Tag: Public Art
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Stefan Novak and Redwood
Clipper and Diamond Heights Blvd Noe Valley/Twin Peaks This piece titled Redwood Sculpture, was done in 1968 by Stefan Novak. Mr. Novak and his family are very private people, so there is little information regarding the artist. He was an instructor in the architecture department at UC Berkeley. He was born on August 22, 1918 and…
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A Museum for the Cost of a BART Ticket
San Francisco International Airport Addison Model 2A Radio c. 1940 Many people know that there is art at SFO, but did you know there is an actual museum? Much of the art you see scattered around the airport as single pieces belong to the SFAC, however, the exhibits you see, carefully crafted for your enjoyment,…
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Goldsworthy III
San Francisco Presidio Main Parade Ground Anza and Sheridan This is the third installation of Andy Goldsworthy’s at the Presidio in San Francisco. It is titled Tree Fall. There are two other Goldsworthy’s on the Presidio Grounds that have appeared in this site before and can be seen here. The exhibit is in the Old…
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Guglielmo Marconi Memorial
Lombard Avenue On the drive up to Coit Tower North Beach This memorial to Guglielmo Marconi was placed sometime in 1938-1939. A group called the Marconi Memorial Foundation incorporated in the 1930s for the purpose of enshrining Marconi as the inventor of the wireless (a fact contested by the Russians). They placed two memorials…
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The Gates of Cayuga Playground
End of Cayuga Avenue at Naglee Avenue Under the Bart Train and The 280 Freeway Outer Mission Cayuga Playground is once again open. Your first greeting is the painted still fence, titled Cayuga Portal. Through the City’s two-percent-for-art program, the SFAC commissioned artist Eric Powell to create two new decorative gates for the park. The…
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The Artist of Cayuga Playground
Cayuga and Naglee Avenue Outer Mission In 2011 I read this wonderful article in Conversations.org and was intrigued to visit Cayuga Park and Demetrio Braceros’ work. I drove to Cayuga Playground to discover that it was closed. The sign said it would reopen in a few months. Alas, the work took until August of 2013 to actually…
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The Rebirth of Cayuga Playground
Cayuga and Naglee Avenues Outer Mission The 3.89 acre, 63 year old, Cayuga Playground closed December 2011 for a badly needed $8.4 million renovation. About $7.3 million of the renovation was paid for by the 2008 voter-approved parks bond, $711,000 from a state urban greening grant and $1.36 million from BART’s Earthquake Safety Program Impact Compensation.…
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The Young Dead Soldiers
Presidio Bay Ridge Trail Presidio Cemetery Overlook Dedicated on Veterans Day 2009, the Presidio cemetery overlook honors the service and sacrifices of America’s soldiers. A wooded section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail leads to the overlook, which is a perfect place for quiet contemplation. The cemetery overlook offers one of San Francisco’s most stunning…
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Fire Pits on Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach There is only one beach in San Francisco where bonfires are allowed. In response to beachgoers’ concerns that beach fires were leaving unsafe debris on the beach, as well as concerns about smoke blowing into neighborhood homes, Golden Gate National Parks initiated a public process to consider the future of fires on Ocean…
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Frog Woman Rock
The Presidio SFMOMA is closed until 2016. It is undergoing a $610 million expansion. As a result they are scattering art around the city. The first exhibit was the di Suvero’s at Crissy Field. This particular exhibit “Frog Woman Rock” is part of David Wilson’s Arrivals series. Wilson will develop a series of intimately composed…
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William Alexander Leidesdorff
One Leidesdorff Financial District The plaque outside this building celebrates the architect, leaving one to assume that that is who this person is. However, this is William Alexander Leidesdorff Jr. Leidesdorff was born to a Dane and a Creole in the Virgin Islands in 1812. Legally recognized by his Danish father, Leidesdorff came under the…
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The First School of California
Portsmouth Square Chinatown This marks the site of the first public school in California. Erected in 1847 Opened April 3, 1848 This commemorative marker was erected in 1957 by the grand lodge of free and accepted masons of the state of California California Historical Landmark 587. The following contemporary account of the little schoolhouse in…
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Thomas Starr King
Franklin between Starr King and Geary Japantown/Western Addition/ Fillmore Due to the lack of land their are very few bodies actually buried within the City of San Francisco. This is why the Sarcophogus of Thomas Starr King is so unusual. Thomas Starr King, a young, inexperienced Unitarian minister, came to San Francisco in 1860 when…
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West Coast War Memorial to the Missing
