its majesty.

February 2018 – 210 North 18th Street

In 2015 The World Meeting of Families presided over by Pope Francis was in Philadelphia. The Association for Public Art and the Philidelphia Museum of Art purchased this sculpture by Robert Indiana, called AMOR, and placed it on the Museum’s East Terrace which overlooked the Papal Mass. The sculpture was relocated to Sister Cities Park the following year.

Philadelphia – June 16, 2011

Posted by Cindy on June 16, 2011

Jun 162011

I am in Philadelphia and I hate doing the classic tourist stuff, so sorry, you won’t see a picture of the Liberty Bell, but this is pretty touristy as things go. This is Christ Church Burial Ground. I love cemeteries, they are so full of history, even if you don’t know anything about the people buried there, they have history for the people that knew them and the towns they are buried in.

This particular cemetery has history for all of us. Benjamin Franklin is buried here, as well as four other signers of the Declaration of Independence. Commodore William Bainbridge, Commodore of Old Ironsides, is buried here along with at least one other Commodore. There are prominent statesmen and important business men that were vital to the founding of this country.

From 1997 to 2003 the graveyard was closed, according to one of the people I spoke to it was abandoned and filled with rubbish and people looking for a place for the night. The Burial Ground has 1,400 markers. It is estimated that more than 5,000 markers have disappeared due to neglect of the place. It is almost impossible to read the grave markers due to neglect and weathering, fortunately, in 1864, the warden of Christ Church, Edward Lyon Clark compiled a book of all the inscriptions that were still visible on the fading soft marble markers. Today plaques have been placed in front of some of the gravestones that contain the words that once appeared on the now blank headstones.

If you are in Philadelphia, be sure to stop in and pay your respects, it was only $2.00 per person to visit, and well worth the respite and education.

William Wareham at SF City College

Posted by Cindy on June 14, 2011

Jun 142011

San Francisco City College
Ocean Avenue Campus

This piece at City College San Francisco, Ocean campus, is titled “Wyoming Coup” by William Wareham. It was installed in 1972 on the West Lawn of the Science Building.

William Wareham graduated with an MA and MFA from UC Berkeley in 1971, he did his undergraduate at the Philadelphia College of Art. He has always had a strong metal theme in his work.

Since his stint as the first Artist in Residence at the Norcal Solid Waste Systems facility in 1990, where he set up the studio and wrote the safety manual, Wareham has been using recycled steel as the primary source for his sculpture, but he goes far beyond what most artists do with recycled materials these days. It is the “pre-used history that the material inherently holds”, he says, that inspires him. “These worn-out metal things will continue to have a life by gathering, refocusing and rejoining into a collective other life”. He is extremely prolific, that can be seen at the website of a gallery that reps his work.

San Francisco City College Mosaics

Posted by Cindy on June 13, 2011

Jun 132011

Two polished marble mosaics stand at either end of the Science Hall on the City College of San Francisco Campus. These mosaics are by the Swiss-born artist Herman Volz and represent fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics in tiny tiles.

Completed on site, the mosaics took two years to install with a staff of eight workmen. Each tile is of varying thickness, resulting in shadows that emphasize their shape. Each marble tile was carefully polished, cemented onto the façade of the building, and then polished again. Begun during “Art in Action” at the Golden Gate International Exhibition (1939-1940), they were restored in 2005. They are absolutely huge, and it is very difficult to get a good enough photograph to convey the message. This is taken from several yards away, just to give you a sense of the massiveness of the project.

Volz was educated in Europe and came to the US in 1933, where he became well-known as a painter, lithographer, and mosaic/ceramic artist for the WPA. He exhibited at San Francisco’s Museum of the Legion of Honor from 1937-1941 and won the San Francisco Art Association prize in 1937.

The color palette of the mosaic is also difficult to photograph, I have broken out some of the more easy to photograph pieces for you here.

The quote in this detail photo reads “Give me a base and I move the world.”

Olmec Heads in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on June 12, 2011

Jun 122011

San Francisco City College
Ocean Avenue Campus
Frida Kahlo Garden

The giant Olmec head, “El Rey,” San Lorenzo #1 was carved by Ignacio Perez Solano, also know as “il Maestro.” The head is an accurate reproduction of the original piece from San Lorenzo in Veracruz, Mexico. The 3,000 year old original basalt head is believed to be a portrait of a ruler from this ancient civilization. The stone originated some 50 miles from where the statue was discovered.

The piece was given to City College of San Francisco in 2004 by then Vera Cruz Governor Miguel Alemán Velazco in honor of the new Pan American Center at City College. It is now the centerpiece of the proposed Frida Kahlo Garden next to the Diego Rivera Theater. Placing Olmec replicas in major cities had been a personal endeavor of Governor Aleman. These heads, of enormous size, demonstrate the power, scale and majesty of the Olmec culture, which was centered in the State of Veracruz. At the presentation the governor closed his remarks with wry humor. He mentioned that in November his term of office was up and therefore the presentation had to be in October. Then he said, you may “lose your heart in San Francisco, but never the head.”

