Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Fort Point the Best Vantage Point to View the Golden Gate Bridge

Posted by Cindy on January 5, 2013

Jan 052013

Fort Point the Best Vantage Point to View the Golden Gate Bridge

It took 116 years for Fort Point to become a National Historic Site, and its life along that road was a bumpy one. Construction on Fort Point began in 1854. Thanks to the California Gold Rush, commerce was booming in San Francisco, and it was important that the portal through which valuable cargo flowed, the San Francisco Bay, was protected. The Fort, as it is configured today, is how it was originally envisioned. In 1857 a reporter for the Daily Alta California described the workmanship at Fort Point as “solid masonry of more than ordinary artistic skill which meets the eye at Continue Reading

Presidio’s Arguello Gate

Posted by Cindy on January 4, 2013

Jan 042013

Arguello and Pacific Entry to the Presidio The Arguello Gate was built by the Army in 1896. The designer was architect J.B. Whittemore. The gate was commissioned in 1895 and installed between 1896 and 1897. Over the decades, it experienced much wear and tear, including being hit by a truck in 1996. This collision knocked off one of the beautifully carved sandstone capstones. Additionally, one of the large piers upon which the capstones sit had a crack so sizable that a passerby could see through to the other side. In 2008, the Presidio Trust worked with master carver Oleg Lobykin, Continue Reading

Rattlecan Blasters go back in Time

Posted by Cindy on January 3, 2013

Jan 032013

1340 York Street Mission District This mural is part of the SF StreetSmARTS program. Painted by Rattlecan Blasters in 2011. Rattlecan Blasters consists of graffiti artists, Cameron Moberg (aka Camer1 from San Francisco) and Aaron Vickery (aka Fasm from Modesto). The duo teams up frequently to paint church youth rooms and exhibit in art shows. They have traveled to several states to use their rattlecan skills on commissioned murals. They have several other murals around San Francisco. In this are JW for Justin Werely, a friend of Camer1 whose name is on the right. The blue letters above say AMP which Continue Reading

Zoe Ani and the SF StreetSmARTS program

Posted by Cindy on January 2, 2013

Jan 022013

2840 San Bruno Excelsior District M.K. Zoe Ani’s work ranges from representational to abstract landscapes. Her perspective is enriched by her Hawaiian and American Indian heritage. Her experience is one of a dichotomy of two cultures separated not only by a vast ocean, but also a mindset that is reflective of the dissemination of each indigenous group. She developed her skills in drawing during her travels and forged a unique art education by pursuing opportunities to learn and work in alternative settings. Zoe began drawing as a teenager in southern Oregon. She began painting at The Art Students League in Continue Reading

Wes Wong and the Phoenix Hotel

Posted by Cindy on December 31, 2012

Dec 312012

601 Eddy The Tenderloin This long series is part of the San Francisco StreetSmARTS program. The artist is Wes Wong, he is part of the Fresh Paint Crew. Fresh Paint, a San Francisco Mural painting crew aims to defy assumptions of what is possible with a spray can. The group is comprised of and collaborates with some of the best aerosol painters from the Bay Area and beyond, creating innovative murals in San Francisco. Concepts vary in aesthetic tone from photorealistic to illustrative, utilizing the large pool of artistic backgrounds within the crew. They produce murals that fit with their Continue Reading

San Francisco’s Civic Center the Heart of the City Beautiful Movement

Posted by Cindy on December 29, 2012

Dec 292012

San Francisco's Civic Center the Heart of the City Beautiful Movement

San Francisco’s 1906 fire and earthquake not only destroyed much of San Francisco, it also destroyed the dream of many to bring the City Beautiful Movement to large sections of San Francisco. The City Beautiful Movement began with the “White City,” also known as the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. The Exposition took place in Chicago and was an exercise in light, order and forward thinking. The shimmering “White City” was a model of early city planning and architectural cohesion. In the Court of Honor all of the buildings had uniform heights, were decorated roughly in the same manner, and painted bright Continue Reading

Beautification of a Utility Box by Malik Seneferu

Posted by Cindy on December 28, 2012

Dec 282012

Beautification of a Utility Box by Malik Seneferu

3rd and Oakdale Bayview This utility box was painted by Malik Seneferu. Malik is a self-taught and extremely prolific African-American artist that has created more than 1,000 different pieces of artwork, including paintings, murals, and mixed media projects in the past 25 years. Despite the fact that he has no formal college training, Malik’s art has hung in many different professional arenas throughout the world, such as galleries, museums, magazines, and newspapers. While growing up in the 1970s and 80s, Malik saw his peers going to jail and getting killed. Living a life of crime did not appeal to him, Continue Reading

