A Heroine is Honored

 Posted by on November 25, 2012
Nov 252012
 

1199 Mason at Washington
Chinatown

This is the entry to the Betty Ong Recreation Center in Chinatown. Betty Ann Ong was a flight attendant on American Airlines, Flight 11, the first airplane to become hijacked on September 11, 2001. Shortly after the hijacking began, Betty chose to be involved and make a difference by taking action to notify the American Airlines ground crew of the hijacking situation on board the airplane. Amid horrific danger, she stayed on the telephone for 25 minutes, relaying vital information that eventually led to the closing of airspace by the FAA for the first time in United States history.

In memory of Betty, the Betty Ann Ong Foundation, a not for profit public charity, was established to continue her legacy. The advocacy of the Betty Ann Ong Foundation serves to educate children to the positive benefits of lifelong physical activity and healthy eating habits and to provide opportunities for children to experience the great outdoors so that they can grow to become healthy, strong and productive individuals.

For the center’s entrance lobby, Chinese-born Shan Shan Sheng created a suspension sculpture that uses language to speak to the unique Chinese American experience in San Francisco and the California landscape. Active Memory is cascade of red Chinese calligraphy that showers visitors upon entry. The artist handmade the glass characters so that they look handwritten. The sculpture’s form, vertical flows of narrative, was inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings, which are often inscribed with poems. The sculpture itself is comprised of five poems, two of which are by renowned poets Bai Juyi (772-846) and Li Bai (701-762) of the Tang Dynasty and a poem by Su Shi (1036-1101) of the Song Dynasty. The other poems include an early twentieth-century poem by an anonymous immigrant about his experience on Angel Island and the last by the Artist, with key words describing the lives of Chinese immigrants in the Bay Area, Words such as “gold rush”, “railroad track”, and “computer” invoke the memory of travel, labor and the transformation of America.

Strands 1/2, Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi (772‐846)

唐 白居易 《賦得古原草送別》 離離原上草,一歲一枯榮。 野火燒不盡,春風吹又生。

“Grasses on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell Song”

The grass is spreading out across the plain,
In spring it comes and by fall it goes.
Wild fire cannot destroy it all;
When spring winds blow it surges back again.

Strand 3, Tang Dynasty poet, Li Bai (701‐762) 唐 李白 《送孟浩然之廣陵》

孤帆遠影碧空盡,惟見長江天際流。

“A Farewell To Meng Haoran On His Way To Yangzhou”

Under the blue sky, your lonely sail turns into a silhouette, Only the long river rolls on its way to heaven.

Strands 4/ 5, Song Dynasty poet, Su Shi (1036‐1101)

宋 蘇軾 《水調歌頭》 明月幾時有,把酒問青天。 但願人長久,千里共嬋娟。

“Thinking of You”

With a cup of wine in hand, I look at the sky

and wonder when the moon first appeared.
May we all be blessed with long life.
We can still share the beauty of the moon together even if we are thousand miles apart.

Strands 6/7, Anonymous poem from the book Island: Poetry and History of Immigrants on Angel Island, 1920‐1940, by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim and Judy Yung

天使島牆詩
木屋拘留幾十天,所囚墨例致牽連,可惜英雄無用武,只聽音來策祖鞭

Detained in this wooden house for several tens of days.
It is all because of the Mexican exclusion law which implicates me.
It’s a pity that even if a hero has no way to exercising his prowess here.
The only thing we can do to get us out of this place fast is to wait for the call.

Translator’s note No. 1: 策[ce]:take; snap. 祖鞭[zu bian]:be in front; in lead; stay on top. 策祖鞭(take Zu’s whip) in general means doing something in the lead.]

Translator’s note No. 2: The translator modified the wording in the last two lines of the English translation to provide clearer meaning.

Strand 8, Keywords related to Chinese immigrants history in the San Francisco Bay Area by the Artist

淘金 火車鐵路 半導體數碼 電腦 網路舊金山

Gold rush, train, railroad track, Semi conductor, digital age, computer, network, San Francisco

Shan Shan Sheng grew up during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982 she came to the US to pursue her academic and artistic interests by attending Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she earned her first MFA.  She then went on to Harvard as an artist-in-residence for two years. She now lives in San Francisco.

Driving Me Up A Wall

 Posted by on November 17, 2012
Nov 172012
 

255 Third Street
SOMA

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These three paintings are on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors near the elevators of the Moscone Center Garage.  Painted by Dan Rice in 1982 they convey the artist’s impression of motorized existence and depict the frenzy and banality of the daily commute.

