All of SAN FRANCISCO – Page 6 – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Moya del Pina at Acme Brewery

Posted by Cindy on April 25, 2016

Apr 252016

The Boardroom at the old Acme Brewing Company 762 Fulton Western Addition Moya del Pina is responsible for these murals at the Acme Brewery murals in He completed them inn November 1935 between commissions at Coit Tower for the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in 1934, and a series of Bay Area Post Office murals completed for the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture from 1936-1941. The 1936, Volume 12, of the California Art Research said of these murals: “The manner in which Moya del Pino has handled his frescoes gives a now dignity to the brewery Continue Reading

The Acme Brewing Company in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on April 25, 2016

Apr 252016

The Acme Brewing Company in San Francisco

762 Fulton Western Addition On March 12, 1917, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin reported: “Six San Francisco breweries, facing financial loss, or insolvency, through proposed legislation regulating manufacture of maltuous drinks, have pooled their interests into one association for the manufacture and distribution of beers and malts. The body is to be known as the Acme-National Brewing Company. J.P. Rettenmayer, president of the Acme Brewing Company and head of the State Brewers’ Association, is president of the consolidated companies. The breweries included in the merger are: National Brewing Company, Henry Weinhard Brewery, Claus Wreden Brewing Company, Union Brewing and Malting Company, Continue Reading

John Park WPA Murals

Posted by Cindy on April 20, 2016

Apr 202016

John Muir Elementary 380 Webster Hayes Valley As you enter John Muir Elementary school you are greeted with three lunettes. In the lunettes are WPA murals by artist David Park. These murals were done in 1934, the same year that park joined the WPA. These three are painted in the Socialist Realism style. The three murals are titled Man in Art, Man in Nature and Man in Industry. There are very few David Park murals left, making these in the school a San Francisco treasure. David Park (1911-1960) was a painter and a pioneer of the Bay Area Figurative School Continue Reading

John Muir Elementary School

Posted by Cindy on April 20, 2016

Apr 202016

John Muir Elementary School 380 Webster Hayes Valley In the ten years between 1920 and 1930 San Francisco erected 49 new school buildings, with a 50th approved in 1931. This was all accomplished just 80 years after the birth of the San Francisco School System. These 50 school buildings represented an investment, at that time, of $17,418,814. The 1931 Report of the Superintendent showed that the forty-seven schools had an enrollment of 42,976 students, and an additional 4000 to be enrolled when the remaining three, still under construction at the time of the report, were to open. At that time Continue Reading

The Art and Architecture of San Francisco’s Universalist Church

Posted by Cindy on April 18, 2016

Apr 182016

The Art and Architecture of San Francisco's Universalist Church

1187 Franklin The modern portion the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco was built in the 1960s and designed by Charles Warren Callister of the architectural firm of Callister, Payne, and Rosse. The church is a grand display of architectural beauty in its simplest form. The highlight of the Church is the elegant and historic Sanctuary, which features large, stained glass windows, dramatic chandeliers, and a stunning oak ceiling. A rear balcony with light cascading from another large stained glass window holds a rare, three-thousand pipe organ, designed by Robert Noehren, a renowned University of Michigan organist. Outside in the Continue Reading

Hell Mouth on Golden Gate Avenue

Posted by Cindy on April 18, 2016

Apr 182016

The corner of Franklin and Golden Gate This interpretation of the Pallazo Zuccari on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy once graced the front entry to San Francisco Italian restaurant Vivande. Vivande was the run by Chef Carlo Middione. Middione lost his sense of taste and smell in an auto accident in Spring of 2007 and sadly closed his two restaurants. This piece was created by Michael H. Casey in 1995. Michael H. Casey (1947-2013), received his BFA in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design. Moving to California in 1974 to work on the ornamental exterior of the Museum of Man Continue Reading

Inflatable Bunnies Hop to San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on April 5, 2016

Apr 052016

Inflatable bunnies, an art installation by Australian artist Amanda Parer has stopped in San Francisco for a few days. The monumental rabbits, each sewn in nylon, inflated and internally lit. will be in San Francisco from April 4, 2016 to the 25th. The giant rabbits will travel throughout North America, making stops in Washington D.C., Toronto, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver and Memphis. The project, made possible by a loan of $50,000 from the S.F. Cultural Affairs office to the San Francisco Arts Commission is also sponsored by the Recreation & Park Department and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development Continue Reading

