Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

San Francisco’s Wave Organ

Posted by Cindy on July 25, 2012

Jul 252012

Yacht Road Marina Green * The View towards the wave organ from Marina Green Looking back towards downtown and Fort Mason from the Wave Organ The Golden Gate Bridge from the Wave Organ Palace of Fine Arts and the San Francisco Yacht Club, view from the Wave Organ The Wave Organ is an exhibit of the Exploratorium. It is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture developed by Peter Richards and was installed in collaboration with sculptor and master stonemason George Gonzales. Inspiration for the piece came from artist Bill Fontana’s recordings made of sounds emanating from a vent pipe of a floating concrete Continue Reading

San Francisco’s Holocaust Memorial

Posted by Cindy on July 24, 2012

Jul 242012

Land’s End Legion of Honor Holocaust Memorial by George Segal Time has taken its’ toll on this memorial. The hand on the man above was not to touch the wire as they were electrified. * * This memorial shows ten figures sprawled, recalling post-war photographs of the camps. Placement of this work was controversial. The choice to look over such a truly beautiful landscape recalling death in a rather graphic way was not acceptable to many. The artist however, insisted that the viewer might consider death while facing towards the monument and life while facing towards the Golden Gate. Segal’s Continue Reading

Mural Projects in the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on July 23, 2012

Jul 232012

The Tenderloin 126 Hyde Street This group was shot on May 6, 2012 * * True Compassion by Evan Bissell This temporary mural was created through twelve workshops with local artists about the nature of compassion. The double portraits depict the artists interacting with themselves in a compassionate gesture of their choosing. The portraits will be left untreated and then washed away before a new one is painted each Thursday in chalk pastel by the artist Evan Bissell. The participants of the workshop painted the medallions that frame the installation. The symbols contrast with the background drawings that represent challenges Continue Reading

Heads by Jun Kaneko, San Francisco Civic Center

Posted by Cindy on July 22, 2012

Jul 222012

Heads by Jun Kaneko, San Francisco Civic Center

Civic Center 301 Van Ness * Heads by Jun Kaneko This is a temporary installation in front of the San Francisco Opera House This is the press release that accompanied the installation of these heads: “The San Francisco Arts Commission announced Rena Bransten Gallery’s installation of two 6-foot ceramic heads by acclaimed artist Jun Kaneko in front of the War Memorial Opera House on Van Ness Avenue. This temporary public art installation coincides with the premiere of Kaneko’s production design of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at San Francisco Opera opening on June 13. Kaneko’s HEADS will be on view through Continue Reading

Mitchell Brothers Theater Mural

Posted by Cindy on July 21, 2012

Jul 212012

Corner of O’Farrell and Polk The Tenderloin This sweet and rather innocuous mural is on the side of Mitchell Brothers Theater. The Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre is an adult club, opened as an X-rated movie theater by Jim and Artie Mitchell on July 4, 1969, the O’Farrell remains one of America’s oldest and most notorious adult-entertainment establishments; by 1980, the nightspot had become a major force in popularizing close-contact lap dancing, which would become the norm in striptease clubs nationwide. The late journalist Hunter S. Thompson, a longtime friend of the Mitchells and frequent visitor at the club, claimed to Continue Reading

Qi Lun in Little Saigon, San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 20, 2012

Jul 202012

Little Saigon The Tenderloin Qi Lun by Walter Wong – Marble and Granite 2008 These dragons mark the entrance to a two-block corridor of Larkin Street between Eddy and O’Farrell officially declared Little Saigon in 2004. There are about 250 Vietnamese American-owned businesses in the Tenderloin and eighty percent of the businesses on the two blocks of Larkin are owned by Vietnamese Americans The two granite and marble pillars serve as a symbol of peace, happiness and safety for the Vietnamese that have settled here. Most were refugees fleeing persecution by the Communist government after the 1975 war. Designed by Continue Reading

Miguel Hidalgo in Mission Dolores Park

Posted by Cindy on July 19, 2012

Jul 192012

Mission Dolores Park The Mission Miguel Hidalgo – Liberator of Mexico 1810 On the back in the marble is carved: Monument Presented by The Mexican Colony To the City of San Francisco September 16th, 1962 Below it is a brass plaque that reads Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla Father of Mexican Independence 1753-1811 The liberation of Mexico after 300 years of domination by Spain started on September 16, 1810 in the town of Dolores in what is now the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla a priest and other patriots, among whom were Juan Aldama and Ignacio Allende, were Continue Reading