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Autoscape #3, Twin Spin, Driving Me Up a Wall by Dan Rice

Dan Rice who received his MFA from UC San Diego said this about the paintings in 1982: ” “My paintings reflect my perceptions of the contemporary american way of life,’ Rice said. ‘They deal with symbols abstracted from our economy, transportation, national defense, technology, religion and government.”

Rice’s paintings, with their luminous color, have been compared to works by Monet, Matisse and Bonnard.

He came out of the American Expressionist school but was sometimes called an abstract impressionist. He was hard to classify and didn’t fit into trends, and therefore didn’t receive the acclaim he deserved. Nevertheless, his paintings are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Princeton University Art Museum.

Rice now lives in Montana

Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

 Posted by on October 27, 2012
Oct 272012
 

7th and Bryant
SOMA

Peter Voulkos – (nicknamed)Hall of Justice – 1971
24 X 26 X 11 Feet – Bronze

Peter Voulkos   (1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.

Born in Bozeman, Montana, he first studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College), then earned an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1954, after founding the art ceramics department at the Otis College of Art and Design, called the Los Angeles County Art Institute, his work rapidly became abstract and sculptural. He moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he also founded the art ceramics department, and where he taught from 1959 until 1985.

This was the first piece restored by the organization called ArtCare.

It underwent a specialized cleaning, repatination, and application of a protective coating—all made possible with private funds (estimated at $35,000) issued by the newly formed ArtCare. The program aims to enlist private donors to complement the existing city government–provided annual budget of $300,000. Currently 15 public artworks in parks, plazas, and other public spaces are slated for repair.

According to the San Francisco Art Commission, there are approximately 3,500 objects in the collection of public art project in need of restoration, estimated in excess of $86 million dollars. The City of San Francisco allocates approximately $15,750 annually toward the care of the entire collection.

 

 

Artifact from a Coal Mine

 Posted by on October 25, 2012
Oct 252012
 

SOMA
Third and Townsend

Mark Stevens -2007

“Artifact From a Coal Mine,” although the individual pieces have working names of: the ghost, gingerbread man, fire, whale tail and circle

Weighing well over 10,000 pounds, these pieces were affixed as public art to the outside of a contemporary brick and concrete condominium building at 177 Townsend at Third Street. Three of the pieces are four stories tall.

According to a 10.28.07 SF Gate article by Julian Guthrie:
“They evoke a lost world and the uncertainty of climate change,” said artist Mark Stevens.” The pieces – shaped as flames, a ghost, a gingerbread man, a whale skeleton, and a series of small circles inside a larger one – are characters in an allegory. It’s about fueling our future by consuming our present. The ghost represents us. Fire is the fuel that powers. The rings inside the big circle represent the various ages of man, starting with the Stone Age. This is all of human achievement. I should have thought this through better. I think that we, meaning humanity, put ourselves in a situation where we think something will save us. The little character that looks like a gingerbread man represents our faith in redemption.”

Stevens, who grew up in Rochester, N.Y., dropped out of high school at age 16 to work as an artist. He bought his first welding gun the same year. His favorite childhood pastime was scrounging in junkyards at night to find scraps of metal and other discarded detritus.

His mother told him he could remain at home rent-free as long as he had a show or paying project lined up. He taught himself through trial and error, and by studying artists he admired – notably renowned sculptors Mark di Suvero and Richard Serra.

“I just always liked the feeling of cutting steel,” he said, rubbing his callused, gray-hued palms together. “Cutting steel gives you a real sense of power. It’s like you’re claiming space. It sounds greedy and selfish. But that’s how I see it: You build something, you claim space.”

The steel originated at a company in Alaska, and arrived at his Seattle studio in 20-by-6-foot sheets. It is grade 304L, he said, which is the same kind of metal used in silverware.

“It won’t rust,”

 

Creazione by Dimitri Hadzi

 Posted by on October 24, 2012
Oct 242012
 

Dimitri Hadzi’s Creazione, a bronze sculpture with a spirited sense of movement was inspired by the music of Mozart.

Dimitri Hadzi (1921-2006) was born in New York City. As a child he was sent to a Greek after-school program, where he received instruction in Greek language, mythology, history, and theater. His artistic ability won him a drawing prize and his strength in math and science gained him admission to Brooklyn Technical High School. Upon graduating he worked as a chemist by day while continuing to study chemistry by night. On July 4, 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served in the South Pacific, where an officer encouraged his efforts at drawing. After the war, he returned to New York, decided to turn away from chemistry, and became a student of painting and sculpture at Cooper Union. At the age of 29, a Fulbright Scholarship took him to Athens where he studied the history of Greco-Roman sculpture while learning the technical demands of carving in stone. The GI Bill subsequently allowed him to continue his studies in Rome, where he set up his first studio. At his death, Mr. Hadzi was emeritus professor of visual and environmental studies at Harvard, where he had taught sculpture and printmaking for many years.

