Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Jaques Overhoff and Margaret Mead
150 Otis Street Mission/South of Market This sculpture, by Jaques Overhoff, has sat on the side of 170 Otis Street, The Social Services Building, since 1977. The abstract sculpture is accompanied by a poem by Margaret Mead. At this time I am unable to determine whether or not this is part of Overhoff’s intent…
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Our Silences
Harry Bridges Plaza Until October 15, 2015 The Consulate of Mexico and Rivelino are touring Nuestros Silencios (Our Silences) sculptures, to deliver a message about freedom of expression. Each sculpture has a metal plate covering its mouth as an allusion to censorship. The artist hopes the installation will prompt reflection about the importance of speaking…
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Trader’s of the Adriatic
The banking lobby at the Sansome Street entrance to the Bentley Federal Reserve contains a mural by Jules Guerin. “Traders of the Adriatic” features prominently in the entrance to the main lobby. It pays homage to the world of banking with its depiction of Venetian shipping merchants accepting receipts for goods on deposit and slaves attending…
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Fillmore Car Barn and Powerhouse
Corner of Turk and Fillmore This was one of the first and one of the largest substations built at the turn of the century when street cars were first converted to electric power. The construction date has been documented as both 1902 and 1907. United Railroads owner, the owner of the line when the building…
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Handsignals
McCoppin Plaza Market Street and Valencia Titled Handsignals, this piece sits in a small park made available after the tearing down of the Central Freeway that once bi-sected the area. The McCoppin Hub Project was a joint project between SFMTA, SFAC and SFDPW. For this reason it was impossible for me to garner from the hundreds…
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Lincoln Park Steps
Lincoln Park End of California Street Lincoln Park was dedicated to President Lincoln in 1909. At the terminus of California street just past 32nd Avenue sits the Lincoln Park Steps. These steps date to the time of the park and were the access for the surrounding neighborhood. If you simply sit on the benches at…
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Monumento al Cimmarón
The Monumento al Cimarrón, by Alberto Lescay, or Monument to the Runaway Slave is in the Cuban town of El Cobre. El Cobre is home to the cathedral that houses Cuba’s patron Saint the Virgin on Caridad. Lescay has said “I feel the spirit of that work in others and I think I’ve found a…
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Promised Land
10th and Market Streets Mid-Market As part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art program this 3500 square foot Public Open Space, at the corner of 10th and Market Street, was designed by Topher Delaney and Calvin Chin. The “official” description reads:” …cartographic layers of maps reflecting the exact location of the site in graded finishes of…
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Center of San Francisco
UN Plaza Civic Center What in the world is that brass cross in the middle of UN Plaza? That is Joel Pomerantz of Thinkwalks pointing to something most San Franciscans probably don’t even know is there, or why. This is the spot used to measure the distance to and from the City of San Francisco…
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Hellenism in San Francisco
This plaque sits, somewhat neglected in an ivy bed at the corner of 3rd and Folsom Streets at the Moscone Center. I, like so many people, have seen it, read it, and continued on my way. I began wondering what was behind it. The Greek immigrant community was one of the largest and most conspicuous…
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Compton’s Cafeteria
Corner of Turk and Taylor Tenderloin Funny how a plaque can stop you and educate you about something you may have known nothing about, and at the exact same time leave out so very very much of the story. If you were to hear about this event during those times you would have been told that…
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Playground Mosaics
Father Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy The Tenderloin These little eggs sit in the playground area of the newly revitalized Father Boeddeker Park. They were created by Laurel True of True Mosaics. Laurel has a degree from School of the Art Institute in Chicago and Parson’s School of Design of New York. She presently is balancing…
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Bruce Hasson’s Ark
Father Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy Street The Tenderloin The Ark – 1985 – Bronze This piece, by Bruce Hasson, sits in Father Boeddeker Park. The statue, as well as the park have essentially been inaccessible to everyone until the parks 2014 renovation. According to the plaque that sits with the statue “Following a 1983 trek…
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Redding School Self Portrait
Boeddeker Park 295 Eddy Street The Tenderloin Redding School Self Portrait by Ruth Asawa and Children of the School The Asawa piece is a tribute to Father Alfred Boeddeker. Boeddeker was the Franciscan priest who founded St. Anthony’s Dining Room and he is the park’s namesake. The 4- by 16.5-foot bas relief wall mural is…
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Labyrinth in Duboce Park
