Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Marine Firemen’s Union

Posted by Cindy on April 14, 2014

Apr 142014

240 2nd Street SOMA East of 5th The Pacific Coast Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association often referred to as the Marine Firemen’s Union is an American labor union of mariners working aboard U.S. flag vessels. The Marine Firemen’s Union is an affiliate union of Seafarers International Union.The union was formed in San Francisco, California in October, 1883 by firemen on coal-burning steamers. The building that holds this bas-relief was opened in 1957. Sculptor Olof Carl Malmquist designed the exterior bas-relief depicting marine firemen at work in a ship’s engine room. Olof Carl Malmquist (1894-1975) was born in Wallingford, Continue Reading

Rain Portal

Posted by Cindy on April 7, 2014

Apr 072014

SFPUC Building 525 Golden Gate Avenue Civic Center Rain Portal by Ned Kahn. Kahn has several pieces around San Francisco that you can read about here. Ned Kahn’s Rain Portal is located inside the lobby of the new Public Utilities building. Kahn’s Firefly graces the exterior of the building and you can read about it here. Rain Portal seeks to permeate an interior architectural wall with rain. Drops of water falling inside of an undulating polycarbonate membrane suggests the endless cycle of evaporation and precipitation. According to Kahn, “One of the paradoxes of the Rain Portal is that much of the entire history of Continue Reading

Peace

Posted by Cindy on March 31, 2014

Mar 312014

154 McAllister Street Civic Center According to Reka’s own website: James Reka – Melbourne, Australia Self-taught artist James Reka is a young contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, Germany. His origins lie in the alleyways and train lines of Melbourne’s inner-suburbs where he spent over a decade refining his now-emblematic aesthetic. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street (much to his mother’s joy). With influences in pop culture, cartoons and illustration, Reka’s style has become known for its fusion of high and low Continue Reading

Island Fever

Posted by Cindy on March 24, 2014

Mar 242014

50 8th Street SOMA/Civic Center I am a huge fan of Lady Mags and Amanda Lynn, and they have been on this website many times. I have also been walking by this piece for quite a while, admiring it and yet not quite having a chance to take pictures when it wasn’t blocked by cars. Finally, I had the chance, so here it is for your pleasure. According to Amanda Lynn’s website: Lady Mags and I (aka Alynn-Mags) recently completed the largest mural production we have ever created, and it all happened in less than 5 days! We were asked Continue Reading

Neptune Society Loses its Ruffle Shirt in the Loma Prieta Earthquake

Posted by Cindy on March 21, 2014

Mar 212014

Neptune Society Loses its Ruffle Shirt in the Loma Prieta Earthquake

729 South 2nd Street San Jose, California After the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake the owners of this building came to work to find that the ornamentation on the front of the building had cracked, broken and in some cases fallen off. Upon further inspection they found that the building was a wood structure and that the original plaster ornamentation was simply nailed onto the wood structure and adhered with a bit of stucco. The front of the building needed to be completely restored. After taking field molds of the pieces, Michael H. Casey Designs brought the pieces back to their studio Continue Reading

McDowell Hall

Posted by Cindy on March 17, 2014

Mar 172014

McDowell Hall Franklin Street Fort Mason Marina District Fort Mason was originally called Fort Point San Jose According to a 2005 Historic American Buildings Survey Quarters 1 was built in 1877. General Irvin McDowell secured $9,998.74 from Congress to construct Quarters 1. This building was not named McDowell Hall until July 1958, in honor of the General. From the Report: “The original building plans have not yet been found. Quarters 1 was originally built for General Irvin McDowell, the commander of the Military Division of the Pacific, who was stationed at Fort Mason. Prior to 1877, the building Continue Reading

Atlantis and Mu

Posted by Cindy on March 13, 2014

Mar 132014

Maritime Museum Aquatic Park The interior of the museum is painted with a large mural by Hilaire Hiler, These murals depict the mythic continents of Atlantis and Mu. Many know the story of Atlantis, but Mu is not as well known. Mu is the name of a suggested lost continent whose concept and the name were proposed by 19th-century early Mayanist, archaeologist, photographer, traveler and writer, Augustus Le Plongeon Le Plongeon claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of Egypt and Mesoamerica, were created by refugees from Mu—which he located in the Atlantic Ocean. This concept was popularized and expanded by James Churchward, who asserted that Mu was once located Continue Reading