A Facelift for Junipero Serra Park

 Posted by on October 20, 2012
Oct 202012
 

300 Stonecrest Drive
Lakeside

There are two ceramic tile murals by San Francisco artist Bean Finneran, installed in 2007 at Junipero Serra Playground in San Francisco. The pieces are part of the SFAC Civic art collection and cost $23,000.

Employing just two shapes, squares and darts, Bean Finneran varied the color relationships to create two distinct artworks for the new clubhouse. The optical effect of each is strikingly different. On the south wall, facing the playing fields, the 7-foot by 9-foot pattern appears to be vertical stripes, while the north wall’s 7-foot by 8-foot mural becomes a series of oscillating squares. Viewers may discover, upon further investigation, that each pattern contains the other.

Finneran found inspiration in Islamic tile patterns and American quilts but drew on her love of strong color to give the patterns a cheerful, modernist flair. According to the artist, the clubhouse architecture and placement strongly influenced her designs. The south mural, overlooking the playing fields, is best viewed from a distance, and responds to the strong verticality of its site. A more animated statement greets visitors on the north, which faces the playground’s main entrance.

Laurey (Bean) Finneran began her career as co-founder of the theatre group Soon 3 and later became a successful jewelry maker. She is currently an active ceramic artist who exhibits frequently both nationally and internationally. This was her first public art commission.

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Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue

 Posted by on October 19, 2012
Oct 192012
 

1344 Ocean at Grenada
Ingleside/Sunnyside

There are three of these mosaic Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue between Miramar and Grenada. Done by Laura True, they were installed in 2008.  The Spheres range in size from 3′ to 5′ in diameter and were commissioned by the SFAC at a cost of $47,500.

Fire, Air, Earth and Water

 Posted by on October 18, 2012
Oct 182012
 

Helen Willis Park
Broadway and Larkin

These columns, titled Fire, Air, Earth and Water were done in 2004 by San Francisco resident, Amy Blackstone.  Amy has several pieces around the Bay Area.

Excerpt from a March 6, 2004 SF Chronicle piece about Amy Blackstone:  “I love gardens. To me, especially in an urban setting, a garden is kind of magical and the gateway is kind of a trumpet announcement.”  Gates are one of Blackstone’s specialties.

 

These pieces are made with steel, fiberglass and patina.  The pipes were donated by Naylor Pipe Company.  They were commissioned by the SFAC for the Rec and Park Department in the 2006-07 budget for $36,000.

The Mathematical Concept of Tau in Sculpture

 Posted by on September 25, 2012
Sep 252012
 

160 Spear Street
SOMA’s Financial District

Tau by Roger Berry – Stainless Steel – 1984
96″ Diameter 14″ Deep

Each of the four intersecting cones of Tau describes the form of the solar year. The forward side is in full light in the winter the back surfaces are filled with the summer sun. The building to the south of Tau casts a shadow on the sculpture much of the day.

A prominent and highly respected northern California sculptor, Roger Berry, who has been called a “monumental master” has been commissioned to make over 30 site-specific sculptural works for municipalities and corporations from the West Coast to the United Kingdom. Berry attended Raymond College at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California and graduated in 1972.

This piece is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program.

Hidden Sea near Moscone Center

 Posted by on September 22, 2012
Sep 222012
 

321 Clementina
SOMA

Hidden Sea by Ned Kahn 2000

Recipient Organization: Tenants and Owners Development Corporation

In late 1999, artist Ned Kahn collaborated with the staff of the Tenants and Owners Development Corporation (TODCO) and the residents of their housing projects to create a public artwork for the exterior wall of Ceatrice Polite apartment building at Fourth and Clementina Streets. The apartment is in the Yerba Buena redevelopment area.

Ned Kahn’s public artworks encourage people to observe and interact with natural processes. Upon talking with the advisory group, his concept for this project became to create a piece that captures the feeling of watching a field of tall grass blowing in the wind. Both Kahn and John Elberling, Executive Vice President of TODCO, felt that the residents would benefit from being offered a glimpse into a natural phenomenon, a bit of calm and beauty in the context of their increasingly dense and bustling urban landscape.

The artwork, “Hidden Sea” consists of 6,000 small aluminum “leaves” mounted in an aluminum framework and hinged to move freely in the wind. The individual leaves measure three inches by three inches and are held by low friction bearings. The entire 40-foot tall by 25-foot wide artwork reveals the shape of the wind and creates the intended impression of waves in a field of metallic grass. The mirror-like surfaces of the aluminum leaves reflect light from different parts of the sky and the surrounding buildings.

