The Embarcadero – Sidney Walton Park

 Posted by on July 6, 2011
Jul 062011
 
The Embarcadero - Sidney Walton Park

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 Continue Reading

Sydney Walton Park

 Posted by on July 5, 2011
Jul 052011
 
Sydney Walton Park

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 Continue Reading

South San Francisco

 Posted by on July 4, 2011
Jul 042011
 
South San Francisco

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 Continue Reading

Mission District- Balmy Avenue

 Posted by on July 3, 2011
Jul 032011
 
Mission District- Balmy Avenue

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 Continue Reading

Mission District – Balmy Alley

 Posted by on July 2, 2011
Jul 022011
 
Mission District - Balmy Alley

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. Continue Reading

Mission District – 24th Street Mini Park, San Francisco

 Posted by on July 1, 2011
Jul 012011
 
Mission District - 24th Street Mini Park, San Francisco

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 Continue Reading

Golden Gate Heights – Mosaics in San Francisco

 Posted by on June 30, 2011
Jun 302011
 
Golden Gate Heights - Mosaics in San Francisco

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 Continue Reading

Oddities in San Francisco – Aeolian Harp

 Posted by on June 29, 2011
Jun 292011
 
Oddities in San Francisco - Aeolian Harp

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 Continue Reading

Winner of Best Public Art 2011

 Posted by on June 28, 2011
Jun 282011
 
Winner of Best Public Art 2011

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 Continue Reading

Gay Pride – June 27, 2011 – San Francisco

 Posted by on June 27, 2011
Jun 272011
 
Gay Pride - June 27, 2011 - San Francisco

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. Continue Reading

William Wareham at SF City College

 Posted by on June 14, 2011
Jun 142011
 
William Wareham at SF City College

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 Continue Reading

San Francisco City College Mosaics

 Posted by on June 13, 2011
Jun 132011
 
San Francisco City College Mosaics

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), Continue Reading

Olmec Heads in San Francisco

 Posted by on June 12, 2011
Jun 122011
 
Olmec Heads in San Francisco

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 Continue Reading

Peace in San Francisco

 Posted by on June 11, 2011
Jun 112011
 
Peace in San Francisco

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 Continue Reading

The Art of Concrete at CCSF

 Posted by on June 10, 2011
Jun 102011
 
The Art of Concrete at CCSF

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 Continue Reading

Guns and Roses

 Posted by on June 9, 2011
Jun 092011
 
Guns and Roses

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 Continue Reading

Geneva Terrace

 Posted by on June 7, 2011
Jun 072011
 
Geneva Terrace

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 Continue Reading

Viscitation Valley – Rebar Art Consortium

 Posted by on June 6, 2011
Jun 062011
 
Viscitation Valley - Rebar Art Consortium

Corner of Leland Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard – Viscitation Valley – San Francisco “Sprouting” from the sidewalk like stalks of organically grown street furniture, Street Life is a large-scale sculpture composed of surplus parking meter heads, painted dark orange, attached to tall, arcing steel poles. The sculpture marks the gateway to the entrance of what locals refer to as “downtown” Visitacion Valley. The installation is by a team of artists called Rebar. According to Rebar founder Matthew Passmore, “Street Life encourages viewers to imagine new possibilities for automobile infrastructure that is outmoded. The street furnishings of today may well be the Continue Reading

Mission District – Public Post

 Posted by on June 5, 2011
Jun 052011
 
Mission District - Public Post

Valencia Street Between 16th and 19th, Mission District, San Francisco Valencia Street Post by Michael Arcega * Crafted out of steel and aluminum and painted with a durable urethane alkyd enamel, the ornamental crowns are sort of Victorian architecture that is intended to recall the neighborhood’s past history. The Department of Public Works added a decorative paving design based on Victorian wallpaper to the sidewalk surrounding the poles. These are meant to be community bulletin boards, and believe me, they are covered with postings. It is nice to have the city admit that phone polls like this are coated everyday Continue Reading

Excelsior District – Blue Bird of Happiness

 Posted by on June 4, 2011
Jun 042011
 
Excelsior District - Blue Bird of Happiness

A little blue bird in Cayuga Park, San Francisco Cayuga Park sits at the end of Cayuga lane under the 280 freeway and the Bart tracks in an area called The Excelsior district in San Francisco.   I had been hearing for years about this little park and its grounds attendant Demetrio Braceros, but we all know how life goes on and we never quite get all the things on our list accomplished.  This was one of them, and well, it is still one of them.  I knew I was in trouble when I really had an incredibly difficult time Continue Reading

Tutubi Plaza – Make it Healthy

 Posted by on June 3, 2011
Jun 032011
 
Tutubi Plaza - Make it Healthy

More Tutubi Plaza This is Super Hygiene Man.  He and his mates are on the Russ side of what used to be the SOMA health center.  These fellows sit on the wall of Tutubi Plaza that faces the butterflies.