Spirogyrate

Posted by Cindy on March 11, 2014

Mar 112014

Terminal Three SFO Post TSA One weekend in January 2014 the city of San Francisco and the contractors opened the new Terminal Three to the public before it went live. I used the opportunity to capture as much public art as I could before you had to buy an airline ticket to get access to this part of the airport. The lighting in the terminal is pretty bad. There are big windows letting in lots of natural light, but the placement of the art made reflections, often the only thing, I was able to photograph. This piece by Eric Staller Continue Reading

Oscar Wilde

Posted by Cindy on March 7, 2014

Mar 072014

Merrion Square Dublin, Ireland This fun statue of Oscar Wilde, laying back without a care in the world is in Marrion Square, Dublin. He is facing his boyhood home just across the street at 1 Merrion Square. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, was born in nearby Westland Row in 1854. Wilde, who spent much of his adult life in England, is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest literary figures. Until the late 1890s, owing to a gay affair which led to a prison sentence and disgrace, he was the darling of the upper classes, entertaining them with his considerable wit Continue Reading

Art under the waterfall

Posted by Cindy on February 27, 2014

Feb 272014

Blarney Castle – Rock Close Blarney County Cork, Ireland Puffballs from the Inside Out These ceramic pieces are by Michelle Maher. Maher is a Ceramic Artist who lives and works in Castleknock, Dublin. She graduated from N.U.I. Maynooth in 1996 with a Master’s degree, after studying English and History. According to her website: My ceramic sculptures are an exploration of colour and texture. Microscopic organisms often inspire my work and unusual plant forms and the science behind living things continues to fascinate me. My passion is for large-scale sculptural work and my pieces are mostly for outdoor exhibition. Symmetry by Michelle Continue Reading

Bog Wood

Posted by Cindy on February 26, 2014

Feb 262014

Blarney Castle Blarney County Cork, Ireland Blarney Castle has a fabulous curator. There is art work spread out throughout the grounds, and it is all so beautiful chosen for its particular site. This piece is by artist Pieter Koning. The pice is actually a 7000 year old piece of bog oak and is titled Organic Growth. Pieter has done many pieces out of bog wood and according to his website: Bog Wood is found in the Irish bogs where it has been preserved for 5,000 years or more. There are three types of Bog Wood: Oak, Yew and Pine. The wood Continue Reading

Famine

Posted by Cindy on February 23, 2014

Feb 232014

St. Stephen’s Green Dublin, Ireland There are many famine statues around Ireland, as well as the world, and this one is by Edward Delaney. Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas Davis in College Green, opposite Trinity College Dublin. These are both examples of lost-wax bronze castings, his main technique during the 1960s and early 1970s. Delaney attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and, supported by the Irish Arts Council, studied casting in Germany. He represented Ireland at Continue Reading

Famine

Posted by Cindy on February 22, 2014

Feb 222014

Custom House Quay Dublin. Ireland This breathtaking group of statues is titled “Famine” and is by Rowan Gillespie. The accompanying plaque reads ” Unveiled by Her Excellency President Robinson – Commissioned and Donated to the people of Ireland by Norma Smurfit 29th May 1997″ “A procession fraught with most striking and most melancholy interest, wending its painful and mournful way along the whole line of the river to where the beautiful pile of the Custom house is distinguishable in the far distance……” Irish Quarterly Review, 1854 This location is a particularly appropriate and historic as one of the first voyages Continue Reading

Love and Marriage San Francisco Style

Posted by Cindy on February 14, 2014

Feb 142014

City Hall South Light Court In 2004, San Francisco General Hospital launched Hearts in San Francisco to generate revenue to support its numerous programs. This heart, in City Hall’s South light court, was part of that program. Designed by Deborah Oropallo the interlocking Heart, titled LOVE + MARRIAGE, was sponsored by Ambassador James Hormel and Timothy Wu. The heart displays the first names of many of the gay couples married in San Francisco in 2004. ARTIST’S THOUGHTS: “I wanted to make a heart that would not just be decorative, but somehow be relevant to what is going on in San Francisco Continue Reading

Sargent Johnson and Aquatic Park

Posted by Cindy on February 13, 2014

Feb 132014

Maritime Museum Aquatic Park This carved sandstone entry to the Maritime Museum was done as a Federal Arts Project (FAP) by Sargent Johnson. Johnson was in this site before for the log. This building was originally a New Deal WPA (Works Progress Administration) building called the Aquatic Park Bathhouse. Construction began in 1936 and the building was dedicated in 1939. It is a stunning Streamline Moderne style building and a focal point of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. Both the interior and exterior of the building contain art funded through the FAP. Johnson designed and carved this green Continue Reading

