Jun 142011
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 has been using recycled steel as the primary source for his sculpture, but he goes far beyond what most artists do with recycled materials these days. It is the “pre-used history that the material inherently holds”, he says, that inspires him. “These worn-out metal things will continue to have a life by gathering, refocusing and rejoining into a collective other life”. He is extremely prolific, that can be seen at the website of a gallery that reps his work.
A solid waste systems facility with an artist in residence is an interesting concept!!