Association for the Blind Condo Conversion

 Posted by on August 2, 2013
Aug 022013
 
Association for the Blind Condo Conversion

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 born. In 1914, the Reading Room changed its name to the San Francisco Association for the Blind, and Ruth Quinan was hired as Superintendent of the Association. Her first action was to create the trademark “Blindcraft” for the growing production of brooms and baskets. Quinan Continue Reading

Herakut #7

 Posted by on June 17, 2013
Jun 172013
 
Herakut #7

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 Hera’s broad, quick strokes and Akut’s photorealistic detail that has become an internationally recognized style. Their latest concept is the The Giant Storybook Project, which chronicles the creation of a new children’s book that Herakut is developing in collaboration with actor Jim Carrey. Launched in September 2012 Continue Reading

Five Questions

 Posted by on June 13, 2013
Jun 132013
 
Five Questions

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 to catalyze the innovative ideas that build our economy and strengthen our communities. It is a place that utilizes a collective need for innovation to encourage shared resources and ideas across traditional boundaries. Where artists, makers, students, changemakers, entrepreneurs, local food, and technology are coming Continue Reading

Live Life Love

 Posted by on May 13, 2013
May 132013
 
Live Life Love

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 mural is covered in sayings such as: Love is Kind Love is Patient It does not Boast Love does not Envy Love rejoices in the truth, it always protects Love always perseveres

Folded Circle Split

 Posted by on April 12, 2013
Apr 122013
 
Folded Circle Split

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, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1956. From 1964 to 1967 he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and taught as an associate professor and then professor of art at San Jose State University from 1967-1986. Fletcher Benton began his career as an abstractionist Continue Reading

Yerba Buena Gardens

 Posted by on April 9, 2013
Apr 092013
 
Yerba Buena Gardens

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 area “south of the slot,” in reference to the cable-car tracks that ran down the center of Market Street. In 1847 when the city fathers laid out the SOMA, it was partitioned into lots twice the size of those in the north of market area. Continue Reading

Sumer #24 by Larry Bell

 Posted by on April 6, 2013
Apr 062013
 
Sumer #24 by Larry Bell

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. Larry Bell (born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is a contemporary American artist and sculptor. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California. From 1957 to 1959 he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles as Continue Reading

The Bell Telephone Building

 Posted by on April 4, 2013
Apr 042013
 
The Bell Telephone Building

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  San Francisco Newsletter, published in 1925, “The interiors are entirely fireproof and are exceptionally well lighted. Its features include a cafeteria for women employees and an assembly hall seating 400 people.” It was also the first building to be wired so that each desk could Continue Reading

Globe by Topher Delaney

 Posted by on March 22, 2013
Mar 222013
 
Globe by Topher Delaney

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 can view it through the window if the courtyard area is not open. Topher (Christopher) Delaney‘s  forty year career as an environmental artist has encompassed a wide breadth of projects which focus on the exploration of our cultural interpretations of landscape architecture, public art and the Continue Reading

Anish Kapoor in San Francisco

 Posted by on February 22, 2013
Feb 222013
 
Anish Kapoor in San Francisco

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 12 March 1954) is an Indian-born British sculptor born in Mumbai. Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design. He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice Biennale in Continue Reading

San Francisco County Jail

 Posted by on February 19, 2013
Feb 192013
 
San Francisco County Jail

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 identity through awareness of place, history and culture. For more than 25 years, I have participated on design teams across the US, creating holistic environments, often becoming local landmarks, reflecting collective values, shared histories and symbolic meanings that enrich and extend our lives through day-to-day Continue Reading

Jackson Brewery an Old San Francisco Tradition

 Posted by on February 14, 2013
Feb 142013
 
Jackson Brewery an Old San Francisco Tradition

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 Jackson Brewing Company. Yet despite the fact that the Jackson Brewing Company  did not survive Prohibition, its building still stands. 1906 Damaged Jackson Brewing Company (Photo credit: San Francisco Public Library) The Jackson Brewing Company was owned by the William A. Fredericks family from 1867 Continue Reading

SOMA Grand’s Glass Mosaic

 Posted by on February 1, 2013
Feb 012013
 
SOMA Grand's Glass Mosaic

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 and was created by Dorothy Lenehan. Dorothy Lenehan founded Lenehan Architectural Glass in 1995 after a years-long tenure with Narcissus Quagliata’s acclaimed glass studio in Oakland, including 10 years as studio manager.  After the Quagliata Studio relocated to Mexico City in 1995, Dorothy moved her Continue Reading

The Winged Lion that Holds Court in a Traffic Circle

 Posted by on January 8, 2013
Jan 082013
 
The Winged Lion that Holds Court in a Traffic Circle

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 Center has maintained the traffic circle since then. The lion, purchased from Haddonstone, was designed as the center piece for a fountain, with plumbing lines running internally within the piece.  Wouldn’t it be nice if someday the fountain is completed. Update: As you can see Continue Reading

The San Francisco Mint

 Posted by on December 9, 2012
Dec 092012
 
The San Francisco Mint

  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’ gold into coins. Without a mint in California, all gold was shipped to Philadelphia for coining, a dangerous and expensive effort.  On July 8, 1852, President Millard Fillmore signed an act authorizing the building of a mint in the state of California. The California legislature Continue Reading

