All of SAN FRANCISCO – Page 3 – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Art at Bernal Heights Branch Library

Posted by Cindy on March 5, 2019

Mar 052019

Bernal Branch Library 500 Cortland Avenue Reuben Rude of Precita Eyes Murals was chosen for this project. It was a difficult decision, as it replaced a mural that had been on the walls of the library for years. A recent renovation required the removal of the old mural which the current mural attempting to pay homage to some of its elements. This mural with its bronze book and tile embellisment was paid for by the San Francisco Arts Commission at a cost of $115,000. Reuben Rude grew up in the woods of Northern California and studied at the Academy of Continue Reading

Full Circles

Posted by Cindy on March 4, 2019

Mar 042019

Visitation Branch Library 201 Leland Avenue This piece consists of interlocking steel hoops embellished with recycled bicycle gears and, according to Grieve, is intended to evoke a “universe of possibilities.” Mark Grieve (1965-) is a contemporary American artist. He studied painting and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute and the College of Marin and apprenticed in Japanese ceramics in the Hamada lineage. He practices in a variety of media including found objects and large metal sculpture as well as site-specific installations, performance, and public art. Ilana Spector has a background in civics and law and brings a multidisciplinary approach to creating Continue Reading

WPA Map of San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on February 25, 2019

Feb 252019

January to May 2019 At San Francisco’s Public Libraries This exhibit is something after my own heart. A WPA map of San Francisco combines my love of the projects that stemmed from the WPA and the history of San Francisco. This exhibit is called Take Part and more information about the locations of the parts of the map can be found here. The model is a detailed wooden replica of the city of San Francisco at a scale of one inch to one hundred feet. It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s, under the Continue Reading

WPA Map of San Francisco Part 3 – Golden Gate Valley, Marina and Presidio Branch Libraries

Posted by Cindy on February 8, 2019

Feb 082019

WPA Map of San Francisco Part 3 - Golden Gate Valley, Marina and Presidio Branch Libraries

Golden Gate Valley Branch Library Marina Branch Library Presidio Branch Library This is installment three of the pieces of the WPA map that are being displayed as part of the joint program, Take Part, between SFMOMA and the San Francisco Library. You can read the first two installments here. I apologize for the poor quality of the photographs. Most every model is under plexiglass and reflects not only the lighting from above but the light streaming in through the windows. Golden Gate Valley Branch Library The question in viewing this image of Lafayette Park is how the apartment building, that is Continue Reading

WPA Map of San Francisco – Part 2 – SFMOMA, Mission, Noe Valley and Eureka Valley Branch Libraries

Posted by Cindy on February 5, 2019

Feb 052019

WPA Map of San Francisco - Part 2 - SFMOMA, Mission, Noe Valley and Eureka Valley Branch Libraries

SFMOMA Mission Branch Library Noe Valley Library Eureka Valley Library This is the second post in a series covering the joint SF Library system and SFMOMA project Take Part showing the map of San Francisco built by the WPA. Click here for Part 1 SFMOMA The hub of the San Francisco commuter bus and Greyhound system was the old Transbay Terminal. It is shown on the WPA map of San Francisco. San Francisco’s former Transbay Terminal was built in 1939 at First and Mission Streets as the terminal for East Bay trains using the newly opened Bay Bridge. The Terminal Continue Reading

Paul Selinger piece is gone

Posted by Cindy on January 26, 2019

Jan 262019

This piece once stood in the Broderick and Bush Mini Park In 2010 the SFAC de-accessed this piece due to damage, one can assume it was destroyed. “Civic Art Collection Senior Registrar Allison Cummings informed the Committee of the need to remove Paul Selinger’s sculpture Untitled, 1971 (Accession #1971.44) from its current location at Broderick and Bush Mini Park due to the artwork’s advanced deterioration. Ms. Cummings stressed that as assessed by a Recreation and Parks Department structural engineer, the sculpture should be considered a threat to public safety and will need to be dismantled and stored on site while Continue Reading

Secret Garden

Posted by Cindy on October 22, 2018

Oct 222018

Transbay Terminal Second and Folsom Julie Chang is a San Francisco-based artist who, at the time of her selection, coincidentally lived within blocks of the Transbay Transit Center. Chang received her MFA at Stanford University in 2007. She also received an MFA Studio Award from the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito in 2007. Chang’s 25,000 square foot terrazzo floor of the Grand Hall of the Transbay Terminal is meant to evoke a lush sunlit Victorian garden. Mined from local ecology, design elements include California poppies and jewel-toned hummingbirds highlighted by mirrored glass. Integrated into the design is a Continue Reading

