Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Category: SOMA

  • Association for the Blind Condo Conversion

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    1097 Howard Street South of Market In 1902, Mrs. Josephine Rowan, whose brother was blind, organized a group of women to establish The Reading Room for the Blind in the basement of the San Francisco Public Library, with the intent of helping blind and visually impaired individuals access printed material. And thus, the LightHouse was…

  • Herakut #7

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    McCoppin Between Gough and Valencia Mission / SOMA This mura, by Herakut is on the walls of the Flax Art Store on Market Street.  Herakut has been in this website before with a piece in the Tenderloin. According to Flax’s website: In 2004 Herakut came together, finding a magic synthesis between the artistic skills and specialties of…

  • Five Questions

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    Mint Plaza SOMA/Market Street Area/Union Square WHAT is on the Side of the San Francisco Chronicle Building at 5th and Minna   These two sculptures are part of a large project, within an even larger project. The larger project is called the 5M project. The 5M Project is a creative development in downtown San Francisco designed…

  • Live Life Love

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    6th and Natoma SOMA Live Life Love is by Laser Punch and the Rattlecan Blasters, who have been on this website before. Laserpunch and the Rattlecan Blasters consists of 2 graffiti artists, Camer1 from San Francisco, CA and Fasm from Modesto, CA. The Duo teams up frequently to paint church youth rooms and do art shows. The…

  • Folded Circle Split

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    201 Spear Street SOMA Financial Area Folded Circle Split by Fletcher Benton – 1984 In walking through the lobby of 201 Spear Street I tripped upon this sculpture.  The office building is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm M-F. Fletcher Benton (born February 25, 1931 Jackson, Ohio) is from San Francisco, California He graduated from Miami University, Oxford,…

  • Yerba Buena Gardens

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    Yerba Buena Gardens SOMA South of 5th Street Yerba Buena Gardens is a two-block public park that anchors the three sides of the Yerba Buena Center (YBC). The area got its name in 1835 for the “good herb”-mint-growing in the area. YBC is officially in the South of Market Area (SOMA). Jack London first called this…

  • Sumer #24 by Larry Bell

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    101 Second Street SOMA Financial District Sumer #24 by Larry Bell – Bronze Sumer #24 is a result of the POPOS program and the 1% for Art program of San Francisco. While it is viewable through the windows of the building it is available for viewing up close from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm M-F.…

  • The Bell Telephone Building

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    140 New Montgomery SOMA South of 5th The building that stands at 140 New Montgomery was built in 1925 for the Pacific Telephone Company, part of the Bell System. It was, at the time, the first significant skyscraper in San Francisco, as well as the city’s first skyscraper in the Moderne style.  According to the…

  • Globe by Topher Delaney

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    299 2nd Street Courtyard Marriott Hotel – 1st Floor SOMA – Financial District Globe by Topher Delaney – Bronze This piece is a result of the 1% for Art and POPOS programs in San Francisco.  It is available for viewing from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. – However, if you step into the Lobby you…

  • Anish Kapoor in San Francisco

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    235 2nd Street SOMA Financial District Making the World Many by Anish Kapoor – Stainless Steel Making the World Many is part of the 1% for Arts and POPOS programs of San Francisco.  While viewable through the building window, the piece is available for closer viewing from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm M-F. Anish Kapoor, (born…

  • San Francisco County Jail

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    Sheriffs Star Plaza San Francisco Jail Facility 7th and Bryant SOMA   This paving is the work of Vicki Scuri of VSSW. Vicki received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison She describes herself: Collaborative, integrated design is my passion. The focus of my practice is community-based design for infrastructure, with emphasis on community…

  • Jackson Brewery an Old San Francisco Tradition

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    Folsom and 11th SOMA There have been over 79 breweries in San Francisco’s history, most of them either lost to the 1906 earthquake or in the two years following the 1919 passage of the 21st amendment. These lost brew houses included the North Star Brewery at Filbert and Sansome, the Globe Brewing Company at Sansome and Greenwich and the…

  • SOMA Grand’s Glass Mosaic

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    1160 Mission Street SOMA SOMA Grand Composed of 390 panels, most about 2-by-7 feet and 1/4-inch thick, this mural is titled “Realm”. It is the biggest piece of glass art in the city. Coming in at three stories tall, it cost $800,000. The piece is part of the 1% for art program of San Francisco…

  • The Winged Lion that Holds Court in a Traffic Circle

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    8th and Townsend SOMA This winged lion sits in the traffic circle at 8th and Townsend. The lion was a gift from a former Galleria showroom owner, Jack Shears. (Shears and Windows) The Design Center placed the lion in the traffic circle in 1988, then installed a sprinkler system and planted the lawn.  The Design…

  • The San Francisco Mint

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      The United States Mint in San Francisco, affectionately known as the Granite Lady, stands today as a result of the California Gold Rush. When gold was discovered in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, the great gold rush began, and with it, a need for financial institutions. A mint was necessary to convert the miners’…