“Hidden Sea” was fabricated by Ace Precision Machine in Santa Rosa and assembled in Ned Kahn’s studio. Benji Young and Michael Ehrlich of Young Rigging in San Francisco installed the artwork at the beginning of the year 2000.

Ned Kahn writes of the context for this project:

For the last 15 years, I have created public artworks that use wind, water, fog and other natural processes as their primary medium. Many of these artworks were intended to reveal a hidden or unnoticed force in the site such as the air currents or the ambient light from the sky. The design of a number of these projects was based on an aspect of the natural history or geology of the region that was not commonly known. My artworks often function as small-scale “observatories” in that they frame and enhance our perception of natural phenomena and create places that encourage contemplation.

 

Ode to Hank

 Posted by on September 21, 2012
Sep 212012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

ODE TO HANK by Terry Marashlian Created in 2008

This installation piece replaced “Midnight Hour,” an installation piece by Hank De RIcco. “Midnight Hour” was five wooden totems that stood on the campus for twenty years, but outdoor exposure had deteriorated them beyond repair. Campus Officials and artist Terry Marashlian, an instructor and former student at SFSU, decided to honor the totems by recreating them using aluminum coated with a specially engineered finish normally used for automobiles and marine vessels.These are located on the North side wall of Cesar Chavez Student Center.

 

 Hank DiRicco’s Midnight Hour

Hidden Gems in Bernal Heights

 Posted by on September 8, 2012
Sep 082012
 

82 Coleridge Street
Bernal Heights

This tile mosaic is titled Colloidal Pool and is by Peter Almeida. Done in 1988 it is suggestive of a puddle with ripples moving concentrically over leaf sheaves.

 The view from Coleridge Mini Park

Coleridge Mini Park

Fire creates Firehouse Art

 Posted by on September 5, 2012
Sep 052012
 

1091 Portola Drive
St Francis Wood/Mt. Davidson

Station #39

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 This 30″ Blown Glass Rondella, done in 1997,  is by Mark McDonnell.

Mark McDonnell (1945-   ) is a visual artist whose work can be found in the permanent collections of the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Corning Museum of Glass. He has extensively researched and photographed glasshouses and glass architecture. He is the former chairman of the Glass Department at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and presently lives in San Francisco.

Having taken up writing Mark McDonnell, explores the intriguing locations that Chihuly is drawn to and his ongoing interest in glass buildings in the 2002 book Chihuly Gardens & Glass .

 

 

Professor Wangari Maathi

 Posted by on August 22, 2012
Aug 222012
 

Haight and Pierce Street

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The main character of this mural is Professor Wangari Maathi.

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Wangari Maathai obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964). She subsequently earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1966). While serving on the National Council of Women she began a broad-based, grassroots organization focused on women planting trees in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. Through this Green Belt Movement she has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms, schools and church compounds.

Wangari Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation.

In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to parliament with an overwhelming 98% of the vote. She was subsequently appointed by the president, as Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya’s ninth parliament.  In 2004 she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

She died in 2011 from ovarian cancer.

The remaining characters depicted are typical San Francisco residents.  The Street Sheet, held up by the man on the left is a homeless newspaper published as a way to disseminate information and for the homeless to make money.

There were two artists on this piece.Kate Decicco and  Delvin Kenobe. Kenobe is an artist who is very versatile in style from surealism, photorealism, abstraction, and illustration and animation. His goal is to create change in the world by creating socially conscious works that directly tap into the soul of the viewer.

 

 

Madonna by Benjamin Bufano at SF General

 Posted by on July 28, 2012
Jul 282012
 
Potrero Hill
San Francisco General Hospital
1001 Potrero Avenue
Madonna by Benjamin (Beniamino) Bufano 1974

Benjamin (Benny) Bufano was a prolific artist in his time and has many pieces around San Francisco. This Madonna of Red Granite and mosaic sits on the edge of the comfort garden in San Francisco General Hospital, near building 80. The first buildings designated as San Francisco General Hospital were erected in 1872. Outbreaks of bubonic plague, the spread of tuberculosis, the earthquake of 1906, and the influenza epidemic of 1918 were all trials this hospital saw in its early years. Most of the present buildings were constructed during 1915–20. They were designed by city architect Newton Tharp in an Italianate style, laid out “with green lawns and bright flowering plants to add to the attractiveness of the structures.” Early photographs depict lawns, shrubs, paths, and palm trees between the buildings, formally designed, but — apparently — with no seats or benches to encourage use by staff or patients. The Comfort Garden is a small but well-used outdoor space in the sprawling contemporary “campus” of the hospital. It was established in June 1990 as a “living memorial” to hospital employees who had died. A name plaque in the garden, recording its inception, concludes with the words: “It is meant to be a place of solace where nature’s beauty can bring you comfort.”