April Berger paints the Mission

Posted by Cindy on December 27, 2012

Dec 272012

3300 Block of 18th Mission District * April Berger is an artist who has been living and creating art in San Francisco for thirty years. Her work is primarily non-figurative, which allows the viewer to have an immediate response to the color, texture, pattern, and forms that they are seeing. Her love of color has been the main focus of her works of art. “Color is an extremely powerful tool. Its impact is strong and far reaching. It promotes health, well being, vitality and peace.” One of Ms. Berger’s goals is to have her rich color palettes beautify walls Continue Reading

Ruth Asawa at the Parc 55

Posted by Cindy on December 26, 2012

Dec 262012

55 Cyril Magnin Union Square Area Parc 55 Hotel porte-cochere San Francisco Yesterday and Today by Ruth Asawa 1984 – Cast Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete Ruth Asawa used baker’s clay to sculpt these panels. Ms. Asawa has many works around San Francisco. An American artist, who is nationally recognized for her wire sculpture. Ruth, at the age of 16, along with her family, was interned in Rohwer camp in Rohwer, Arkansas at a time when it was feared the people of Japanese descent on the West Coast would commit acts of sabotage. It was the first step on a journey into the art Continue Reading

The Apexer and Mona Caron Collaborate on Market Street

Posted by Cindy on December 24, 2012

Dec 242012

The Apexer and Mona Caron Collaborate on Market Street

1100 Market Street Mid Market This piece is by Ricardo Rickey, also known as the Apexer. The flower is courtesy of Mona Caron. Both Mona Caron and the Apexer have several murals around San Francisco. The mural is on the outside of a pop-up store called the Trailhead. Sprouting from the community-conscious and creatively driven minds at The Luggage Store, this new six-month-long pop-up shop includes an itsy-bitsy parklet of purchasable seedlings from the Tenderloin National Forest, mouth-watering pastries and sips by the folks at Farm:Table, art installations, and a denim-dominated workspace-slash-store managed by Holy Stitch! Denim Social Club. This is the back of the Continue Reading

450 Sutter, A Mayan Palace

Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2012

Dec 222012

450 Sutter Street is San Francisco’s monument to the Mayan Revival branch of Art Deco. Art Deco draws on a variety of sources including Art Nouveau, Cubism and the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Art Deco celebrates the technological wonders of the early 20th century, the frivolities of the roaring twenties, and the hard times of the Great Depression. Art Deco is commonly divided into three related design trends: Streamline Moderne, Classical Moderne and Zigzag Moderne. Zigzag, represented by angular patterns and stylized geometry, flourished in large cities and was primarily used for public and commercial buildings. The Mayan Revival (also Continue Reading

RESPECT

Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2012

Dec 212012

1601 Lane Bayview/Hunters Point Respect This mural is on the side of the YMCA in the Bayview. It was funded by SF StreetSmARTS program and was done by Senay Dennis, also known as Refa One. Refa’s website had this to say about his calligraphy murals. Style 1: a distinctive manner of expression (as in writing or speech). Characteristics or elements combined and expressed in a particular (often unique) and consistent manner. Derived from ‘stylus,’ the Latin word for a sharp instrument for making relatively permanent marks. Style Writing is the art form and culture I am MOST passionate about. Writing exemplifies the highest expression of my creative abilities. If there Continue Reading

Bufano in Valencia Gardens

Posted by Cindy on December 20, 2012

Dec 202012

Valencia Gardens Housing Project Corner of Maxwell Court and Rosa Parks Way These animal sculptures at Valencia Gardens were sculpted by Beniamino (Benny) Bufano. They were done in the 1930s for the Work Progress Administration Project at Aquatic Park. In the 1940s, when the federal government pulled out of San Francisco the sculptures were given to the City of San Francisco and became the charge of the San Francisco Art Commission. There are two other sculptures that were part of this grouping. The Frog and The Seal are still at Aquatic Park. * * * * * * This collection of statuary is by Continue Reading

Liberty Ship at Islais Creek

Posted by Cindy on December 19, 2012

Dec 192012

SFMTA Islais Motor Coach Facility Sitting on Islais Creek in the new Shoreline Park Indiana Street and Ceasar Chavez Bayview This 340′ Long Steel Sculpture is an abstract representation of the old Liberty Ships that were built in the Shipyards of this neighborhood. The sculpture is by Nobuho Nagasawa a New York based artist. Nobuho had this to say on ArtNet My work ranges from site-specific projects to installations and public art. I create an interactive space that is informed by the actual place — its history, people and spatial narrative. This approach requires detective-like investigation and quasi-archeological research, Continue Reading