Liberty Bell of Mission Dolores Park

Posted by Cindy on July 18, 2012

Jul 182012

Mission Dolores Park The Mission * * The plaque reads: Mexico’s Liberty Bell (A Replica) On the early morning of Sunday September 16th a.d. 1810, Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla rang the bell of his church in the town of Dolores, in the now state of Guanajuato calling the people to mass and to bear arms against the Spanish yoke Continue Reading

California Volunteers Memorial on Market Street

Posted by Cindy on July 17, 2012

Jul 172012

California Volunteers Memorial on Market Street

Market Street at Dolores Mission/Castro * * * California Volunteers by Douglas Tilden – Bronze on a granite base Dedicated August 12, 1906 Erected by the Citizens of San Francisco In Honor Of The California Volunteers Spanish American War 1898 First to The Front At the end of the Spanish-American War, when the troops returned, San Franciscans went wild. Sixty-five thousand dollars was raised, $25,000 of which was allocated for a memorial. Douglas Tilden won the national competition. California Volunteers, a bronze work sixteen feet high and ten feet long mounted atop a granite base ten feet high, stands at Continue Reading

American Indian Occupation in the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on July 16, 2012

Jul 162012

American Indian Occupation in the Tenderloin

The Tenderloin/Polk Gulch Austin at Polk * American Indian Occupation by Jaque Fragua and Spencer Keaton Cunningham Jaque Fragua is an acclaimed multi-media artist from New Mexico. From his cultural background, he has developed a yearning for creativity and for the intrinsic process that is Art. Experimenting with various mediums, such as aerosol, found-objects, earthworks, poetry, & music, messages of civil unrest, social justice, emotional introspection, and personal healing have heartened his unique perspective on life through art. Fragua has studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and in turn, has taught many community-based workshops, such as mural projects/public-art Continue Reading

Earth Air and Sea on the Great Highway

Posted by Cindy on July 15, 2012

Jul 152012

Ocean Beach Sloat and The Great Highway West Side Pump Station Earth Air Sea – 1986 – by Mary Fuller Mary Fuller, along with her husband Robert McChesney, has been in this site before. Mary Fuller McChesney, a California sculptor, has been carving “giant totems and goddesses” for nearly 50 years. Her artwork embodies numerous sources – Native American, Pre-Columbian, African, ancient matriarchal cultures – and like the sacred totems of the Pacific Northwest coastal tribes, honors her ancestral ties to family, both animal and human. Her art is shared and openly accessible, as public commissions have ensured that it Continue Reading

16th and Mission Bart Station

Posted by Cindy on July 14, 2012

Jul 142012

The Mission 16th and Mission * * * * * * * Palaza del Colibri by Victor Mario Zaballa 2003 Lawrence Berk – Metal Fabricator Colibri are hummingbirds. They are a medium to large species found in Mexico, and Central and northern South America. 16th Street Mission Station is a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station in the Mission District. It is used by the Richmond–Millbrae line, the Pittsburg/Bay Point – SFO line, the Fremont – Daly City line, and the Dublin/Pleasanton – Daly City line. It is an underground station. This particular intersection of San Francisco is one of Continue Reading

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

Posted by Cindy on July 13, 2012

Jul 132012

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

Lands End Legion of Honor * * Joan of Arc by Anna Huntington Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans” is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais, and burned at the stake when she was 19 years old. Anna Continue Reading

Dogie Diner Sign

Posted by Cindy on July 12, 2012

Jul 122012

Ocean View 45th Avenue and Sloat near The Great Highway Restored Dogie Diner Sign The Doggie Diner (1949-1986) restaurants could be seen throughout the Bay Area during their heyday. Mr. Al Ross, the Doggie Diner Chain’s owner asked Harold Bachman an ad and billboard layout designer, to draw up designs for the sign, it is said that the bow tie was added by Mr. Ross. Three of Doggie Diner’s heads took a road trip to New York in 2003, courtesy of Laughing Squid and SF Cyclecide Bike Rodeo, and that experience was immortalized in a documentary called Head Trip. According Continue Reading

Money Mural on South Van Ness and 15th

Posted by Cindy on July 11, 2012

Jul 112012

The Mission South Van Ness and 15th * * * Signed Curve E. Pastime, one must assume this was done by Pastime of the LORDS crew. Pastime has other work in San Francisco. LORDS Production Crew has been operating in San Francisco for almost two decades, manipulating the stark walls of the urban landscape to make the wasteland a tad more livable for those of us lucky enough to notice and appreciate their nocturnal artwork. For example, the wall across from Amoeba Records on Haight is one of their collaborative murals, generally referred to as “productions” in graffiti lingo. Continue Reading