San Francisco General Hospital was a subject of the New York Times scathing article about the San Francisco Public Arts Commission and it’s inability to keep track of its collection. The article pointed out that the city acquired 496 art objects for the Hospital when it was renovated in 1972 and by 2007 the commission could only find 49 pieces, by 2011 they had found 141. (There are no further updated numbers at this time)

Fortunately this one is still there and not only easy to find, but in such a delightful spot, it is a pleasure to visit.

If you would like to refresh your memory about Bufano there is a great article about his eclectic life in the Nob Hill Gazette.

Heads by Jun Kaneko, San Francisco Civic Center

 Posted by on July 22, 2012
Jul 222012
 
Civic Center
301 Van Ness
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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 November 2012. 

 “This installation is a wonderful example of how public and private entities can work together to enhance the urban environment through the arts,” said Director of Cultural Affairs Tom DeCaigny…

 Designed to complement one another, the two ceramic heads were installed facing each other at the bottom of the War Memorial Opera House’s front steps. The faces of the sculptures, one painted a bright primary yellow and the other red and featureless, emerge from a playful pattern of black and white polka-dots. Kaneko first created pairings of HEADS in 1994 in his studio emerging from his curiosity about eastern philosophy and exploring the additional layer of visual dialogue the human figure brings to his creative discourse and continues to explore this sculptural form in greater scale and other mediums. “Jun Kaneko’s public space projects engage and surprise with monumental scale and vivid glazing. He is perhaps the only artist I can think of to hand make and hand glaze objects of this magnitude…

 Kaneko has always worked in a variety of media including ceramics, painting, printmaking, drawing, bronze and glass. He often invokes the concept of “ma” in his work, a 2,000-year-old Japanese word that describes a space or distance between thoughts, things, sounds and actions, or the conscious moment between thought and action. Like musical notes, two marks on paper derive meaning from the space between them. One sees the influence of “ma” in Kaneko’s San Francisco installation. The artist carefully chose the location and the proximity of the sculptures to each other and the building. “

 Born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942, Kaneko is an internationally renowned artist acclaimed for his pioneering work in ceramics. His artwork appears in numerous international and national solo and group exhibitions annually, and is included in more than 70 museum collections. He has realized over 40 public art commissions in the United States and Japan and is the recipient of national, state and organization fellowships and honorary doctorates. San Francisco is the proud owner of two Kaneko sculptures, which are located at San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 1. 

 

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These pieces have been removed from this location as of 12/12

American Indian Occupation in the Tenderloin

 Posted by on July 16, 2012
Jul 162012
 
The Tenderloin/Polk Gulch
Austin at Polk
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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 studies, and studio classes for figure drawing & painting. Fragua has worked with fine establishments such as Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Institute of American Indian Arts, & Museum of Indian Arts & Culture to produce progressive/innovative exhibits concerning the plight of Native America.
Spencer Keeton Cunningham (Nez Perce) is originally from Portland, Oregon and along with drawing and painting, he shoots experimental and documentary films. He graduated from SFAI with a BFA in Printmaking in May 2010. Spencer currently works at White Walls Gallery in Central San Francisco. Since 2010, Spencer has shown his prints and drawings internationally in Canada, and most recently Japan, all the while collaborating with Internationally recognized artists as ROA and Ben Eine.

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

 Posted by on July 13, 2012
Jul 132012
 
Lands End
Legion of Honor
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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 Huntington has been on this site before.  This piece was one of her earliest public works, exhibited at the Salon of 1910 in Paris. Several replicas were made, and the statue won Anna the Legion of Honor from the French government. In 1927.

Telegraph Hill – Coit Tower

 Posted by on May 29, 2012
May 292012
 
Telegraph Hill
Coit Tower

To understand Coit Tower you must first understand Lillie Hitchcock Coit.  A nice tale is told here from the Virtual San Francisco History Museum written by: By Frederick J. Bowlen, Battalion Chief, San Francisco Fire Department.

One of the most unusual personalities ever connected with our Fire Department was a woman. She was Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who was destined not only to become a legend but to attain that eminence long before her life ended.