Tutubi Plaza – Dragonflies

 Posted by on June 2, 2011
Jun 022011
 
Tutubi Plaza - Dragonflies

Tutubi Plaza – SOMA – San Francisco This little area has become a hub for the Filipino Community in the San Francisco area. Tutubi means dragonfly in Tagalog.  This mural is by Johanna Poethig..  Johanna was born in the Philippines, so I am sure this was especially important to her.  She received her BFA from UC Santa Cruz and her MFA from Mills, she presently is an arts educator at Cal State U in Monterey.  She has an amazing array of public work that you can see at her website.  Many of them are in San Francisco. Behind this wall is a children’s Continue Reading

SOMA – Tutubi Plaza

 Posted by on June 1, 2011
Jun 012011
 
SOMA - Tutubi Plaza

Tutubi Plaza Russ street, between Natoma and Minna in SOMA, San Francisco. This is a San Francisco Redevelopment project, first proposed in 2008 it was finally finished in February of 2011.   This pavement installation is by Jovi Schnell.  Jovi was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas and lives in San Francisco, she studied at the San Francisco Art Institute as well as some serious time at several art schools in Holland.   This piece is called “Evolves Luminous Flora”.  In reading about this piece here there are so many meanings and symbolism according to the author, that I got lost Continue Reading

Golden Gate Bridge

 Posted by on May 31, 2011
May 312011
 
Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge Plaza San Francisco Side This is a piece of the cable that holds up the Golden Gate Bridge.  I have loved this piece since I first laid eyes on it.  The sign tells you that the length of one cable is 7640 feet, the diameter is 36 3/8 inches, there are 27, 572 wires in each cable (which is what you are looking at in the end there) they used 80,000 MILES of wire, and the weight of the cable is 24, 700 tons.  I think the fact that you are looking at the ends of 27,572 Continue Reading

Memorial Day

 Posted by on May 30, 2011
May 302011
 
Memorial Day

Presidio Cemetery – San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge – Fort Point

 Posted by on May 29, 2011
May 292011
 
Golden Gate Bridge - Fort Point

Fort Point Golden Gate Bridge The building at the bottom of this picture is Fort Point.  Many people look down upon this structure when they walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but they never go to visit, which is a shame.    Fort Point was completed just before the American civil war.  Its purpose was to protect San Francisco harbor from Confederate and foreign attack during and after the U.S. Civil War. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on Fort Point in 1853. Plans specified that the lowest tier of artillery be as close as possible to water Continue Reading

Golden Gate Bridge – Hopper’s Hands

 Posted by on May 28, 2011
May 282011
 
Golden Gate Bridge - Hopper's Hands

 Fort Point Golden Gate Bridge These are Hopper’s Hands.  This plaque is at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco side.  The area is a turn around spot for people running the Presidio area, and slapping the hands is a tradition.  Hopper’s hands has a great story, that I am sure most runners aren’t even aware of. Ken Hopper is an Iron Worker on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Iron workers often agree to train in suicide prevention and rescue on the bridge.  Ken is one of those guys.  He is one of the many unsung heroes Continue Reading

Oddities in San Francisco

 Posted by on May 27, 2011
May 272011
 
Oddities in San Francisco

915 Fulton Street This is Ron Henggeler’s Tower at 915 Fulton Street in San Francisco.  Ron is a collector, he started building this 45 foot tower after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.  He wandered down to where they were tearing up the Fell Street Freeway exit and scavenged the rebar, the tower grew from there.  Ron may seem like a nut, and in fact he is a major scavenger, but he is also an amazing artist, and quite the historian.  He is a very good photographer, and I have seen his scavenged items turned into some pretty neat things.  He is Continue Reading

Market Street – Blossoms of Interest

 Posted by on May 26, 2011
May 262011
 
Market Street - Blossoms of Interest

Mid Market U.N. Plaza Black Rock Arts Foundation and the San Francisco Arts Commission has an Art In Storefronts Program that was intended to help the revitalization of the mid-market area of San Francisco.  I don’t know if that can be done, but I do love the fact that art is being brought out to the public, no matter what the cause. This piece is by Karen Cusolito.  The definition reads:  “Previously exhibited at the Burning Man event as part of her sculptural series Infinitarium in 2010, Cusolito’s ‘Blooms’ create a ‘scale-reversal’ environment in which visitors are obliged to take Continue Reading

Rincon Center – Obelisk

 Posted by on May 25, 2011
May 252011
 
Rincon Center - Obelisk

Rincon Center Embarcadero This sculpture, simply titled “Obelisk” is in the Rincon Center.  It is by Joan Brown. Joan Brown was an American figurative painter who was born in San Francisco and lived and worked in Northern California. She was a notable member of the “second generation” of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. She studied at the California School of Fine Art (now San Francisco Art Institute), where her teachers included Elmer Bischoff.   Her sculpture is not as well known, and yet she did several of these obelisks, there are at least 3 in San Francisco.  These include the Pine Continue Reading

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