Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Our Silences

Posted by Cindy on September 8, 2015

Sep 082015

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 out. This installation toured Europe (Russia, Germany, London, Rome and Portugal) in 2009-2011. The most recent installation was in Ruocco Park at the Port of San Diego in January 2015. “Our Silences” is made up of 10 monumental anthropomorphic sculptures, in white and ochre cast Continue Reading

Trader’s of the Adriatic

Posted by Cindy on August 31, 2015

Aug 312015

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 to the masters of galleons while the masters give the Venetians rugs, gold, silver, and incense for safekeeping. In the background there is the Venetian coat of arms. The mural is oil on canvas and is dated 1922. As part of a building restoration Continue Reading

Fillmore Car Barn and Powerhouse

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2015

Aug 242015

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 was built, was Patrick Calhoun. Calhoun was a boxing fan and often hired professional fighters as motormen and conductors. There was a gym to the right of the building, explaining why there are no windows on that side of the building. That lot is now Continue Reading

Handsignals

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2015

Aug 172015

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 of meeting minutes that I read, exactly what this piece cost the taxpayers of San Francisco. Originally proposed by Rebar the final product was created by MoreLab. Handsignals refers to the formal qualities of the numerous theater signs prevalent in the Mission District, and repurposes that Continue Reading

Lincoln Park Steps

Posted by Cindy on August 10, 2015

Aug 102015

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 the top of the hill you can enjoy views of downtown and fog permitting, the East Bay hills. In 2007 Friends of Lincoln Park began a campaign to have the stairs structurally supported and brought back to their glory days. With the help of the Continue Reading

Monumento al Cimmarón

Posted by Cindy on July 31, 2015

Jul 312015

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 road, because it is a very open proposal, not at all schematic or dogmatic and those are very universal codes that are expressed in it.” Lescay goes on to say that being a cimmarón is an attitude toward life, and will continue to exist as Continue Reading

Promised Land

Posted by Cindy on July 17, 2015

Jul 172015

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 granite reflecting a scaled map 1:42 of San Francisco, bisected by intersecting granite trapezoids. One is etched with topographic lines indicating the California Coast and the other is etched with the watercourses of the Sacramento River which flows into the Richmond Bay surrounding San Francisco. Continue Reading

Center of San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 13, 2015

Jul 132015

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 to other cities around the world. Why here? Because this is where our original city hall once sat. The Hall of records is the round building in the front, City Hall is the taller one in the back. A common misconception is that distances shown Continue Reading

Hellenism in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on July 7, 2015

Jul 072015

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 communities South of Market prior to the 1960s. Greeks had begun coming to San Francisco even before the 1906 Earthquake, the community grew rapidly prior to the First World War as Greeks escaped their own war-torn and poverty stricken homeland. Many made their way across Continue Reading

Compton’s Cafeteria

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2015

Jun 272015

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 in Gene Compton’s Cafeteria at the corner of Taylor and Turk Streets, in August 1966*, a person, described as a “queen” threw a cup of coffee in a police officers face. The police began arresting “queens” and a riot broke out. The riot included around 50 to Continue Reading

Playground Mosaics

Posted by Cindy on June 23, 2015

Jun 232015

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 her time between Oakland, California and New Orleans, however, she travels all over the world teaching the art of mosaic. Laura is also responsible for the Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue. *

Bruce Hasson’s Ark

Posted by Cindy on June 15, 2015

Jun 152015

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 in the Peruvian Andes, Hasson was inspired by the mysteries of Inca stone work. The Ark resembles a large geological artifact. It is symbolic of a sanctuary that protects life and a reminder of the importance of preserving endangered animals and their natural habitat.” Hasson lives Continue Reading

Redding School Self Portrait

Posted by Cindy on June 8, 2015

Jun 082015

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 a portrait of Boeddeker surrounded by children. Asawa was assisted by 100 schoolchildren from Redding Elementary School. The childrens’ images were initially created out of pastry dough, then coordinated into an overall design by Asawa. The piece was originally installed in 1985 and is made of glass Continue Reading

Labyrinth in Duboce Park

Posted by Cindy on June 2, 2015

Jun 022015

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 need to create a quiet spot for people,” she said. She volunteered to “own” the project, find funding and work with designers. Hal Fischer headed up the fund raising. They raised $90,000, with $5000 from San Francisco Beautiful, $25,000 from the CPMC Davies Campus that Continue Reading

83 McAllister

Posted by Cindy on May 27, 2015

May 272015

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 material to church members and helped support ministers, who received liberal commissions for selling the publications. ”The preachers still feel the need of the press as their most potent ally in their work,” said The Methodist Review in 1889 The building was designed by Lewis Continue Reading

The African American Monument of Savannah’s Riverfront

Posted by Cindy on May 19, 2015

May 192015

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 slave ships together. We lay back to belly in the holds of the slave ships in each others excrement and urine together, sometimes died together, and our lifeless bodies thrown overboard together. Today, we are standing up together, with faith and even some joy.” Dorothy Continue Reading

Two Worlds Apart

Posted by Cindy on May 19, 2015

May 192015

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.

A World Apart

Posted by Cindy on May 19, 2015

May 192015

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. The dream of the Chatham County Veterans Council, this memorial took ten years of fundraising to accomplish. Architect, Eric Meyerhoff, was approached by the City of Savannah to help design the memorial. “This was a World War, and I wanted that theme,” Meyerhoff said. “The world was Continue Reading

Grasses and Wildflowers in the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on May 18, 2015

May 182015

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 than $3.3 million of private contribution from corporate business donors, and funds from The Trust of Public Land, as well as more than $1.7 million of City’s general fund, open space fund, and Parks Bond. There was already some public art in the park that Continue Reading

Castro District History

Posted by Cindy on May 12, 2015

May 122015

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 Castro Street on both sides of the street for those two blocks. The native Yelamu people lived nearby in the village of Chutchul relocating each winter to the bayside village of Sitlintac. A creek flows past grassland and chaparral toward the bay along the path Continue Reading

First Responder Plaza – SF

Posted by Cindy on May 4, 2015

May 042015

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 Kos who was responsible for the Poetry Garden in SOMA. In First Responder Plaza, Paul Kos created a design around three central motifs standing for Police, Fire and Paramedic Services. A bronze bell, a seven point star and a conifer as a natural flag pole. According to Continue Reading

Spiral of Gratitude

Posted by Cindy on April 29, 2015

Apr 292015

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 poem that contains sentiments of survivors based on information gathered in interviews by Margo Perin with the relatives, partners, and co-workers of police officers who were lost in the line of duty. There is also a text in bas relief behind the cylinder on the concrete Continue Reading