She came to this city in 1851 from West Point, where her father had been an army doctor. Seven years later, when only 15 years old, she began her famous career with Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 5.
One afternoon that pioneer fire company had a short staff on the ropes as it raced to a fire on Telegraph Hill. Because of the shortage of man power, the engine was falling behind. Oh, humiliating and better was the repartee passed by Manhattan No. 2 and Howard No. 3 as the total eclipse seemed to be but a matter of seconds. Then, suddenly there came a diversion. It was the story of Jeanne d’Arc at Orleans, The Maid of Sargossa and Molly Pitcher of Revolutionary fame all over again.Pretty and impulsive Lillie Hitchcock, on her way home from school, saw the plight of the Knickerbocker and tossing her books to the ground, ran to a vacant place on the rope. There she exerted her feeble strength and began to pull, at the same time turning her flushed face to the bystanders and crying: “Come on, you men! Everybody pull and we’ll beat ‘em!”…It continues:When Mrs. Coit died here in July 22, 1929, at the age of 86, she gave practical evidence of her affection for San Francisco. She left one-third of her fortune to the city “to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved.”For several years after her death, there was question as to the most fitting interpretation of the “appropriate manner” in which to make the memorial. The executors of her will at last determined to erect a memorial tower in honor of this colorful woman.

Coit Tower was built in 1933. The concrete tower was constructed by Arthur Brown Jr., best known for City Hall. The tower is adorned with one simple ornament by Robert Bordman Howard, the phoenix, symbolizing San Francisco’s repeated growth after its many fires.

The structure is made of unpainted reinforced concrete. Contrary to urban legend, the building was not made to resemble a fire hose.

There is a small studio apartment on the second floor of the tower, which was originally used as lodging for the structure’s caretaker.

If you are interested in learning more about Coit Tower, I highly recommend Masha Zakheim’s book Coit Tower, San Francisco Its History and Art

 

 

The Haight – Evolutionary Rainbow

 Posted by on April 16, 2012
Apr 162012
 
The Haight
Haight and Cole
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Called Evolutionary Rainbow, this mural was originally done by Joanna (Yana) Zegri in 1967 when she was a manager for the business in the building. She has returned to restore the mural in ’81, ’83, and ’06. This landmark Mural depicts a stage of evolution in each color, visible when you study the mural up close.

Excerpt from San Francisco Bay Area Murals by Timothy W. Drescher:

The earliest community mural in San Francisco was begun by Joana Zegri in 1967. It was never formally titled, but was called Evolution Rainbow because as the colors of its rainbow design progressed from dark to light, details within each color depicted the evolution of animals from early protozoa through dinosaurs up to modern species. ..

The first pause came when the artist, in the middle of painting the mural, took time off to give birth to her first child. After several months she completed the mural, and even restored in in 1981 with stronger paints. In 1982, the business of the wall of which the mural was painted changed hands, and the new owner had the mural painted out….In this instance, the destruction catalyzed community forces in a way that indicates the role such murals play in forming social communities. Protest, petitions, complaints by the store’s customers, letter writing campaigns, and meeting late into the night followed…the store owner contacted Zegri and asked her to repaint the mural.

Hayes Valley – Ghinlon/Transcope

 Posted by on April 6, 2012
Apr 062012
 
Hayes Valley/Western Addition
Octavia Boulevard
between Market and Hayes
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Ghinlon/Transcope by Po Shu Wang 2005

Commissioned by the SF Arts Commission for the Octavia Boulevard Streetscape Project, these transcopes invite you to observe the comings and goings along Octavia Boulevard and Patricia’s Green. There are twelve of these installed along the medians and the Green. The view through them can be twisted, converted or even upside down. While this was probably a wonderful concept, it fails in execution. To look into them is awkward. While one design is set at a height that works for the handicapped and small children, the other meant for standing adults were difficult for this 5’3″ author to use. Unfortunately, the view holes are so small that you really don’t see much anyway.

This is a paragraph from the SF Arts Commission’s Press Release regarding the installation:
The artist created a series of slender pole-like sculptures equipped with kaleidoscopic lenses that function as miniature observatories providing pedestrians with a transformed view of the surrounding environment and passing cars. The mounted scopes transform vehicular movements, colors, shapes and lights into extraordinary and beautiful real time moving pictures. Each observatory is equipped with a unique mirror lens combination giving the viewer an ever-changing kinetic snapshot of their environment. The sculptures have two standard designs: one for standing adults, and one for person in wheelchairs and/or children. The sculptures have a 60-degree vertical swing and a 180-degree horizontal swing. The slender support column on each sculpture includes the artist’s prosaic interpretation of the unique lens/mirror combination.

Born in Hong Kong, Po Shu Wang is an artist working out of Berkeley, California. His art projects are site-oriented viruses. Each individual artwork is a specific strain that intimately linked with a particular host environment. They co-evolve, mutate, and conflict with their hosts within a larger reality.