Generator by Andrew Schoultz and Aaron Noble

Posted by Cindy on July 10, 2012

Jul 102012

The Mission 18th and Lexington Generator by Andrew Schoultz and Aaron Noble * * * * * This description of the mural is from an absolutely amazing, September 1, 2004, article in the SF Weekly by Sam Chennault. It not only gives a wonderful description of the two artists, but chronicles their artistic life. More importantly, Chennault addresses the various concerns many people have about street art. Please take the time to give it a read. The mural’s central images are two large birdhouses that haphazardly spiral into each other. Smaller structures jut from the two main houses, and groups Continue Reading

A Ross – Ziegler Collaboration

Posted by Cindy on July 9, 2012

Jul 092012

435 Duboce Duboce Triangle/ Lower Haight Ian Ross and Zio Ziegler * * * * After these two worked together on a juxtaposed mural South of Market, it was an obvious step to combine forces. The result is truly fabulous. Obviously a temporary installation while construction is occurring behind this, but you have to love the person that decided this was a far better way to protect his construction site from trespassers than the standard metal gate. The client is Doorman Property Management, they are the property managers for this mixed-use project of storefront and six residences. (scheduled to open in Continue Reading

Jon Krawcyzk in SOMA

Posted by Cindy on July 8, 2012

Jul 082012

SOMA 303 2nd Street * * Jon Krawczyk’s new sculpture sits in the public space of 303 2nd Street . It is a central part of a recent redesign by Gensler and landscape architects Smith + Smith for owner Kilroy Realty. Krawczyk’s steel and bronze sculptures divulge organic gestures that are the antithesis of the material. According to a correspondent for Art in America, his sensual and timeless works “elicit similarly tactile responses” from his viewers. A graduate from Connecticut College, Krawczyk has studied fine art throughout Europe. Krawczyk’s sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and public arenas across the Continue Reading

Roald Amundsen at the Beach Chalet

Posted by Cindy on July 7, 2012

Jul 072012

Land’s End Beach Chalet 1000 The Great Highway * This memorial sits in the parking lot of the Beach Chalet, it has been there since 1930. It marks where Amundsen’s ship, the Gjoa (pronounced “Joe”) was in dry-dock. It had been pulled ashore here in 1909, and placed on dry-dock display. Amundsen donated the ship and the Norweigan community took up a collection to display the ship in the park. Unfortunately, the ship had a rough time and had fallen into disrepair by the 1930s due to vandalism and the elements. The Gjoa Foundation was formed in 1940 to restore Continue Reading

Beach Chalet Murals Part III

Posted by Cindy on July 6, 2012

Jul 062012

Land’s End The Beach Chalet – Part III 1000 The Great Highway Lucien Labaudt’s Beach Chalet murals: John McLaren (G.G. Park Superintendent) in left foreground on bench, with Jack Spring (later General Manager of Parks and Rec Dept.) holding redwood tree’s root ball, while behind on horseback (upper right corner) sit sculptor Benny Bufano and Joseph Danysh, then head of California Federal Art Project. * Labaudt, following the precedent set by many of his era’s fellow artists to include other artists, depicts here Gottardo Piazzoni, a Swiss-Italian muralist who worked in San Francisco during the first two decades of the Continue Reading

Beach Chalet Murals – Part II

Posted by Cindy on July 5, 2012

Jul 052012

Land’s End The Beach Chalet Part II 1000 The Great Highway * * It was common for WPA muralists to place people they knew or people of note in their work. Here Lucien Labaudt inserts Arthur Brown Jr.. Brown was the Architect of City Hall (shown over his left shoulder) and architect of Coit Tower, where Labaudt worked as well. A few scenes from around San Francisco including Japantown.

