Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Tag: Public Art

  • Iris Jazz Club

    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…

  • Germinal*

    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…

  • Outer Harmony

    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,…

  • Arco

    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…

  • Nature

    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…

  • Passage of Remembrance

    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…

  • Six Degrees

    Six Degrees

    2825 Diamond Street Glen Park Six Degrees is an artwork installed in the entrance of  Glen Park Branch Library done in 2007 for $36,000. The artists are Reddy Lieb and Linda Raynsford. The circular art elements were inspired by the history and ecology of Glen Park. The circle, which the artists used as their main geometric…

  • NYCHOS

    NYCHOS

    500 Geary Lower Nob Hill   Austrian street artist NYCHOS is in town for the opening his show “Street Anatomy” at Fifty24SF Gallery on April 18th. In conjunction with the show, he has been putting up a few pieces around town. According to his facebook page the Austrian urban art and graffiti illustrator Nychos was…

  • Sprinter at the Koret

    Sprinter at the Koret

    Koret Health and Recreation Center 2130 Fulton Street Inner Richmond This bronze sculpture sits directly to the right of the entry door to the University of San Francisco’s, Koret Health and Recreation Center. It is an 8′ tall bronze by Edith Peres-Lethmate. According to the Smithsonian the sculpture is a large-scale version of a sculpture executed…

  • El Caballero de Paris

    El Caballero de Paris

      This is one of my favorite public sculptures in Havana, and as you can see how the patina has been worn off, I am not the only one that has a fondness for this character. El Caballero de París was  José Maria López Lledín (1920s-1977), was a well-known street person in Havana, Cuba in the…

  • @Large Ai Weiwei Part 4

    @Large Ai Weiwei Part 4

    Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015 There are two audio exhibits in this exhibition.  The first can be found in the first floor, cell block A of the Cellhouse.   Inside each cell, you can stand, although, as you can see, stools are provided, while you listen to spoken words, poetry, and music…

  • Refraction @Large Ai Weiwei Part 3

    Refraction @Large Ai Weiwei Part 3

    Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26 2015 You are not able to view this piece from any place other than the guards catwalk above the room, while peering through panes of glass, this is why I have had to take the photo from the website.  It was a very foggy day when I…

  • Trace @Large Ai Weiwei Part 2

    Trace @Large Ai Weiwei Part 2

    Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015 This is Trace.  The most ambitious, the most highly touted, the most written about, and yet, in my opinon, the one that least lived up to expectations. This entire project is made of 1.2 MILLION LEGO blocks. It took a long time for the committee that…

  • With Wind @Large Ai Weiwei Part 1

    With Wind @Large Ai Weiwei Part 1

    Alcatraz Island September 27, 2014 to April 26, 2015 If you have read this blog often you will know that I am a huge Ai Weiwei fan.  I finally had the opportunity to visit the installation of his work on Alcatraz Island, and walked away as impressed as ever.  There is so much that has…

  • Lover’s Lane

    Lover’s Lane

    Lover’s Lane The Presidio There is a small trail in the Presidio titled Lover’s Lane. It has a well known history that you can read on the plaque found at one end of what is still existing of this trail. The sign reads: “This trail has witnessed the passing of Spanish soldiers, Franciscan missionaries and…

  • Home Savings and Public Art

    Home Savings and Public Art

    98 West Portal Avenue Corner of Vicente and West Portal West Portal This mosaic is on the outside of the bank that stands at the corner.  At the time of the commission of the art (1976-77), the bank was a Home Savings Bank. This particular mural was a collaboration between Millard Owen Sheets, Denis O’Connor and designer Susan…

  • Abstract Sculpture in BART

    Abstract Sculpture in BART

    16th and Mission 24th and Mission Bart Stations Mission District These abstract, cast stone, pieces can be found in both the 16th and Mission and 24th and Mission BART stations. The works are by William George Mitchell.  Mitchell (born 1925) is an English sculptor, artist and designer. He is best known for his large scale…

  • Mission Branch Library and Leo Lentelli

    Mission Branch Library and Leo Lentelli

    Mission Branch Library 24th Between Bartlett and Orange Alley Mission District Leo Lentelli was one of San Francisco’s more prolific and well known sculptors during his time.  Sadly very little of his work survives inside of the city. There is a beautiful piece at  the Hunter Dunlin building downtown, and this sculpture over the original entry…

