Tag: Public Art
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The Carved Tree of San Francisco Zoo
San Francisco Zoo In Front of the Mother’s House Lakeside This carved seat, surrounded by animals was done by Sean Eagleton, well known for his huge wood carvings on long dead trees. He prefers to call them “healing poles”. Shane feels that the huge healing poles, once planted at various points all over this earth…
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Gwynn Murrill at the San Francisco Zoo
San Francisco Zoo Sloat and The Great Highway Lakeside Cougar III by Gwynn Murrill Gwynn Murrill is a Los Angeles based artist who received her MFA from UCLA in 1972. Murrill has three sculptures at the San Francisco Zoo. Cougar III and Tiger 2 are at the front entryway and Hawk V is located at…
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Hans Shiller Plaza
Corner of Peabody and Leland Visitation Valley Opening in March 2001, Hans Schiller Plaza was the first Visitacion Valley Greenway site to be completed. Construction was supervised by the Trust for Public Land with funding from the Columbia Foundation founded by the late Madeleine Haas Russell. The gift was made in memory of her friend…
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Females Grace the Olympic Club
665 Sutter Street The Olympic Club Parking Garage Union Square I have showed you the figures at the front of the Olympic Club here. But at the back, the entry to the parking garage, are 9 female nudes. The sculptures are by Michelle Gregor. Michelle has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from University of California,…
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Ndebele
1601 Griffith Street BayView / Hunters Point This abstract sculpture composed of three vertical elements, is titled Ndebele and is by Fran Martin. It was installed in 1987. I have tried three times over many many months to find this piece. It is listed at the pump station but it is actually on the side…
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Heron’s Head Park
Heron’s Head Park Evans and Jennings Bay View / Hunter’s Point Heron’s Head Park was “born” in the early 1970s, when the Port began filling the bay to construct what was to be the Pier 98 shipping terminal. The terminal construction never materialized, and the peninsula remained undeveloped. Over years of settlement and exposure to…
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SFAC Shame on You
1351 24th Avenue Outer Sunset This travesty sits in front of the San Francisco Department of Public Health Building. The only photograph I could find was through the Smithsonian Institute. The sculpture, titled Sailor and Mermaid, originally was made of copper sheets, cut, pounded, and welded, with bronze. It sits on a concrete pad. It was…
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Covering Construction
4th and Folsom South of Market This piece, sponsored by the SFAC, is by Randy Colosky. It is titled Ellipses in the Key of Blue. According to Randy’s Website: Ellipses is the Key of Blue is 140 ft. long x 8 ft. tall, digitally printed and drawing mounted on plywood. According to the sign on the…
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The Sundial at Ingleside Terrace
Entrada Court Ingleside Terrace What is now Ingleside Terraces was the southwestern most portion of San Miguel Rancho, bordered on the west by Rancho Laguna de la Merced. Rancho Laguna de la Merced and San Miguel Rancho were apparently the last of the Mexican “ranchos” to be incorporated in what we now know as…
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Thomas Houseago
Foundry Square 1st and Howard These two sculptures are by Thomas Houseago. The standing is titled Boy III and the one laying is Sleeping Boy. These are both white coated bronze. Photo Courtesy of the San Francisco Planning Commission This information about the artist comes from the San Francisco Planning Commission. Thomas Houseago was born…
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Sargent Johnson Tile’s the Maritime Museum
Maritime Museum Aquatic Park This 14′ x 125′ glazed tile mural was created by Sargent Johnson in 1939 with the help of FAP (Federal Art Project) funds. The east end, however, is incomplete. When the project began, the building was to be a publicly-accessible bathhouse. However, shortly after it opened, the City leased a majority…
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Exultadagio
San Francisco Conservatory of Music 50 Oak Street Civic Center Fulfilling the 1% for public art requirement for private development in San Francisco, this glass curtain wall of the music school includes 8” deep horizontal and vertical glass fins. A dichroic glass bevel at the front edge of each fin casts colored light across the…
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Reflections
680 Folsom Street SOMA East of 5th This piece by Gordon Huether is titled Reflections. It is part of the 1% for Art program in San Francisco. According to his website Gordon Huether was born in Rochester, NY in 1959, to German immigrant parents. Having dual citizenship in Germany and the U.S., Huether has spent much…
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Marine Firemen’s Union
240 2nd Street SOMA East of 5th The Pacific Coast Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association often referred to as the Marine Firemen’s Union is an American labor union of mariners working aboard U.S. flag vessels. The Marine Firemen’s Union is an affiliate union of Seafarers International Union.The union was formed in San Francisco,…
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Rain Portal