Beach Chalet Murals

Posted by Cindy on July 4, 2012

Jul 042012

Land’s End The Beach Chalet – Part I 1000 Great Highway The Beach Chalet has its own fascinating history. This is however, about the WPA work found at the Beach Chalet. Port Scene by Lucien Labaut -Beach Chalet Murals Fisherman’s Wharf A peaceful beach scene that incorporates some of Labaudt’s friends and family. All the murals in the Beach Chalet were done by one artist, Lucien Labaudt. Born in France, he came to the United States in the early 1900s. He was an accomplished dress designer to the rich and famous of San Francisco High Society. He is Continue Reading

Pacific Bird

Posted by Cindy on July 3, 2012

Jul 032012

Golden Gateway Embarcadero/Financial District 551 Battery Street * Pacific Bird by Seymour Lipton 1961 Seymour Lipton (1903-1986) was an American abstract expressionist sculptor. He was a member of the New York School who gained widespread recognition in the 1950s. Lipton was interested in art as an adolescent. Although his high school teachers wanted Lipton to pursue art, his parents encouraged him in his decision to study electrical engineering at the Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute and later to pursue a course of study in the liberal arts at New York’s City College. After college, Lipton continued his education in the field of Continue Reading

Ian Ross – SOMA

Posted by Cindy on July 2, 2012

Jul 022012

SOMA 870 Harrison Juxtaposed with Zio Zieglers black and white mural at 870 Harrison street is this vibrant mural by Ian Ross. paints energy. In front of an audience on stage, in his lush backyard studio, or in the warehouse at Facebook HQ, his work is alive. Ross works “without the burden of intention” and reacts to each moment with bold graffiti inspired forms and colors. Ross has developed his unique style for 20 years and takes great pride in his spontaneous method. His street art style has become widely accepted and revered in a fine art realm. He Continue Reading

Lower Haight Part IV

Posted by Cindy on July 1, 2012

Jul 012012

Lower Haight Love in the Lower Haight This is the last of the new items added to Love in the Lower Haight. Artist: Dee Jae Pa’este Artist Unknown Artist Unknown

Love in The Lower Haight Part III

Posted by Cindy on June 30, 2012

Jun 302012

Lower Haight Love in the Lower Haight Continuing with our Love in the Lower Haight Series. These are murals added since the first post early in 2011. * * Artist: Saunders Hildreth * Jeremy Nova – Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds – Einstein Jeremy Nova is best known for his stenciled koi fish on the sidewalks, often on top of graffiti tags, to “beautify the area.” There are now more than 2,000 of his koi throughout the city, including commissioned ones at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Quan Yin Meditation Center, Cafe Flore Continue Reading

Benny Bufano at Fisherman’s Wharf

Posted by Cindy on June 29, 2012

Jun 292012

Fisherman’s Wharf Beach and Taylor Streets * St. Francis of Assisi by Benny Bufano Born, Beniamino Bufano, in San Fele, Italy, in 1886, he was one of sixteen children. His family immigrated to New York when he was three, and at six he began contributing to the family income by shining shoes and peddling newspapers. He dropped out of school after the third grade, but entered art school as a teenager, working there as a janitor in lieu of tuition. Later he became apprenticed with the sculptor James Frasier, while he continued to work as a janitor. In 1915, a Continue Reading

Washington Square – Fireman’s Memorial

Posted by Cindy on June 28, 2012

Jun 282012

North Beach Washington Square Firemen Memorial by Haig Patigian * To Commemorate the Volunteer Fire Department of San Francisco 1819-1866 Erected 1933 By Bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit. This sculpture by Haig Patigian was erected with funds left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an honorary member of Knickerbocker Volunteer Fire Company No. 5, and was originally meant for Coit Tower. The geodetic survey marker, dating from 1869, was placed there by Dr. George Davidson, for whom Mount Davison was named. In 1937, the latitude and longitude of Washington Square were carved onto the monument. Three firemen grouped on a circular base, are standing, Continue Reading

Lands End – Kanrin Maru Monument

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2012

Jun 272012

Land’s End Legion of Honor * The plaque at this reads: This monument is erected to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese Naval Ship Kanrin Maru in San Francisco on 17 March, 1860. The Kanrin Maru crossed the Pacific at the same time as the U.S.S. Powhatan which brought the first Japanese Embassy to the United States. Presented to the City of San Francisco by its sister city Osaka as a token of sincere desire to further friendship and goodwill between the United States and Japan and as part of the program to mark the centennial celebration of the opening Continue Reading

Land’s End – Great Nature

Posted by Cindy on June 26, 2012

Jun 262012

Land’s End Legion of Honor The stone reads: We are grateful, as we stand facing this monument, for the infinite gifts of heaven and earth. We recognize once again the true fundamental of the human should that pursues the truth, implements the good, creates beauty, and renews his will to step forward. This way brings about peace in mind and on earth by mutual understanding, encouragement and help. It was in this spirit that this monument was built. April 1, 1984 In recognition of the continued quest for world peace by all people. Great Nature by Bundo Shunkai This piece Continue Reading

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