Scott Street Lower Haight Duboce Triangle This labyrinth was part of Duboce Parks revitalization plan. The plan, funded by Friends of Duboce Park, began with fundraising in 1997 and took years to accomplish. The labyrinth was laid in 2007. It was proposed by Friends’ Janet Scheuer, who had walked labyrinths all over the world. “We…
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83 McAllister
This is the Methodist Book Concern. The book concern, established in 1789 in Philadelphia, was the oldest publishing house in the United States and used Abington press as their trade imprint. It is now the United Methodist Publishing House and it is the largest general agency of The United Methodist Church. The Methodist Book Concern furnished reading…
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The African American Monument of Savannah’s Riverfront
Savannah Riverfront East Side – near the Hyatt Elevator This monument was built in 2002, designed by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) professor Dorothy Spradley, it shows a family embracing with the chain of slavery at their feet. “We were stolen, sold and bought together from the African continent. We got on the…
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Two Worlds Apart
Julliet Gordon Low Federal Building-Telfair Square 124 Broughton Savannah, GA Produced by Ned Smyth, these pieces were in conjunction with an exhibit at the Telfair Academy in 1992.
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A World Apart
The Center of River Street, on the west side of the Hyatt tunnel Savannah, Georgia This World War II monument is also known as “The Cracked Earth” monument. The two halves of the globe are split, representing the conflict of a world divided. Inside are the names of all who served from Chatham county, Georgia.…
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Grasses and Wildflowers in the Tenderloin
Father Boeddeker Park 259 Eddy Street The Tenderloin Father Boedekker Park has gone through a much needed and highly anticipated refurbishment. The $9.3 million face-lift to the Tenderloins only multi-use park was long over due. The $9.3 million renovation was made possible with a $4.93 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, more…
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Castro District History
Castro Street The Castro Street Design Project was a street improvement project by the City of San Francisco that improved the cable car turn around at Market Street and Castro Street between Market and 19th. This included the fabulous rainbow cross walk you see above and historic markers placed in the sidewalk up and down…
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First Responder Plaza – SF
1245 Third Street Mission Bay The new City and County Public Safety Building houses the police administrative headquarters, a relocated district police station, a new district fire station, San Francisco’s SWAT team and fleet vehicle parking. Part of the design included the First Responder Plaza at the corner on Third Street, designed by artist Paul…
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Spiral of Gratitude
Spiral of Gratitude is part of the $3.2 million Percent for Art Program that went into San Francisco’s new Public Safety Building. Spiral of Gratitude, by New York artist Shimon Attie, is a suspended, 17 foot tall 10 foot round glass cylinder that is lit from a skylight above. The cylinder is inscribed with a…
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Iris Jazz Club
Music: breathing of statues. Perhaps Silence of paintings. You language where all language ends. You time standing vertically On the motion of mortal hearts. by poet Rainer Maria Rilke IRIS Jazz Club is a cultural complex located in front of in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The space, originally a cafeteria, was turned into…
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Germinal*
Eulises Niebla born in 1963 in Matanzas Cuba, studied at the Escuela Provincial de arte in Matanzas, Cuba from 1975-1979, He then went on to the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA) Havana from 1980-1984 and then to the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). in Havana from 1984-1989 A contemporary Cuban artist Niebla works with industrial materials to create geometric…
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Outer Harmony
In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals. Armonía Exterior was a result of the 2013 Symposium,…
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Arco
In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals. Arco was a result of the 2013 Symposium, the pieces…
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Nature
This piece, titled Nature, is by Juan Quintanilla. In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals. Nature was…
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Antonio Maceo
This piece, titled Antonio Maceo sits in Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Created by Alberto Lescay, a Santiago born artist, it was installed in 1991. This monument is dedicated to the 19th century war hero, General Antonio Maceo. Saw-toothed “machetes” rise from the grass and surround a large sculpture of the General on horseback.…
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Passage of Remembrance
Memorial Court Civic Center In 1932 when the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building were built the project was supposed to include a memorial to veterans. The project ran out of money, and one was never made. However, during this time the octagonal lawn in the Memorial Court has held earth…
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