San Francisco All Wrapped Up in a Fountain

Posted by Cindy on December 18, 2012

Dec 182012

San Francisco All Wrapped Up in a Fountain

Union Square Hyatt Hotel 345 Stockton Street This fountain by Ruth Asawa was commissioned by Hyatt in 1970 and completed in 1972, the fountain consists of 41 individual bronzed plaques each about 26X32 inches depicting San Francisco landmarks covering the entire circular wall of the fountain bowl and measuring over 14 feet in diameter. At the center of the high wall of the drum, you will notice HH which represents the Grand Hyatt on Union Square. Everything to the south of Union Square is to the left, everything north is to the right. The Ocean is the top boundary, the bay is at the Continue Reading

Soul Journey

Posted by Cindy on December 17, 2012

Dec 172012

1625 Carroll at Third Street Bayview Titled Soul Journey this mural was done by Precita Eyes in 2000. It was designed by their director, Susan Kelk Cervantes and executed by Ronnie Goodman, Tomashi Red Jackson, “Diallo” John H. Jones, Dan Macchiarini and Mel Simmons. Under the fawn it reads: Home sickness on a quiet night…on the ground before my bed is spread the bright moonlight, but I take it for frost, when I wake up at the first light. Then I look up at the bright full moon in the sky suddenly homesickness strikes me as I bow my head Continue Reading

Refa One

Posted by Cindy on December 14, 2012

Dec 142012

4546 3rd Street Bayview * These two paintings on roll up doors in the Bayview are part of the StreetSmARTS program. They were painted by Senay Dennis, also known as Refa One. “Writing is the song of my soul and the call of my spirit. This art work has a power – emanating from a higher power than myself. I have submitted unapologetically to the call of putting this work out there. However, I am also doing this with unconditional love for Life, Humanity, the Most High and that ONENESS in the universe.” – Refa One For well over two Continue Reading

The Coast Miwok and California History

Posted by Cindy on December 13, 2012

Dec 132012

350 16th Street and Albion Mission District * * * The Coast Miwok “We lived in harmony with the planet for thousands of years. We respected the earth and were thankful fo all the gifts it gave us With the invasion of the outsiders our lives were shattered. We were imprisoned, forced into slave labor and punished for following our beliefs. The California Rancheria Act of 1958 was the final blow in a long series of government actions designed to kill us off and gain control of our land. Over the next 40 years we found the strength to organize Continue Reading

Benny Bufano in the Sunnydale Projects

Posted by Cindy on December 12, 2012

Dec 122012

1654 Sunnydale Visitacion Valley This Beniamino Bufano statue is of a Bear over the Head of Peace. It was done somewhere around 1935-1940 and stands in front of the Community Center at the Sunnydale Projects. Bufano was a prolific sculptor in his time and his work can be found all over San Francisco. Sunnydale was built in the 1940’s as a means to house military personnel and their families, it was later bought by the city of San Francisco and converted to a low-income housing project. The Housing Authority was created in 1938 to help poor families build better lives Continue Reading

Transverse and Column at the Balboa Park Bart Station

Posted by Cindy on December 11, 2012

Dec 112012

Transverse and Column at the Balboa Park Bart Station

Balboa Park Bart Station Ocean and San Jose Avenue Transverse and Column by Carroll Barnes – 1977 Corten Steel 9’H x 8’W x 19’L * Carroll Barnes was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1906. He attended Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC and was awarded a national scholarship to study with Carl Milles at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. He was awarded the California Cultural Citation from Governor Earl Warren. Carol Barnes and his artist wife Evangel Barnes discovered the town of Three Rivers when they decided to honeymoon in Sequoia National Park, fell in Continue Reading

Meagan Spendlove collaborates with Cavalier Design Studio

Posted by Cindy on December 10, 2012

Dec 102012

Meagan Spendlove collaborates with Cavalier Design Studio

1035 Post Street Back of the Building on Cedar This mural sits on Cedar Street. It was commissioned by Cavalier Design Studio which resides at 135 Post Street in San Francisco. The artist is Meagan Spendlove, whose work can be found all around San Francisco. Meagan Spendlove, often artistically entitled as “Siloette”currently works in San Francisco, California as a conceptual artist and project coordinator. Her current endeavors include yet are not limited to achieving an MA in Integral Arts Therapy and teaching public artwork within the Bay Area. For the last decade Spendlove has painted or promoted at multicultural events in Continue Reading

The San Francisco Mint

Posted by Cindy on December 9, 2012

Dec 092012

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

Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake Spinning in the Richmond

Posted by Cindy on December 7, 2012

Dec 072012

Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake Spinning in the Richmond

851 27th Avenue Richmond District * Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake – 2012 – Stainless Steel Inspired by the natural elements on both macro and microscopic levels, aero #8 is a self-contained wind driven system that creates an infinite number of movements in response to changes in weather patterns. Moto Ohtake was born in 1952 in Tokyo Japan. He holds a BFA from Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, a BFA in sculpture from the Academy of Art College and an MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institue. He is presently an instructor in sculpture, three dimensional design and Continue Reading