  • Driving Me Up A Wall

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    255 Third Street SOMA * * These three paintings are on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors near the elevators of the Moscone Center Garage.  Painted by Dan Rice in 1982 they convey the artist’s impression of motorized existence and depict the frenzy and banality of the daily commute. * * * Autoscape #3, Twin Spin,…

  • Sex and Culture all in one Mural

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    1349 Mission Street at Grace SOMA This eclectic mural is being funded by the Center for Sex and Culture. According to their website: The Grace Alley Mural Project will be a highlight of San Francisco’s sexual history and culture– paying homage to our past sexual renegades, founders, activists and healers featuring some of our very own notorious…

  • Horfe paints San Francisco

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    Mission/SOMA Folsom and Erie * * This mural at the corner of Folsom and Division is by French artist Horfe. According to Alternative Paris: Horfe is considered to be one of, if not the leading graffiti writer in the world. Horfe has been writing his name on walls for the past 12 years, mainly in Paris, where his…

  • Ghost Sign, Or Is It?

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    SOMA 7th and Brannan Another great mural by the gang at 1AM I spoke with Dan at 1:AM and this is what he had to say about this mural: For “Knowledge is Golden” the inspiration was specific to the area which the mural was done. San Francisco is seeing its second gold rush with information…

  • Lango Updates Jessie Alley

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    Jessie and 6th SOMA * This piece in Jessie alley off of 6th street is by Lango.  It replaced his eagle that you can see here.

  • Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

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    7th and Bryant SOMA Peter Voulkos – (nicknamed)Hall of Justice – 1971 24 X 26 X 11 Feet – Bronze Peter Voulkos   (1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art. Born in Bozeman, Montana, he first studied…

  • Artifact from a Coal Mine

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    SOMA Third and Townsend Mark Stevens -2007 “Artifact From a Coal Mine,” although the individual pieces have working names of: the ghost, gingerbread man, fire, whale tail and circle Weighing well over 10,000 pounds, these pieces were affixed as public art to the outside of a contemporary brick and concrete condominium building at 177 Townsend…

  • Andrew Furuseth at the Sailors Union of the Pacific Building

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    Sailors Union Building 450 Harrison   Andrew Furuseth (1854 – 1938) of Norway was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. Furuseth was active in the formation of two influential maritime unions: the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific and the International Seamen’s Union, and served as the executive of both for decades. Furuseth was…

  • Harry Lundeberg and San Francisco’s Seafaring History

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    Sailors Union Building 450 Harrison Street   Harry Lundeberg was born on March 25, 1901 in Norway, Lundeberg shipped out at the age of fourteen. Many years later, testifying before a Congressional committee in 1955 he described his past with simple precision. “As for my background, I am a sailor. I went to sea for…

  • Albert Paley at 199 New Montgomery

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     199 New Montgomery SOMA   This sculpture, titled Volute, is complemented by two wall sconces, they are all by Albert Paley. Albert Paley, an active artist for over 40 years at his studio in Rochester, New York, is the first metal sculptor to receive the coveted Institute Honors awarded by the American Institute of Architects.…

  • Cast Glass at the Mission Street Garage

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    4th and Mission 5th and Mission *   These sandblasted, fused and cast glass pieces are by Narcissus Quagliata.  Narcissus Quagliata is an Italian and U.S. Citizen.  He was born in Rome in 1942 where he studied painting with Giorgio De Chirico. At the age of 19 he moved to the U.S. and studied at…

  • Urban Pollination

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    Rincon SOMA The Lansing Street Pollinator Garden is a temporary garden and art installation at the 45 Lansing street site in the Rincon Hill Neighborhood of San Francisco. Rebar is collaborating with the Pollinator Partnership and the property owners of the 45 Lansing Street Site to bring you a pollinator garden and educational exhibit. The garden was installed in the spring of 2010…

  • Hidden Sea near Moscone Center

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    321 Clementina SOMA Hidden Sea by Ned Kahn 2000 Recipient Organization: Tenants and Owners Development Corporation In late 1999, artist Ned Kahn collaborated with the staff of the Tenants and Owners Development Corporation (TODCO) and the residents of their housing projects to create a public artwork for the exterior wall of Ceatrice Polite apartment building…

  • Avenida del Rio Bike Path and Greenbelt

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    16th and Harrison Mission District / SOMA   Mission Creek Mosaic Mural Ceramic tile and mirror mosaic, 15 ft. x 8.5 ft. Funding provided by Potrero Nuevo Fund administered by New Langton Arts. Avenida del Rio tile mural marks one end of  what is hoped to be the Mission Creek Bikeway and Greenbelt. The bikeway will…

  • Electric Substation and the Art World

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    8th and Mission SOMA *  These two bas-reliefs in cast stone, titled Power and Light, sit on the 8th Street side of the Pacific Gas and Electric Mission Substation.  The building was designed in 1948 by William Merchant.  The sculptor was Robert B. Howard. William Gladstone Merchant was a San Francisco architect who trained in…