Murals of the Merchant Exchange Building

Posted by Cindy on January 25, 2016

Jan 252016

Murals of the Merchant Exchange Building

465 California Street Financial District Julia Morgan was responsible for the artistic elements, under architect Willis Polk, in the Merchant Exchange Building. Miss Morgan chose William A. Coulter, the leading marine artist of his time to fill the bays between the marble and bronze columns in what is now a bank lobby. William Alexander Coulter, (March 7, 1849 – March 13, 1936) was a native of Glenariff, County Antrim, in what is today Northern Ireland. He became an apprentice seaman at the age of 13, and after seven years at sea, came to settle in San Francisco in 1869. A Continue Reading

Art at the Merchant Exchange Building

Posted by Cindy on January 20, 2016

Jan 202016

465 California Street Financial District As you enter the lobby from the California Street side of the Merchant’s Exchange Building you will be greeted by many of San Francisco’s founders. These ceramic/clay sculptures are each about 36″ x 24″ and were sculpted by Mark Jaeger of Marin County. Mark was born in San Francisco and received a BA in Art Studio from UC Davis where he was influenced by Robert Arneson and Wayne Thiebaud. Mark currently lives in Marin where he teaches full time and operates his own studio in San Anselmo. William Heath Davis was born in 1822, in Honolulu in Continue Reading

Chinatown Public Library

Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2015

Dec 212015

1135 Powell Street Chinatown The Chinatown Branch of the San Francisco Public Library started its life as the North Beach Branch. It was changed in 1958. Andrew Carnegie left the City of San Francisco, then under Mayor James Phelan, $750,000 for a main library and branches. One half was for the main library and the rest to be distributed amongst seven branch libraries. The city paid the difference of $1,152,000. Most of these seven branches have been enlarged very slightly, all have been retrofitted to modern earthquake standards and all are included in San Francisco’s “List of Architecturally Significant Buildings.” All of the Continue Reading

The Lone Sailor

Posted by Cindy on December 7, 2015

Dec 072015

Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point Marine County Side This statue, in the center of Vista Point on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge, is a replica of the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. by Stanley Bleifield The Lone Sailor, represents a sailor’s last view of the West Coast as he sails out for duty at sea. The attending plaque reads: The Lone Sailor This is a memorial to everyone who ever sailed out the Golden Gate in the service of their Country – in the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marine. Continue Reading

Aplique da Parete

Posted by Cindy on November 16, 2015

Nov 162015

535 Mission Aplique da Parete – Gordon Huether – 2014 This piece is a pattern of dichroic and mirrored glass mounted to a stone backing. The piece extends through the lobby to the exterior. This and The Band are intended to enliven Shaw Alley. Shaw Alley is a public right-of-way that has been closed to cars and is expected to function as a pedestrian linkage to SF’s Trans Bay Terminal when it is completed. This is what the piece looks like in reality during the daytime, the first picture is the architects rendering. Huether has two other glass based pieces in Continue Reading

The Shipyard

Posted by Cindy on November 10, 2015

Nov 102015

Hunter’s Point has a wonderful naval history in the City of San Francisco. The Shipyard is a housing development by Lennar Corporation that has overtaken the entire site, building housing where the Army once resided. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established in 1870, by the Union Iron Works company, later owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company and named Hunters Point Drydocks. The original docks were built on solid rock. In 1916 the drydocks were thought to be the largest in the world. At over 1000 feet in length, they were said to be big enough to accommodate the world’s Continue Reading

Bayview Horn

Posted by Cindy on October 13, 2015

Oct 132015

Bayview/Hunters Point at the Shipyards 11 Innes Court The Shipyards at Hunters Point is a new Lennar Development. Part of the project is $1million in art provided by a Federal Grant to the San Francisco Redevelopment Commission. This piece titled Bayview Horn is by Jerry Barish and was purchased for $125,ooo. Jerry Ross Barrish is a sculptor and fourth generation San Franciscan who works in Dog Patch. Barrish is a figurative artist whose early assemblages are made of found objects, actual plastic refuse and debris collected from his long walks along the southeastern shoreline. Barrish received his Bachelor of Fine Continue Reading

The Band

Posted by Cindy on October 3, 2015

Oct 032015

535 Mission Street The Band by Anton Standteiner -2014 This piece is part of the City’s art requirement for new construction. The artwork is a sculptural composition by Anton Josef Standteiner entitled “The Band”, constructed of bronze, copper, and steel, situated at the corner of Minna Street and Shaw Alley. The piece consists of four separate sculptures representing members of a music group, with each sculpture measuring approximately 10 feet in height. Standteiner, along with his brother and father make up Mountain Forge, a metal working shop in Tahoe, California since the 1960s.