StreetSmARTS covers the History of Bayview

Posted by Cindy on December 6, 2012

Dec 062012

StreetSmARTS covers the History of Bayview

Palou and 3rd Street Bayview Titled the History of Bayview this is a 2011 Street SmArts mural by Bryana Fleming. Panel 1 and 3: Originally dominated by grassland and tidal marshland, Bayview-Hunters Point has a unique history for its transformation into an urban industrial neighborhood while segregated from the metropolitan area. Slaughterhouses and their associated industries in the 1800s and shipbuilding in the 1900s drove its urbanization. Panel 2: Constructed in 1888, the Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theatre (known affectionately as “the Opera House” or the “BVOH”) is located at 4705 Third Street in the heart of the Bayview Continue Reading

Mosaic Planter at Beautiful McLaren Park

Posted by Cindy on December 5, 2012

Dec 052012

Mosaic Planter at Beautiful McLaren Park

McNab Lake Wayland and University Street John McLaren Park Monica Treanor was educated in Trinity college, Dublin, Ireland where she graduated with a PhD in Environmental Sciences. She has worked as an ecologist on all seven continents. Her experiences stretch from the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, living on a uninhabited island to the frozen Antarctica where she was the ecologist on board a tall ship expedition. Monica’s passion for the environment and her extensive knowledge of the fine, intricate details of nature are delightfully exposed in her work as a mosaic artist. She first began her training as an apprentice Continue Reading

Fire at Fire Station #24

Posted by Cindy on December 4, 2012

Dec 042012

100 Hoffman Castro/Cole Valley * Fire by Jaap (Jacob) Bongers – 1993 Jaap Bongers was born in Stein, Holland and studied at the Jan Van Eyck Academie of Fine Arts and the Stadsacademie of Fine Arts, both in Maastricht, Holland. In addition to his travels to Africa, Bongers also visited the United States for the first time in 1985 and settled permanently in San Jose in 1987. This piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Art Commission for $14,000. The words are ways to say fire in several other languages. Api – Indonesian Apoy – Ilocano/Filipino Feu-French Feuer-German Fuego-Spanish Fuoco Continue Reading

Street SmArts Mural in Bayview

Posted by Cindy on December 3, 2012

Dec 032012

Palou and 3rd Streets Bayview * * This mural (done in 2010) by Briana Fleming is part of the Street SmArts program of San Francisco. A collaboration between the San Francisco Arts Commission and SF Department of Public Works started in 2010, the program connects established urban artists with private property owners who own buildings with walls that are graffiti hot spots. Artists create vibrant murals on the walls and buildings become a canvas for art enjoyed by all. The outcome is a phenomenon of reduced incidences of graffiti tagging on the properties. Like many artists, Bryana Fleming is a product of her surroundings. Continue Reading

Tuzuri Watu

Posted by Cindy on December 2, 2012

Dec 022012

3rd and Palou Bayview This mural was painted by Brooke Fancher in 1987. It is titled Tuzuri Watu (Swahili for “we are beautiful people”). It is a tribute to Afro American culture inspired by black women writers. The design shows scenes of black peoples’ lives, rural and urban, with a strong emphasis on community and family life. Quotations from the works of five black women authors appear throughout the mural. Fancher explains her choice of location and topic by saying that “A lot of people don’t even know about black women writers. Their work is part of the self-affirmation of Continue Reading

Lenora LeVon Riley Struts her Stuff

Posted by Cindy on December 1, 2012

Dec 012012

Palou and 3rd Streets Bayview * Lenora LeVon Riley was a fashion designer from San Francisco whose work was prominently displayed in Ebony and Jet Magazine. Bryana Fleming is a native to the Bay Area who resides in Mill Valley, California. Both of her parents were working artists, and she instantly became interested in art from a young age. (Her father was a storyboard artist and her mother, a fine art painter.) Bryana attended the California College of the Arts from 2000-2004, receiving a BFA in illustration

Freeway Art – Its Time has Come

Posted by Cindy on November 30, 2012

Nov 302012

Highway 101 -280 Interchange Street Level Freeway stantion paintings are starting to pop up around the country, this is the first one in San Francisco. The artist is Cory Ferris and the work was done in 2011. According to a June 2012 article on SF Gate by Sam Whiting: Cory Ferris is a 19-year-old who was a senior at Mission High School when she got the commission. “I’m just really happy that I get to have my art on a column,” she says, unaware of its larger historic significance: This might mark the first time Caltrans has permitted an artistic interpretation on Continue Reading

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