Presidio Lincoln and Harrison Boulevards This memorial is in the memory of the soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coast guardsmen, who lost their lives in service of their country in the American coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The memorial consists of a curved gray granite wall decorated with a bas…
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Win Ng
Maxine Hall Health Center 1301 Pierce Street Western Addition This mural, by Win Ng, is 10′ x 6′ and made of ceramic tiles. The mural depicts various elements of medical science. The mural was installed in 1968. Win Ng (1963-1991) was born in Chinatown, San Francisco. He studied at Saint Mary’s Academy and the City College of San Francisco and San…
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Frank Marini
Marini Plaza North Beach Frank Marini (1862-1952) is mentioned often in Alessandro Baccari’s book, “Saints Peter and Paul: ‘The Italian Cathedral’ of the West, 1884-1984.” Marini was a major civic benefactor, participating in the work of the Salesian groups at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. He was a sponsor of the boys’ club,…
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Guardians of the Gate
Pier 39 Fisherman’s Wharf Guardians of the Gate by Miles Metzger Metzger attended Denver University and the Instituto de Allende in Mexico. Guardians of the Gate, which depicts a “nuzzling” male and female with a pup, was created in 1990 and cast in Everdur bronze in 1991. Metzger considers the sculpture one of his favorite pieces.…
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Ruth Asawa at Ghirardelli Square
Ghirardelli Square Fisherman’s Wharf This fountain is titled Andrea’s Fountain and is by Ruth Asawa. It sits in Ghirardelli Square. There is a plaque next to the fountain that tells the story of the piece, it reads: Then-owner William Roth selected Ruth Asawa, well known for her abstract, woven-wire sculptures, to design and create the…
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Abstract Sculpture at 100 Buchannan
100 Buchanan UCSF Dental Center Market Street/Hayes Valley These two abstract sculptures are by Andrew Harader. Harader attended Cal State University in Long Beach and then received an MFA in 1976 at the Maryland Institute’s Rhinehart School of Sculpture. He is presently the coach at Andy’s Tennis Camp in Palo Alto. The piece is owned…
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Hall of Justice
850 Bryant South of Market The Seal of San Francisco adopted in 1859 features a sailor and a miner flanking a shield that bears a steamer ship entering the Golden Gate. Above the shield a Phoenix foretold of the great fire to come in 1906 and below the shield, the city’s motto, ‘Gold in Peace,…
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Damoxenus and Kruegas
Entryway to the Olympic Club 524 Post Street Union Square Domoxenus Established on May 6, 1860, The Olympic Club enjoys the distinction of being America’s oldest athletic club, which makes it appropriate, that these two statues of Damoxenus and Kreugas stand outside its front door. Damoxenus and Kreugas were boxers. Domoxenus of Syracuse was excluded from…
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Queseda Gardens
Queseda and Newcomb Bayview/Hunters Point The Quesada Gardens Community Mural & Gathering Space emerged with leadership from QGI Co-Founders Sharon Bliss and Mike Aisenfeld. Neighbors wanted to express the magic of the garden and spirit of community. In the end, a gritty urban space was transformed when community-based artist Deirdre DeFranceaux, with fellow artist Santie Huckaby, breathed life into…
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Mission Dolores Mosaic
Mission Dolores 16th and Dolores The Mission District This mural is in the hallway between the Mission and the Basilica. The brass plaque that accompanies it reads: Guillermo Granizo 1923-1996 This ceramic mural is the work of Guillermo Granizo a native San Francisco Artist. Shortly after Guillermo’s birth in 1923 the Granizo Family moved to…
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Father Junipero Serra
Mission Dolores 16th and Dolores The Mission District This sculpture, found inside the cemetery is by Arthur Putnam. The cast stone sculpture is one of a series of allegorical figures originally commissioned to depict the history of California for the estate of E. W. Scripps. This cast was funded by D. J. McQuarry at the cost…
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Mission Dolores Cemetery
16th and Dolores The Mission District Mission Dolores is one of my favorite places in all of San Francisco. I try to visit at least once every two months or so. The history of the mission is well know to every Californian (we are required to study them in the 2nd grade), so I will…
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The Bohemian Clubs Allegorical Figures
624 Taylor Street Nob Hill These four bas-relief, terra cotta panels are between the second and third floors of the Bohemian Club on the Post Street side. The first panel depicts Art and Architecture represented by a semi-nude turbanned male figure kneeling. In his proper left hand is a mallet which rests on the ground…
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Bret Harte at the Bohemian Club
624 Taylor Street Nob Hill The artist, Jo Mora, created and donated the sculpture to the Bohemian Club of which he and Bret Harte were members. In 1933, when the old Bohemian Club was torn down, the memorial was removed and reinstalled on the new club in 1934, Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 6, 1902) was an American…