Tag: Public Art
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A Heroine is Honored
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…
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Driving Me Up A Wall
255 Third Street SOMA * * 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. * * * Autoscape #3, Twin Spin,…
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Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice
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…
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Artifact from a Coal Mine
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…
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A Facelift for Junipero Serra Park
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…
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Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue
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.
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Hidden Sea near Moscone Center
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…
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Ode to Hank
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,…
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Hidden Gems in Bernal Heights
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
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Fire creates Firehouse Art
1091 Portola Drive St Francis Wood/Mt. Davidson Station #39 * 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…
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Professor Wangari Maathi
Haight and Pierce Street * * * 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…
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Madonna by Benjamin Bufano at SF General
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.…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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Telegraph Hill – Coit Tower
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…
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The Haight – Evolutionary Rainbow
The Haight Haight and Cole * * * * * 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…
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Hayes Valley – Ghinlon/Transcope
Hayes Valley/Western Addition Octavia Boulevard between Market and Hayes * * * 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…
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Golden Gate Park – Our National Pastime
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…
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SOMA – Large Pieces of Marble
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…
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The Mission Kid Power Park
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…
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Sunset District – Propeller on the Walk Way
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…
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Birds at the J.P. Murphy Playground
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.…
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Mission Bay – Hulls
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…
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Dan Plasma in the Mission
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…
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Bernal Heights – Odonatoa
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…
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The Richmond – Speaking Stones
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…