Peace in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on June 11, 2011

Jun 112011

This statue of “Pacifica” is in the courtyard of the Diego Rivera Theater on the City College of San Francisco Ocean Avenue Campus. Originally, an 80 foot tall sculpture of Pacifica graced the Golden Gate International Exhibition on Treasure Island, she was destroyed by the Navy in 1941 when they took possession of the island. Sal Daguarda undertook the project of reproducing a smaller version of Pacifica because of his ties to the long ago event. DeGuarda was a swimmer and performer for the Billy Rose Aquacade, entertaining the crowds during the 1939-1940 Exhibition. One day a photographer took his picture when he was in his swimming suit, and when he asked what it was for, the photographer said for a painting. Little did he know that he would be immortalized in Diego Rivera’s mural that was painted during the Exhibition, and is now on display inside the theater. On the 50th anniversary of the Exhibition, DeGuarda hit on the idea to reproduce the statue as a gesture to the West Coast “Statue of Liberty,” welcoming all people of the Pacific Rim. The result is a 15 ft. tall fiberglass likeness of the original in every detail.

The Art of Concrete at CCSF

Posted by Cindy on June 10, 2011

Jun 102011

San Francisco City College

Ocean Avenue Campus

This is called “Sculptural deck and Bicentennial Wings” by Jacques Overhoff. It was done in 1979. It is typical of Overhoff work, cast concrete with ceramic tile. Jacques Overhoff was born in 1933 in the Netherlands and studied at the Graphics School of Design and the University of Oregon. He moved to San Francisco in the 1950’s.

His civic sculptures range in style from symbolic figures to structural abstractions, as well as, in this case, entire sculptural plazas. This particular piece has suffered from abuse by skate boarders and taggers and was restored in 2008 by Karen Fix. Apparently, Overhoff visited from Germany and was happy with the work she did.

I have shot this looking through the wings, over the plaza and into the city. The next shot is of the “sculptural deck” looking back onto the “wings”

Looking up into the “wings”

This sculpture is outside of Batmale Hall at San Francisco City College, just off of Ocean Avenue.

Guns and Roses

Posted by Cindy on June 9, 2011

Jun 092011

San Francisco City College

Ocean Avenue

At the entrance to San Francisco City College is “St. Francis of the Guns” by Bufano. Born in Italy, in 1898, Beniamino Benvenuto Bufano taught at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, (but was dismissed in 1923 because he was considered too modern), the University of California, Berkeley, and Oakland’s California College of Arts and Crafts so his work is (or should be) well known to natives.

Following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, then Mayor, Joseph Alioto, initiated a voluntary turn-in drive that yielded 2000 handguns. He commissioned Bufano to use the gunmetal in a sculpture. Bufano had it forged in Italy, adding bronze to the gunmetal to keep it from corroding in the city’s foggy weather. A mosaic inlay depicts John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Lincoln, all victims of assassination by handguns, above a multi-racial children’s chorus. The sculpture was dedicated by Mayor George Moscone who was himself assassinated by a handgun eighteen months later. Bufano died in 1970.

Geneva Terrace

Posted by Cindy on June 7, 2011

Jun 072011

Viscitation Valley – Geneva Terrace – San Francisco

Corner of Schwerein and Velasco Streets

In the early 1960s, Joseph Eichler enlisted the help of architect Claude Oakland to design affordable housing in the Visitacion Valley. They came up with the Geneva Terrace Townhouse complex that you can see behind the park and the Geneva Towers high rise apartment building. The Townhouse complex covers 8 neighboring streets and isn’t what I think of Eichler architecture at all. They are all identical in design, they are all 2 story and 4 bedroom homes. What I absolutely loved was the repetition of the beautiful arched windows and the red-brick facade. There are bars on most everyone’s doors and windows, but all the work is very ornamental, for that reason it has a real, French Quarter, New Orleans feel.

The park in front was recently renovated, to the tune of 2.2 million dollars and is called Kelloch Velasco Park. It was filled with children and looked like a loved park.

The Geneva Towers, an 18-story twin-tower high rise apartment complex was located near the intersection of Garrison Avenue & Schwerin Street. The towers had 573 apartments with varying floor plans. The original goal of this project was to provide affordable rentals to working class professionals however the Towers eventually became subsidized housing for low-income residents.

In 1995, HUD closed the Geneva Towers which had become a hotbed for crime and was becoming prohibitively expensive to maintain and on May 16, 1998, the Geneva Towers were imploded.

According to the real estate agent in the area Townhomes in the Geneva Terrace development currently sell in the $400k-$550k price range (excruciatingly cheap for 4 bedrooms in the city). I will admit however, there was a Rolls Royce parked in front of one of them, hmmmm.

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