Bus Jet Fountain

Posted by Cindy on October 2, 2018

Oct 022018

Transbay Terminal 2nd and Folsom Bay Area artist Ned Kahn has been in this site before. He lived in San Francisco for over 20 years, many of which were spent designing educational exhibits at the Exploratorium. He recently moved to Sebastopol in Sonoma County to expand his studies and laboratory space. Mr. Kahn’s work is a seamless synthesis of nature, art and technology. With extraordinary technical ability, he demonstrates the versatility of turbulent systems, such as the vortices of wind and water. His dazzlingly complex but comprehendible images of nature respond to viewers, conform to architectural structures, and reveal and Continue Reading

The Art of the French Hospital

Posted by Cindy on September 20, 2018

Sep 202018

Kaiser Permanente French Campus 4131 Geary Boulevard Inner Richmond This stunning mosaic sits in the front entry way to 4131 Geary, which is a building tucked behind the main hospital wing. It is presently half covered by an extremely large concrete pot. It was donated by the woman’s auxilary in memory of Dorothy Hagar Rogers, who was a prominent woman in the city of San Francisco known for her charitable works. She organized the Auxiliary for the French Hospital and earned the Woman of Distinction spot in the City and County Record in August of 1955. This bronze bust of Continue Reading

Tiled Walls

Posted by Cindy on September 12, 2018

Sep 122018

Laguna Honda Hospital 375 Laguna Honda Boulevard Foresthill In the aqua therapy center there are two pools surrounded by walls covered in geometric patterns of ceramic tile designed by Cheonae Kim. Cheonae Kim was born in Ichon, Korea in 1952. She graduated from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul and then went on to Southern Illinois University to receive her BA in Drawing in 1983 and her MFA in Drawing and Painting in 1986. She is a professor at the same college. Major exhibitions include Milwaukee Museum, UCLA Hammer Museum, the Rockford Museum, and the Chicago Cultural Center. The overall budget for Continue Reading

Ocean Avenue History Staircase

Posted by Cindy on September 10, 2018

Sep 102018

Unity Plaza Opened in 2016 Unity Plaza features a new pedestrian path that stretches from the north side of Ocean Avenue to the City College campus. The path, created in partnership with City College, features an integrated landscape and this stairway that features a collage of historic photographs of the neighborhood laid out on the steps. In 2009, the Balboa Park Station Area Plan was adopted by the City and County of San Francisco. This was the culmination of a 10 year Better Neighborhoods Planning Process. The plan also included a reconfiguration of the Phelan Bus Loop, now known as Continue Reading

Robert Reid and the GGIE

Posted by Cindy on September 9, 2018

Sep 092018

Palace of Fine Arts Location now: Unknown In keeping with the mission of this website to catalog all art owned by the San Francisco Art Commission, we would be remiss if we did not include one of the greater pieces of art from the Golden Gate International Exposition, that has been lost. Robert Lewis Reid’s murals for the Palace of Fine Arts building at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, in 1915 was an extraordinary tribute to the Arts. Eight huge panels graced the ceiling of the rotunda: The Four Golds of California (Golden Metal, Wheat, Citrus Fruits, and Continue Reading

Mining Exchange

Posted by Cindy on September 9, 2018

Sep 092018

350 Bush Financial District The history of the Mining Exchange can be read here, as this is a follow up post regarding the “historic restoration” of the building that took place in 2018. The City of San Francisco has a policy that allows developers to put up a history vignette in place of actual historical restoration. Walking into the building, in the left hand wing is a television screen with lovely photos of San Francisco and an attempt at an artful history review. It fails. * The most important aspect of the restoration was the the terra-cotta facade, the missing Continue Reading

Fabric Collage

Posted by Cindy on September 6, 2018

Sep 062018

Laguna Honda Hospital 375 Laguna Honda Boulevard Foreshill These collages by Merle Axelrad Serlin are comprised of thousands of small pieces of fabric, fiber, paint and cloth. The fragments are carefully arranged, layered, pinned and sewn together onto a cotton canvas. The artist uses a variety of fabrics including, but not limited to, cotton, linen, rayon, wool, silk, hemp, and tulle. When she is not able to find a piece of fabric that achieves the desired effect, Serlin uses acrylic-based fabric paints to create her own. Merle Axelrad Serlin was a successful and pregnant architect when she made her first Continue Reading

Landscape

Posted by Cindy on August 30, 2018

Aug 302018

Laguna Honda Hospital 375 Laguna Honda Blvd. Foresthill These two pieces, which sit in rooms that are across the hall from each other, are titled Landscape and are made of terracotta. Igarashi sculpted hundreds of clay pieces for these terracotta reliefs creating a textured landscape between the in-dining and living areas. Japanese artist Igarashi has taught at Chiba University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He collaborated in the foundation of the Faculty of Design at Tama Art University (Kaminoge Campus) to set up the first computerized design education in Japan and was the first Head of Design Continue Reading