Jaques Overhoff and Margaret Mead

Posted by Cindy on September 14, 2015

Sep 142015

150 Otis Street Mission/South of Market This sculpture, by Jaques Overhoff, has sat on the side of 170 Otis Street, The Social Services Building, since 1977. The abstract sculpture is accompanied by a poem by Margaret Mead. At this time I am unable to determine whether or not this is part of Overhoff’s intent or a separate art piece all together. Jaques Overhoff, who has been in this site many times before was born in the Netherlands. He attended the Graphics School of Design at the School of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, and the University of Oregon. He moved Continue Reading

Our Silences

Posted by Cindy on September 8, 2015

Sep 082015

Harry Bridges Plaza Until October 15, 2015 The Consulate of Mexico and Rivelino are touring Nuestros Silencios (Our Silences) sculptures, to deliver a message about freedom of expression. Each sculpture has a metal plate covering its mouth as an allusion to censorship. The artist hopes the installation will prompt reflection about the importance of speaking out. This installation toured Europe (Russia, Germany, London, Rome and Portugal) in 2009-2011. The most recent installation was in Ruocco Park at the Port of San Diego in January 2015. “Our Silences” is made up of 10 monumental anthropomorphic sculptures, in white and ochre cast Continue Reading

Trader’s of the Adriatic

Posted by Cindy on August 31, 2015

Aug 312015

The banking lobby at the Sansome Street entrance to the Bentley Federal Reserve contains a mural by Jules Guerin. “Traders of the Adriatic” features prominently in the entrance to the main lobby. It pays homage to the world of banking with its depiction of Venetian shipping merchants accepting receipts for goods on deposit and slaves attending to the masters of galleons while the masters give the Venetians rugs, gold, silver, and incense for safekeeping. In the background there is the Venetian coat of arms. The mural is oil on canvas and is dated 1922. As part of a building restoration Continue Reading

Fillmore Car Barn and Powerhouse

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2015

Aug 242015

Corner of Turk and Fillmore This was one of the first and one of the largest substations built at the turn of the century when street cars were first converted to electric power. The construction date has been documented as both 1902 and 1907. United Railroads owner, the owner of the line when the building was built, was Patrick Calhoun. Calhoun was a boxing fan and often hired professional fighters as motormen and conductors. There was a gym to the right of the building, explaining why there are no windows on that side of the building. That lot is now Continue Reading

Handsignals

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2015

Aug 172015

McCoppin Plaza Market Street and Valencia Titled Handsignals, this piece sits in a small park made available after the tearing down of the Central Freeway that once bi-sected the area. The McCoppin Hub Project was a joint project between SFMTA, SFAC and SFDPW. For this reason it was impossible for me to garner from the hundreds of meeting minutes that I read, exactly what this piece cost the taxpayers of San Francisco. Originally proposed by Rebar the final product was created by MoreLab. Handsignals refers to the formal qualities of the numerous theater signs prevalent in the Mission District, and repurposes that Continue Reading

Lincoln Park Steps

Posted by Cindy on August 10, 2015

Aug 102015

Lincoln Park End of California Street Lincoln Park was dedicated to President Lincoln in 1909. At the terminus of California street just past 32nd Avenue sits the Lincoln Park Steps. These steps date to the time of the park and were the access for the surrounding neighborhood. If you simply sit on the benches at the top of the hill you can enjoy views of downtown and fog permitting, the East Bay hills. In 2007 Friends of Lincoln Park began a campaign to have the stairs structurally supported and brought back to their glory days. With the help of the Continue Reading

Promised Land

Posted by Cindy on July 17, 2015

Jul 172015

10th and Market Streets Mid-Market As part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art program this 3500 square foot Public Open Space, at the corner of 10th and Market Street, was designed by Topher Delaney and Calvin Chin. The “official” description reads:” …cartographic layers of maps reflecting the exact location of the site in graded finishes of granite reflecting a scaled map 1:42 of San Francisco, bisected by intersecting granite trapezoids. One is etched with topographic lines indicating the California Coast and the other is etched with the watercourses of the Sacramento River which flows into the Richmond Bay surrounding San Francisco. Continue Reading