SFPUC Building 525 Golden Gate Avenue Civic Center Rain Portal by Ned Kahn. Kahn has several pieces around San Francisco that you can read about here. Ned Kahn’s Rain Portal is located inside the lobby of the new Public Utilities building. Kahn’s Firefly graces the exterior of the building and you can read about it here. Rain…
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Peace
154 McAllister Street Civic Center According to Reka’s own website: James Reka – Melbourne, Australia Self-taught artist James Reka is a young contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, Germany. His origins lie in the alleyways and train lines of Melbourne’s inner-suburbs where he spent over a decade refining his now-emblematic aesthetic. His character work…
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Island Fever
50 8th Street SOMA/Civic Center I am a huge fan of Lady Mags and Amanda Lynn, and they have been on this website many times. I have also been walking by this piece for quite a while, admiring it and yet not quite having a chance to take pictures when it wasn’t blocked by…
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Atlantis and Mu
Maritime Museum Aquatic Park The interior of the museum is painted with a large mural by Hilaire Hiler, These murals depict the mythic continents of Atlantis and Mu. Many know the story of Atlantis, but Mu is not as well known. Mu is the name of a suggested lost continent whose concept and the name were proposed…
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Spirogyrate
Terminal Three SFO Post TSA One weekend in January 2014 the city of San Francisco and the contractors opened the new Terminal Three to the public before it went live. I used the opportunity to capture as much public art as I could before you had to buy an airline ticket to get access to…
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Oscar Wilde
Merrion Square Dublin, Ireland This fun statue of Oscar Wilde, laying back without a care in the world is in Marrion Square, Dublin. He is facing his boyhood home just across the street at 1 Merrion Square. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, was born in nearby Westland Row in 1854. Wilde, who spent much of…
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Art under the waterfall
Blarney Castle – Rock Close Blarney County Cork, Ireland Puffballs from the Inside Out These ceramic pieces are by Michelle Maher. Maher is a Ceramic Artist who lives and works in Castleknock, Dublin. She graduated from N.U.I. Maynooth in 1996 with a Master’s degree, after studying English and History. According to her website: My ceramic sculptures…
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Bog Wood
Blarney Castle Blarney County Cork, Ireland Blarney Castle has a fabulous curator. There is art work spread out throughout the grounds, and it is all so beautiful chosen for its particular site. This piece is by artist Pieter Koning. The pice is actually a 7000 year old piece of bog oak and is titled Organic…
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Famine
St. Stephen’s Green Dublin, Ireland There are many famine statues around Ireland, as well as the world, and this one is by Edward Delaney. Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas…
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Famine
Custom House Quay Dublin. Ireland This breathtaking group of statues is titled “Famine” and is by Rowan Gillespie. The accompanying plaque reads ” Unveiled by Her Excellency President Robinson – Commissioned and Donated to the people of Ireland by Norma Smurfit 29th May 1997″ “A procession fraught with most striking and most melancholy interest, wending…
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Love and Marriage San Francisco Style
City Hall South Light Court In 2004, San Francisco General Hospital launched Hearts in San Francisco to generate revenue to support its numerous programs. This heart, in City Hall’s South light court, was part of that program. Designed by Deborah Oropallo the interlocking Heart, titled LOVE + MARRIAGE, was sponsored by Ambassador James Hormel and Timothy…
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Sargent Johnson and Aquatic Park
Maritime Museum Aquatic Park This carved sandstone entry to the Maritime Museum was done as a Federal Arts Project (FAP) by Sargent Johnson. Johnson was in this site before for the log. This building was originally a New Deal WPA (Works Progress Administration) building called the Aquatic Park Bathhouse. Construction began in 1936 and the…
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Judge James Seawell
Second Floor City Hall Civic Center The San Francisco Call ran this article on November 8, 1898: Judge James M. Seawell. No better nomination has been made by any party than that of Judge James M. Seawell, one of the Democratic candidates for Superior Judge. During the six years he has served in that capacity…
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Sky
San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3 Post TSA This is Sky by Merge Conceptual Design. Merge Conceptual Design is comprised of Franka Diehnelt and Claudia Reisenberger who are both architecture graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, and currently teach at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Sky is a suspended light sculpture comprised of…
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Dianne Feinstein
City Hall Mayors Balcony Civic Center Dianne Feinstein was the head of the Board of Supervisors on the day that Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were tragically assassinated. She instantly became Mayor. This sculpture (the second of Dianne Feinstein to sit in City Hall) was done in 1996 by Lisa Reinertson. According to…