Bloom by Jonathan Bonner

Posted by Cindy on August 27, 2018

Aug 272018

Laguna Honda Hospital 375 Laguna Honda Boulevard Foresthill Bloom consists of a circular group of five granite lathe-turned elliptical forms with smooth honed finishes. The artist knew that the sculptures would be viewed from above, evoking the concept of a star, a flower or possibly an asterisk. For those that enter the patio area, the pieces encourage sitting as well as providing a tactile experience. Jonathan Bonner received his BFA in 1971 from Philadelphia College of Art and an MFA in 1973 from Rhode Island School of Design. Jonathan Bonner started his career as an artist in the late 1960s, when he wandered Continue Reading

WPA Murals at Laguna Honda Hospital

Posted by Cindy on August 21, 2018

Aug 212018

Laguna Honda Hospital 375 Laguna Honda Boulevard Foresthill Professions by Glen Wessels is one of five murals in the entry to the older wing of Laguna Honda Hospital. These five 8′ x 6′ murals were painted in 1934 with funding from the PWAP (Public Works Art Projects). Glenn Anthony Wessels was born in Cape Town, South Africa on December 15, 1895, the son of a wealthy Dutch diamond merchant. The Wessels family moved to California about 1902, having lost everything in the Boer War. Wessels earned his B.F.A. at the California School of Arts and Crafts and his M.A. degree at Continue Reading

Point of View

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2018

Aug 172018

Pier 27 Point of View is comprised of two sculptures that resemble lighthouses — one is installed at the Port of San Francisco, and an identical tower is in Haifa, Israel. Viewers look into a periscope-like screen to see a live feed of the other location. The installation is dedicated to San Francisco’s late Mayor Edwin Lee. The project aims to celebrate “the vibrancy of the cities’ art and technology sectors.” San Francisco and Haifa became sister-cities in 1972. The Sister City Committee commissioned Saron Paz and Mathew Passmore to create the installation after San Francisco officials traveled to Continue Reading

Planters

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2018

Aug 172018

San Francisco Superior Court 850 Bryant Street These two planters sit outside of the front entry of the San Francisco Superior Court, they are by Raymond Sells. Raymond Sells was born in San Francisco in 1931. He studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Francisco State University receiving a BA in 1959 and an MA in 1968. He taught at Skyline College he died in 1983. *

Words in White Light

Posted by Cindy on August 16, 2018

Aug 162018

Transbay Terminal Second and Folsom The largest piece of art in the Transbay Terminal is Jenny Holzer’s digital work “White Light,” which encircles the main atrium with 16-foot-high excerpts from historical and literary texts. All related to the Bay Area, they are spelled out in animated, pulsing LED configurations. Some of these texts are on view for no more than 20 seconds; others run as long as 90 minutes. The longest excerpt thus far, taken from a work by poet Edith Arnstein Jenkins, had to be broken into shorter elements — its full length is five hours and 20 minutes. Continue Reading

Frederick Olmsted at CCSF

Posted by Cindy on August 9, 2018

Aug 092018

CCSF Phelan Campus Hall of Science The Theory of Science is the title of two murals at the west entrance stairs of the Science Hall. The murals show students engaged in various branches of scientific research such as viewing bacteria through a microscope, conducting field research, and excavating dinosaur remains. These were painted in 1941 as part of the New Deals’ Federal Art Project. Frederick E. Olmsted Jr. was born in San Francisco in 1911. He died in Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1990. Olmsted Jr. studied science at Stanford University and was a student of Ralph Stackpole’s at the California School Continue Reading

Dudley Carter the GGIE and CCSF

Posted by Cindy on August 7, 2018

Aug 072018

CCSF Campus Phelan Avenue Diego Rivera Theater and Conlan Hall During the second season (1940) of the Golden Gate International Exposition, organizers began the Art in Action program in the Hall of Fine and Decorative Arts. During the 1939 season, the hall had housed the art collections of European and Pacific cultures. The concept was a working art exhibit in which artists of many media, including sculptors, painters, muralists, weavers, stained glass artists, printmakers, potters, and engravers were invited to move their studios into the Hall and create their art while the public watched. Artists included sculptor Ruth Cravath, mosaic Continue Reading

North-Shore Pump Station Stained Glass

Posted by Cindy on August 4, 2018

Aug 042018

North Shore Pump Station The intersection of Bay Street and Embarcadero The stained glass window in the North Shore Pump Station was created by Narcissus Quagliata. The piece was commissioned in 1980-81. According to the Arts Commission meeting minutes of July 12, 1982, the total cost for the commission of a 12-panel window was $6665. Narcissus Quagliata has been on this site before. He was born in Rome, Italy in 1942 where he studied painting with Giorgio De Chirico. Narcissus moved to the United States in 1962 and studied at the San Francisco Art Institute receiving both a Bachelors Continue Reading