Judge James Seawell

Posted by Cindy on February 11, 2014

Feb 112014

Second Floor City Hall Civic Center The San Francisco Call ran this article on November 8, 1898: Judge James M. Seawell. No better nomination has been made by any party than that of Judge James M. Seawell, one of the Democratic candidates for Superior Judge. During the six years he has served in that capacity he has built up a reputation as a jurist that he may justly feel proud of. He has shown conspicuous ability, has ever presided with dignity and has been honest and conscientious in his interpretation of the law. It can be truly said that his Continue Reading

Sky

Posted by Cindy on February 10, 2014

Feb 102014

San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3 Post TSA This is Sky by Merge Conceptual Design. Merge Conceptual Design is comprised of Franka Diehnelt and Claudia Reisenberger who are both architecture graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, and currently teach at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Sky is a suspended light sculpture comprised of 27 mirror-polished stainless steel spheres in varying sizes. The globes are hollow with circular openings oriented at various angles. The interior of the globes is painted an even matte blue, and illuminated by LED edge lighting that creates a soft interior glow. A computerized program Continue Reading

Dianne Feinstein

Posted by Cindy on February 7, 2014

Feb 072014

City Hall Mayors Balcony Civic Center Dianne Feinstein was the head of the Board of Supervisors on the day that Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were tragically assassinated. She instantly became Mayor. This sculpture (the second of Dianne Feinstein to sit in City Hall) was done in 1996 by Lisa Reinertson. According to Lisa’s website: Lisa Reinertson is known for both her life size figurative ceramic sculptures and her large-scale public sculptures cast in bronze. Coming from a family of peace and social activists, Reinertson’s work has an underlying humanism that can be seen both in her poetic Continue Reading

City Hall in Wood

Posted by Cindy on February 6, 2014

Feb 062014

City Hall South Light Court Civic Center This is one of five wooden models that Don Potts did for the 1982 AIA Convention. The pieces were later purchased by the City and four are now on display in City Hall. You can read about the first two here. Don was a meticulous artist. Another renown project, that has since been destroyed was “My First Car”. * * * The fourth of these models is of the Hallidie Plaza, a building that houses the San Francisco Chapter of the AIA. * * In researching Don Potts I found this article by Continue Reading

Don Potts Amazing Wood Models

Posted by Cindy on February 5, 2014

Feb 052014

City Hall South Light Court Civic Center Pylon of the Golden Gate Bridge There are four amazing, exquisite and highly detailed wood models in the South Light Court of City Hall. They are all by Don Potts. These architectural models were designed and built in 1982 by Don Potts in commemoration of the Centennial of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The models were first displayed in an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art which “highlighted the important contribution that architecture has made to the City and County of San Francisco, and which Continue Reading

George Moscone

Posted by Cindy on February 4, 2014

Feb 042014

City Hall Mayor’s Balcony Civic Center This bronze bust is of the late Mayor George Moscone. Moscone was assassinated by Dan White along with Harvey Milk in November 1978, a tragedy for the City of San Francisco. Moscone was our 37th mayor. The bust was done by my dear friend Spero Anargyros. Spero has a few works throughout San Francisco, and you can read about them here. Many people are aware of the highly controversial, but in my opinion, excellent, sculpture of Moscone by Robert Arneson. The bust that Arneson created was not liked by the powers that be. The Continue Reading

Log

Posted by Cindy on February 3, 2014

Feb 032014

Corner of Webster and Golden Gate Avenue Park behind the Rosa Parks Senior Center Western Addition I have driven past this park one thousand times and have always wondered about this tree stump. Then one day my dear friend Netra Roston told me about an artist named Sargent Johnson. Sargent Johnson was not a stranger to this blog, his WPA work is at the Maritime Museum. Born in Boston on October 7, 1887, Sargent Claude Johnson was the third of six children of Anderson and Lizzie Jackson Johnson. Anderson Johnson was of Swedish ancestry, and his wife was Cherokee and Continue Reading

Cyril Magnin

Posted by Cindy on January 31, 2014

Jan 312014

City Hall South Light Court Cyril Magnin served as San Francisco’s Chief of Protocol from 1964 until his death in 1988. He was responsible for keeping many key international consulates from moving out of San Francisco and to Los Angeles. He is seen here walking his dog Tippecanoe. In Magnin’s 1981 autobiography, “Call Me Cyril,” opera superstar Beverly Sills is quoted as saying: “He twinkles, he’s a song-and-dance man, a sentimentalist, a tough businessman, a sucker for a hard-luck story–and one of the great philanthropists. He’s a prince of pleasure, a king of kindness, a formidable friend, and I am Continue Reading