These pieces were part of the SFAC 2006-2007 budget and were commissioned for $150,000.

Golden Gate Park – Our National Pastime

 Posted by on February 16, 2012
Feb 162012
 
Golden Gate Park
Our National Pastime by Douglas Tilden – 1889
Presented
to the Golden Gate Park
by a friend of the sculptor
as a tribute to his
energy, industry and ability
Cruet Fondeur, Paris

(John Cruet was a moldmaker in Paris, he also worked with Rodin. Fondeur means owner of the foundry)

Tilden originally displayed the piece as part of the American Exhibit at the Paris International Exposition, where it was extremely well received. It is widely recognized as the single most famous and classic baseball figural art piece ever created. As a result of its popularity at the time, a very small number of replicas was ordered by Tiffany’s. While the exact number of Tiffany replica’s produced is uncertain (possibly as few as four), only three have ever surfaced (two are 34 inches in height, the other 21 inches), one of which is on permanent exhibit in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2006 a newly minted small replica sold for over $18,000.

Tilden, sculptor of the Mechanics Memorial on Market Street, remained a recluse for most of his life and died in 1935. In 1987, many of Tilden’s personal artworks were discovered in an abandoned storage facility.

The original base, made of sandstone at the turn of the century, was too badly worn to be refurbished. The new base is made of mahogany granite with a carved-raised panel and gold leaf lettering was done in November, 1998.

Our National Pastime is on JFK Drive across the street from the Conservatory of Flowers.

SOMA – Large Pieces of Marble

 Posted by on December 12, 2011
Dec 122011
 
631 Folsom Street
SOMA

These giant pieces of carrara marble are by Richard Deutsch are titled Frammenti.  Deutsch has been in this site before and I recommend you visit his website.  He is a very accomplished artist with work all over the world.

This piece is titled Fragmented.  The day I was there the fountain was not running, but Deutsch’s website has some really gorgeous photos of the fountain while it is working.

 

The Mission Kid Power Park

 Posted by on December 4, 2011
Dec 042011
 
The Mission District
Kid Power Park
Hoff between 16th and 17th
Ethel Siegel Newlin,program liaison at St. John’s Educational Thresholds Center (now Mission Graduates) on 16th Street, is responsible for this wonderful little oasis in the city.

Ten years ago, elementary and middle school children in one of Newlin’s programs surveyed the neighborhood and found liquor stores, dry cleaners and thrift shops, but no parks. The nearest one was at 19th and Valencia.

So they went to the Recreation and Park Department’s Open Space Committee to plead their case, and won $200,000. The next year they did the same thing, and won another $200,000. The third year they won $100,000. The following year, State Sen. Carole Migden secured $1.5 million from state open space funds, bringing the kids’ total to $2 million.

They tried buying a few vacant lots in the neighborhood, but couldn’t compete against housing developers in the red-hot real estate market. They had the same problem when they bid on the parking lot on Hoff Street — until the developer learned he was competing against neighborhood kids who wanted a park.

The developer backed out, allowing the Recreation and Park Department to purchase the property on behalf of the Mission kids. Working with Recreation and Park staff, the kids helped design the park, held community meetings and even picked the name.

Overall, more than 150 kids worked on the project, many of them knowing they’d be too old for it when it finally got built.

Berkeley artist Amy Blackstone designed and fabricated the fence and gate panels along with the sculptural trellises that utilize imagery and patterns associated with the dominant cultural heritage of Mission District residents.  The fence was part of the SFAC 2006-07 budget and cost $15,000.

Sunset District – Propeller on the Walk Way

 Posted by on November 3, 2011
Nov 032011
 
The Sunset District
The Great Highway at Riviera
Standing here, looking out towards the Pacific you will find art at your feet.  You will also guess, at this point that it is covered in a lot of sand.
Propeller by Richard Deutsch
This granite and marble terrazzo paving piece has bronze nautical elements inlaid into the surface.
Richard Deutsch has been featured on this site before.  He is an accomplished artist, with work all over the world, and pieces in great museums across the country.
This piece was commissioned by the SFAC for $9000 in 1988

Birds at the J.P. Murphy Playground

 Posted by on November 2, 2011
Nov 022011
 
Inner Sunset
J. P. Murphy Playground
1960 9th Avenue
Woman with Birds by Michael J. Carey
This divine park, that includes several tennis courts and a wonderful rec room is surrounded by these giant hedges.  The hedges make a perfect backdrop for this sculpture.
Michael Carey said: ““My intent with the sculpture for the J. P. Murphy playground is to celebrate the Center’s community purpose and natural setting by evoking a beneficent and free spirit in the work,”
Woman with Birds was funded by the J.P. Murphy Clubhouse Renovation construction budget, in fulfillment of San Francisco’s Art Enrichment Ordinance, and produced by the Public Art Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission. This piece was part of the 2006-07 budget and cost $29,000.
While this piece is in steel if you go to Michael’s website, you will see some wonderful pieces that he has also done of wood.