Center of San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 13, 2015

Jul 132015

UN Plaza Civic Center What in the world is that brass cross in the middle of UN Plaza? That is Joel Pomerantz of Thinkwalks pointing to something most San Franciscans probably don’t even know is there, or why. This is the spot used to measure the distance to and from the City of San Francisco to other cities around the world. Why here? Because this is where our original city hall once sat. The Hall of records is the round building in the front, City Hall is the taller one in the back. A common misconception is that distances shown Continue Reading

Hellenism in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 7, 2015

Jul 072015

This plaque sits, somewhat neglected in an ivy bed at the corner of 3rd and Folsom Streets at the Moscone Center. I, like so many people, have seen it, read it, and continued on my way. I began wondering what was behind it. The Greek immigrant community was one of the largest and most conspicuous communities South of Market prior to the 1960s. Greeks had begun coming to San Francisco even before the 1906 Earthquake, the community grew rapidly prior to the First World War as Greeks escaped their own war-torn and poverty stricken homeland. Many made their way across Continue Reading

Compton’s Cafeteria

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2015

Jun 272015

Corner of Turk and Taylor Tenderloin Funny how a plaque can stop you and educate you about something you may have known nothing about, and at the exact same time leave out so very very much of the story. If you were to hear about this event during those times you would have been told that in Gene Compton’s Cafeteria at the corner of Taylor and Turk Streets, in August 1966*, a person, described as a “queen” threw a cup of coffee in a police officers face. The police began arresting “queens” and a riot broke out. The riot included around 50 to Continue Reading

Playground Mosaics

Posted by Cindy on June 23, 2015

Jun 232015

Father Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy The Tenderloin These little eggs sit in the playground area of the newly revitalized Father Boeddeker Park. They were created by Laurel True of True Mosaics. Laurel has a degree from School of the Art Institute in Chicago and Parson’s School of Design of New York. She presently is balancing her time between Oakland, California and New Orleans, however, she travels all over the world teaching the art of mosaic. Laura is also responsible for the Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue. *

Bruce Hasson’s Ark

Posted by Cindy on June 15, 2015

Jun 152015

Father Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy Street The Tenderloin The Ark – 1985 – Bronze This piece, by Bruce Hasson, sits in Father Boeddeker Park. The statue, as well as the park have essentially been inaccessible to everyone until the parks 2014 renovation. According to the plaque that sits with the statue “Following a 1983 trek in the Peruvian Andes, Hasson was inspired by the mysteries of Inca stone work. The Ark resembles a large geological artifact. It is symbolic of a sanctuary that protects life and a reminder of the importance of preserving endangered animals and their natural habitat.” Hasson lives Continue Reading

Redding School Self Portrait

Posted by Cindy on June 8, 2015

Jun 082015

Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy Street The Tenderloin Redding School Self Portrait by Ruth Asawa and Children of the School The Asawa piece is a tribute to Father Alfred Boeddeker. Boeddeker was the Franciscan priest who founded St. Anthony’s Dining Room and he is the park’s namesake. The 4- by 16.5-foot bas relief wall mural is a portrait of Boeddeker surrounded by children. Asawa was assisted by 100 schoolchildren from Redding Elementary School. The childrens’ images were initially created out of pastry dough, then coordinated into an overall design by Asawa. The piece was originally installed in 1985 and is made of glass Continue Reading

Labyrinth in Duboce Park

Posted by Cindy on June 2, 2015

Jun 022015

Scott Street Lower Haight Duboce Triangle This labyrinth was part of Duboce Parks revitalization plan. The plan, funded by Friends of Duboce Park, began with fundraising in 1997 and took years to accomplish. The labyrinth was laid in 2007. It was proposed by Friends’ Janet Scheuer, who had walked labyrinths all over the world. “We need to create a quiet spot for people,” she said. She volunteered to “own” the project, find funding and work with designers. Hal Fischer headed up the fund raising. They raised $90,000, with $5000 from San Francisco Beautiful, $25,000 from the CPMC Davies Campus that Continue Reading

83 McAllister

Posted by Cindy on May 27, 2015

May 272015

This is the Methodist Book Concern. The book concern, established in 1789 in Philadelphia, was the oldest publishing house in the United States and used Abington press as their trade imprint. It is now the United Methodist Publishing House and it is the largest general agency of The United Methodist Church. The Methodist Book Concern furnished reading material to church members and helped support ministers, who received liberal commissions for selling the publications. ”The preachers still feel the need of the press as their most potent ally in their work,” said The Methodist Review in 1889 The building was designed by Lewis Continue Reading

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