Harvey Milk

Posted by Cindy on January 30, 2014

Jan 302014

City Hall Supervisors Legislative Chamber Civic Center This is the only bust of a supervisor in San Francisco’s City Hall. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office. Milk won a seat as a San Francisco supervisor in 1977. He served almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor. Milk’s election and assassination were key components of a shift in San Francisco politics. Despite his short career in politics, Continue Reading

Goddess of Progress

Posted by Cindy on January 29, 2014

Jan 292014

City Hall South Light Court Goddess of Progress by F. Marion Wells The plaque that accompanies her reads: On April 17, 1906, the dome atop San Francisco’s City Hall that was completed in 1896 supported a twenty foot statue by F. Marion Wells. The Goddess of Progress, with lightbulbs in her hair, held a torch aloft in her right hand, causing some contemporary counts to refer to it as the Goddess of Liberty. The statue was so securely mounted that on April 18, 1906, when City Hall and the city around it lay in ruins from the great earthquake-fire, it Continue Reading

Whispering Dishes

Posted by Cindy on January 28, 2014

Jan 282014

Market Street and Yerba Buena Lane Financial District This exhibit is the first of a series titled Living Innovation Zones. Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) are new public spaces opening up along Market Street between Octavia and The Embarcadero. The LIZ’s are collaborationa between the community, innovators, and the City to enhance the public good, foster learning and sharing, and showcase innovation. The City plans to streamline permitting in order to boost participation in the program and bring more projects to sidewalks. “Whispering Dishes” is the first exhibit, and is a partnership between the Exploratorium and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. It features Continue Reading

Os Gemeos, Bode and The Warfield

Posted by Cindy on January 27, 2014

Jan 272014

Taylor and Turk The Tenderloin This fun mural was finished in September of 2013. It is a collaboration between Os Gemeos and Mark Bode, both whom have been in this site before. This whimsical piece sits on the back of the Warfield Theater on Market street. The two cousins from Brazil and San Francisco artist Mark Bode painted this mural which includes one of Os Gemeos’ characters and the iconic comic character “Cheech Wizard” created by Mark’s father Vaughn Bodé in 1957. Cheech Wizard The wall was organized by the Luggage Store Gallery and Wallspace SF.

EL Granada Apartment Building Goes Back to Its Roots

Posted by Cindy on January 24, 2014

Jan 242014

EL Granada Apartment Building Goes Back to Its Roots

EL Granada At Sather Gate 2510 Bancroft Berkeley, California The Granada was built by Patrick O’Brien in 1904, and had been passed down in the family ever since. He built it so that everybody in the family would always have a roof over their heads, and so the building would always support the family. Like so many projects that go through time, the ornamentation was removed in the 1960’s or 1970’s to create a more streamlined effect. In 1995 The Munger Brothers hired Michael H. Casey to recreate the two highly ornamented decorations above the windows. Working from old photographs from Continue Reading

Caruso’s Dream Causes Pianos to Fly

Posted by Cindy on January 24, 2014

Jan 242014

55 Ninth Street Mid Market/SOMA I spoke with Brian Goggin about his installation of Caruso’s Dream well over a year ago. While it is taking a long time to get installed, and is was not quite finished when I wrote this post, I thought I would bring it to you anyway. Brian has been in this site many times, you can read all about him here. This is a public site-specific artwork commissioned by the developers of AVA 55 Ninth, a 17-story apartment complex on Ninth Street, sitting between Market and Mission. After singing Carmen in San Francisco, the famous tenor Enrico Caruso Continue Reading

Helen Bruton’s Tile Murals at the Golden West Hotel

Posted by Cindy on January 22, 2014

Jan 222014

Helen Bruton's Tile Murals at the Golden West Hotel

114 Powell Street Union Square In the very narrow entry way to the Hotel Union Square are these two exquisite tile murals. While the hotel was originally built in 1908 for the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition, the murals were not added until 1935. The murals were done by Helen Bruton Bell (1898-1985) Ms. Bell was a fascinating woman. One of three artistic sisters, she was born in Alameda. She attended the University of California for one year. During World War I, she worked with her sisters Esther and Margaret in occupational therapy at the Letterman Hospital in San Francisco. Continue Reading

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