Authors from Latin American Roots

Posted by Cindy on July 30, 2018

Jul 302018

San Francisco Public Library Grove Street Entrance This art work of charchoal and pastel on paper and canvas is by Enrique Chagoya. It was a gift from the Mexican consulate in San Francisco. Measuring 160 inches square, the mural contains some thirty names of prominent Latino American writers and poets who have made important contributions to literature. They include Claribel Alegria, Isabel Allende, Jorge Amado, Manlio Argueta, Miguel Angel Asturias, Mario Benedetti, Jorge Luis Borges, Lydia Cabrera, Alejo Carpentier, Rosario Castellanos, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Julio Cortazar, Ruben Dario, Rosario Ferre, Carlos Fuentes, Romulo Gallegos, Jorge Icaza, Sor Juana Inex Continue Reading

Peter VandenBerge at CCSF

Posted by Cindy on July 27, 2018

Jul 272018

Childcare and Development Center CCSF Phelan Campus The building is now Closed This whimsical mural is by ceramic artist Peter VandenBerge. It measures 8′ by 5′ and is made of ceramic tiles. Vandenberge has been on this site before. VandenBerge was part of the legendary group at University of California, Davis, during the 1960s. Working under Robert Arneson he was part of the Funk Art movement but evolved in his own direction. He is best known for his larger-than-life busts and figures, elongated beings that are roughly constructed, reminiscent of ancient tribal art, and finished with texturing, glazes, and stains. Continue Reading

The Whales of the GGIE

Posted by Cindy on July 26, 2018

Jul 262018

Originally created for the Golden Gate International Exhibition Moved to Steinhart Aquarium Moved to CCSF In Storage These whales were in the San Francisco Building at the Golden Gate International Exhibition and were sculpted by Robert Howards. After the GGIE closed the whales were moved to a prominent place in front of the Steinhart Aquarium in Golden Gate Park Robert Boardman Howard (1896–1983), was a prominent American artist active in Northern California in the first half of the twentieth century. He was celebrated for his graphic art, watercolors, oils, and murals as well as his Art Deco bas-reliefs and his Continue Reading

St. Francis of Assisi in the Fragrance Garden

Posted by Cindy on July 23, 2018

Jul 232018

St. Francis of Assisi in the Fragrance Garden

Fragrance Garden Botanical Garden Golden Gate Park This statue was part of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition on Treasure Island. It is by Clara Huntington who has been on this site before. Huntington was the adopted daughter of Collis Potter Huntington, one of the Big Five railroad magnates. “Oh, Clara Huntington, yes, Clara Huntington Young. She is an older woman, much older than I, and she did the St. Francis figure, you remember, that was among the daisies. I think she’d worked some in the East. But I think it was when I first moved up here that she called Continue Reading

Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars

Posted by Cindy on July 19, 2018

Jul 192018

Mission Police Station 630 Valencia Street Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars is the creation of artist Gary Dwyer. Installed in 1984, Seven Dancing Stones and Seven Dancing Stars sits in the lobby of the police department. Dwyer created this sculptural installation based on a legend of the Ohlone Indian tribes which originally inhabited the area. The legend refers to the cluster of stars called the Pleiades. Stone furniture in the lobby is arranged in the pattern of the Pleiades. Framed panels feature imaginary legends about the Pleiades as told by the area’s diverse residents. Gary Dwyer taught Landscape Continue Reading

The SFPL Card Catalogue

Posted by Cindy on July 17, 2018

Jul 172018

San Francisco Public Library 3rd, 4th, and 5th Floors With the move to the new Main Library, items in the card catalog (used to access the collection for more than 100 years) have been replaced by an online computer system. Artists Ann Hamilton and Ann Chamberlain embedded these obsolete cards in plaster covering the principal diagonal wall on three levels of the building. Each card is annotated with a quote from its corresponding book or from another book associated with the title by subject matter. Nearly 200 individuals annotated the cards in a dozen different languages. The cards not only represent a Continue Reading

Constellation at the SFPL

Posted by Cindy on July 10, 2018

Jul 102018

San Francisco Public Library Atrium area 160 names of writers are illuminated on a wall that rises five stories behind the grand staircase in the atrium of the San Francisco Public Library. The artist’s work is inspired by a Beaux Arts tradition with origins in the Bibliotheque Saint-Genevieve in Paris (a model for the old Main Library). On that building, authors’ names were inscribed on the facade according to the location of their works inside. Nayland Blake revisits this idea of an index of authors with glass shades placed before fiber optic light beams. Each shade is inscribed with Continue Reading

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