Driving Me Up A Wall

 Posted by on November 17, 2012
Nov 172012
 
Driving Me Up A Wall

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, Driving Me Up a Wall by Dan Rice Dan Rice who received his MFA from UC San Diego said this about the paintings in 1982: ” “My paintings reflect my perceptions of the contemporary american way of life,’ Rice said. ‘They deal with symbols abstracted from our Continue Reading

Sex and Culture all in one Mural

 Posted by on November 13, 2012
Nov 132012
 
Sex and Culture all in one Mural

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 and not so notorious mural artists. The Mural location is in an area of SF that is a mix of nightlife, non-profits, neighborhood residential, and mixed commerce– but it’s also an area in need of beautification to our public spaces. It will enhance the good Continue Reading

Horfe paints San Francisco

 Posted by on November 8, 2012
Nov 082012
 
Horfe paints San Francisco

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 graffiti can be found on shop fronts, trucks, walls, train sidings and roof tops, city-wide. His style of graffiti is extremely unique, blending typography and flat coloured illustration – it’s rumoured that Horfe attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris. Horfe’s Continue Reading

Ghost Sign, Or Is It?

 Posted by on October 30, 2012
Oct 302012
 
Ghost Sign, Or Is It?

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 and knowledge being the currency of today. SOMA, being slated to be developed as the new downtown of San Francisco with technology leading the transformation, is why we chose this location for our message. Gold miners have been replaced by tech innovators. Pickaxes and shovels Continue Reading

Lango Updates Jessie Alley

 Posted by on October 28, 2012
Oct 282012
 
Lango Updates Jessie Alley

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

 Posted by on October 27, 2012
Oct 272012
 
Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

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 painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College), then earned an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course Continue Reading

Artifact from a Coal Mine

 Posted by on October 25, 2012
Oct 252012
 
Artifact from a Coal Mine

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 at Third Street. Three of the pieces are four stories tall. According to a 10.28.07 SF Gate article by Julian Guthrie: “They evoke a lost world and the uncertainty of climate change,” said artist Mark Stevens.” The pieces – shaped as flames, a ghost, a gingerbread Continue Reading

Andrew Furuseth at the Sailors Union of the Pacific Building

 Posted by on October 17, 2012
Oct 172012
 
Andrew Furuseth at the Sailors Union of the Pacific Building

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 largely responsible for the passage of four reforms that changed the lives of American mariners. Two of them, the Maguire Act of 1895 and the White Act of 1898, ended corporal punishment and abolished imprisonment for deserting a vessel. Furuseth was credited as the key Continue Reading

Harry Lundeberg and San Francisco’s Seafaring History

 Posted by on October 16, 2012
Oct 162012
 
Harry Lundeberg and San Francisco's Seafaring History

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 21 years. I sailed in many different rigs. I have sailed in steamers, passenger ships, sailing ships and any type of rig you can mention. I have sailed under several different nationality flags. I am an American citizen. I am married. I have a family. Continue Reading

Albert Paley at 199 New Montgomery

 Posted by on October 9, 2012
Oct 092012
 
Albert Paley at 199 New Montgomery

 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.  Paley received both his BFA and MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Rochester in 1989, the State University of New York at Brockport in 1996,  St. Lawrence University, in Canton, New York in 1997, Continue Reading

Cast Glass at the Mission Street Garage

 Posted by on October 5, 2012
Oct 052012
 
Cast Glass at the Mission Street Garage

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 the SF Art Institute, receiving both a Bachelors and n Masters in Painting and Graphics. He began working in glass soon after graduation. This piece is titled Oracle.  There are 40 panels, 8 per floor measuring 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 X 28″.  They were Continue Reading

Urban Pollination

 Posted by on October 2, 2012
Oct 022012
 
Urban Pollination

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 and will be on display for the 1-2 years before development plans move forward on the site. The garden features circular planting beds made from rice straw wattle— tubes of straw wrapped in burlap. This material is entirely biodegradable. Beds are planted with a variety of pollinator Continue Reading

Hidden Sea near Moscone Center

 Posted by on September 22, 2012
Sep 222012
 
Hidden Sea near Moscone Center

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 at Fourth and Clementina Streets. The apartment is in the Yerba Buena redevelopment area. Ned Kahn’s public artworks encourage people to observe and interact with natural processes. Upon talking with the advisory group, his concept for this project became to create a piece that captures Continue Reading

Avenida del Rio Bike Path and Greenbelt

 Posted by on September 15, 2012
Sep 152012
 
Avenida del Rio Bike Path and Greenbelt

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 follow the path of the now-buried creek. When the Forty-Niners arrived, they filled the creek in and built a railroad on top. Now what remains is a curved urban anomaly of a street cutting through the San Francisco street grid. The trail would follow this Continue Reading

Electric Substation and the Art World

 Posted by on September 7, 2012
Sep 072012
 
Electric Substation and the Art World

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 the offices of John Galen Howard and Bernard Maybeck. Merchant obtained his architectural license in 1918 and from 1917 to 1928, worked in the office of George W. Kelham. Merchant opened his own firm in San Francisco in 1930, designing a number of commercial buildings Continue Reading

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