  • 155 Sansome Street

    155 Sansome Street

    155 Sansome Street Financial District The sculptures over the Sansome Street entrance to the Pacific Stock Exchange, now the City Club, were done in 1929-1930 by Ralph Stackpole. Stackpole has been in this website many times before and you can read about him and his work here. On January 18, 1930 Junius Cravens of the Argonaut…

  • Barnyard Watchdogs

    Barnyard Watchdogs

    San Francisco Zoo Entry to the Children’s Zoo Barnyard Watchdogs by Burt Brent This cute sculpture and climbing item is by Dr. Burt Brent. Dr. Brent is a reconstructive plastic surgeon best known for his work in reconstructing the absent outer ear. He has repaired ear defects in 1,800 patients, most of them children born with…

  • Hearst Grizzly Gulch

    Hearst Grizzly Gulch

    San Francisco Zoo   This grizzly by Tom Schrey graces the Hearst Grizzly Gulch building at the SF Zoo.  Tom has a degree from California College of the Arts and presently works at Artworks Foundry.   The following was excerpted from a June 15, 2007 SF Gate article by Patricia Yollin: Three summers ago, two…

  • Bizim Cebish Muellim

    Bizim Cebish Muellim

    Baku Boulevard Baku, Azerbaijan Baku Boulevard is a beautiful walking esplanade on the Caspian Sea that fronts almost the whole of Baku.  There are hundreds of bronze whimsical statues along the boulevard. This fellow is a character from the Movie “Bizim Cebish Muellim”. I found no signatures on any of the sculptures and there is…

  • Twelve Beauties

    Twelve Beauties

    İçəri Şəhər Old City or Inner City Baku Azerbaijan This sculpture by Nail Alakbarov cuts along the edges of İçəri Şəhər.  The description that accompanies the sculpture far better explains the situation than I ever can… This composition represents a sculptural image of seven armudi glasses standing on top of each other. Armudi is the name…

  • The Responsibility of Raising a Child

    The Responsibility of Raising a Child

    5th Avenue between Yamhill and Taylor Streets Portland, OR Along the TriMet route you will find this 2004 bronze buy Rick Bartow. Rick Bartow weaves Native American symbols of parenting and life cycles throughout The Responsibility of Raising a Child. The sculpture started out expressing the difficult circumstances of single parents, but by placing the infant…

  • Nepenthes

    Nepenthes

    Along NorthWest Davis Street Portland, OR These amazing structures are by Seattle based artist Dan Corson and are titled Nepenthes.  There are four of them along NorthWest Davis Street ,each standing 17 feet tall covered in photo-voltaic cells.  The elements glow at night. Nepenthes, named after the magical greek potion that eliminates sorrow and suffering.…

  • Burls will be Burls

    Burls will be Burls

    6th Avenue between Burnside and Ash Portland, OR According to the TriMet website: Burls Will be Burls, by Bruce Conkle, is a tribute to snowmen and to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. The cast bronze figures of Burls Will be Burls represent what might happen when a snowman melts and nourishes a living tree—water…

  • Lee Kelly Fountain

    Lee Kelly Fountain

    Southwest 6th Avenue and Pine Street Portland, OR Oregon artist Lee Kelly, often referred to as “Oregon’s Sculptor” won an international competition to design this sculpture “Untitled.”  In this work, water flows over several 20-foot-tall steel structures. Born in rural McCall in central Idaho, Kelly was raised near Riggins, Idaho.  In the 1950s he graduated from what…

  • Talos Number 2

    Talos Number 2

    Southwest 6th Avenue and Stark Portland, OR  Titled Talos Number 2 this bronze sculpture is by James Lee Hanson. “Talos No. 2  is part of the Portland Transit Mall. It was completed during 1959–1977, and was funded by TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation.  The abstract sculpture depicts Talos, the giant man of…

  • California Grizzly

    California Grizzly

    San Francisco Zoo In Front of the California Grizzly Exhibit This Grizzly sculpture is by Scientific Art Studio.  From their website: We are designers, sculptors, painters, welders, builders, crafters, fabricators, and – above all – dreamers. We live to see the world through new eyes, to laugh and play like children, and to explore boldly…

  • Bruton Sisters WPA Mural at the San Francisco Zoo

    Bruton Sisters WPA Mural at the San Francisco Zoo

    San Francisco Zoo Mother’s Building These murals, on the Mother’s Building at the San Francisco Zoo were WPA projects.  They were done by three sisters: Esther Bruton, Helen Bruton and Margaret Bruton. Helen Bruton has murals in downtown San Francisco that you can read about here. Here is an excerpt explaining the sisters work on the…