Mission Bay – Hulls

 Posted by on October 25, 2011
Oct 252011
 
Mission Bay
500 A. Terry Francois Blvd at Pierpoint Lane
*
Hulls by Richard Deutsch

Hulls commemorates Mission Bay’s waterfront, which is steeped in maritime history.  During the 16th century Ohlone Indians, sustained by hunting and fishing, built boats from reeds of the bay’s shallow waters.  The 1800’s saw a vibrant industry of wooden schooners and ferryboat builders, which later lead to the fabrication of large metal World War 1 and II submarines and battleships.

Born in Los Angles, Richards work is extensive with pieces all over the world, as can be seen on his website

 

Dan Plasma in the Mission

 Posted by on October 18, 2011
Oct 182011
 
Mission District
15th and Valencia
This is the side wall of restaurant Pica Pica.  Dan Plasma had originally painted a tiger mural on this wall, then over the course of a few days other aerosol muralists covered it over with their work.  This made Mr. Plasma rather angry, so when he took the wall back he commemorated the little war with this piece.

 

 

Bernal Heights – Odonatoa

 Posted by on October 7, 2011
Oct 072011
 
Holy Park Playground
Holy Park Circle
Bernal Heights
Odonatoa by Joyce Hsu
Bernal Heights is a wonderful area that has some of the cities best weather.  This sculpture sits on top of a delightful park that has views of all around the city.  Bernal had its origin with the 1839 Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo Mexican land grant  It remained undeveloped, though, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Built atop bedrock, the hill’s structures survived the temblor, and the sparseness of the development saved much of Bernal from the ravages of the firestorm that followed. The commercial corridor of Cortland Avenue filled in with shops as the pastureland on the hilltop was developed for workers’ homes during the rapid rebuilding of the city. Some of the tiny earthquake cottages that the city built to house quake refugees still exist in this area. During World War II, the area saw another population surge of primarily working class families. During the Vietnam War, the neighborhood was known as “Red Hill” for the anti-war activists in shared households and collectives who moved in among the working class families.

Born in Hong Kong, Joyce Hsu received her BFA from the Mount Allison University in Canada in 1996 and her MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998. She works out of Oakland and creates all kinds of mechanical sculptures.

This kinetic sculpture of painted stainless is one of many insects that Joyce has created.  It was commission by the SFAC in their 2006-07 budget at a cost of $14,500.

I would like to add this addendum to this post. The blog Bernalwood reposted this and received a comment from Eugenie Marek. Her comment is here :

My memory is a bit fuzzy. Here’s what I remember.
When Holly Park was being renovated, the Arts Commission invited 5 or 6 residents to meet to consider from among projects that had been submitted for this location.

It was a difficult choice because the submissions were all imaginative and well executed. What made it even harder was that two of the artists lived in Bernal. We were given some direction by the Arts Commission facilitator. Because Holly Park is so windy, we looked to select something that included movement. This artist’s work was unique enough to convince us.

Unfortunately, the Odonatao ran into trouble because it was just too responsive to the wind! It was quite something to see when the parts were in motion. The artist tried several times to slow it down, and finally disengaged it.

I’ve always been sad to see it frozen– but it is neat to look at! Certainly one of a kind.

Thank you Eugenie.

The Richmond – Speaking Stones

 Posted by on September 25, 2011
Sep 252011
 
The Richmond District
Richmond Recreation Center
251 18th Avenue
Throughout the park is poetry cast into concrete benches and carved into stones.
The artist, Seyed Alavi titled this piece Speaking Stones.  It was to be a poetry garden with metaphors for health, contentment and community.
Seyed Alavi received a Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University and a Masters of Fine Art from the San Francisco Art Institute. Alavi’s work is often engaged with the poetics of language and space and their power to shape reality.
The various concrete benches read from left to right :
They stained my fingers at a touch.  They were crimson yesterday on the branch.  So fresh that this morning I searched for them in vain.  For they had already vanished and fell to the bottom of the pool.
*
*
The stones were not as easy to read, but the snippets were thoughtful.

The problem with this installation is the lack of maintenance.  The stones and the hard concrete require lush plantings to convey their message.  Sadly, the plantings were sparse and the maintenance very poor.  Alavi’s work deserves better.

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