San Francisco – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Fabric Collage

Posted by Cindy on September 6, 2018

Sep 062018

Laguna Honda Hospital
375 Laguna Honda Boulevard
Foreshill

Bay Area Foothills by Merle Axelrad Serlin

These collages by Merle Axelrad Serlin are comprised of thousands of small pieces of fabric, fiber, paint and cloth. The fragments are carefully arranged, layered, pinned and sewn together onto a cotton canvas. The artist uses a variety of fabrics including, but not limited to, cotton, linen, rayon, wool, silk, hemp, and tulle. When she is not able to find a piece of fabric that achieves the desired effect, Serlin uses acrylic-based fabric paints to create her own.

Cliff at Lands End

Merle Axelrad Serlin was a successful and pregnant architect when she made her first quilt, a predictably sewn coverlet of black, gray, pink and green that she finished the day before her son was born. “It was a dog . . . god-awful,” she recalls more than a decade later. But Serlin was clearly a quick study with no dearth of talent. She took a quilting class, won a few awards and switched to quilts as wall art.
With a little tinkering, Serlin developed a layering technique that let her bring more color, light and texture to her projects. She calls it “fabric collage,” and one of her most recent works is a stunning example. In “California Ricelands,” a Sacramento Valley farmscape commissioned by the California Rice Commission, Serlin uses hundreds of pieces of material—some hand-painted or -dyed, others fresh off the bolt from the local fabric store. A golden field is executed in velvety chenille; the flooded paddies are in soothing shades of blue and green.
“People describe this as painting with fabric,” she explains. “But I see it more as a blending of painting and sculpture because it is a three-dimensional medium.” Serlin’s pastime became full time in the late 1990s, when she landed a contract with the California Environmental Protection Agency to complete eight landscapes for the agency’s downtown headquarters, depicting the heights of Mount Shasta to the Monterey Bay Canyon. Other commissions—public, hospital and private—have streamed in ever since. Her studio, on the second floor of the Art Foundry & Gallery at 10th and R streets, opens for Second Saturday every month. – Sacramento Magazine May 2010.

Marin Headlands

The art pieces are behind UV resistant glass and lit from above making photographing them nearly impossible, photos of the art pieces unframed are from the artist’s website.

The budget for the artwork in the new wing of Laguna Honda Hospital was $3million, thanks to the 1% for art program. The budget for these three pieces was $47,000.

Below are photos of the collages, as occurs in many public buildings the artwork takes second fiddle to the handout rack.

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Point of View

Posted by Cindy on August 17, 2018

Aug 172018

Pier 27

Point of View is comprised of two sculptures that resemble lighthouses — one is installed at the Port of San Francisco, and an identical tower is in Haifa, Israel.

Viewers look into a periscope-like screen to see a live feed of the other location.

The installation is dedicated to San Francisco’s late Mayor Edwin Lee. The project aims to celebrate “the vibrancy of the cities’ art and technology sectors.” San Francisco and Haifa became sister-cities in 1972.

The Sister City Committee commissioned Saron Paz and Mathew Passmore to create the installation after San Francisco officials traveled to Haifa in 2016 with the mayor.

Saron Paz studied at the Holon Institute of Technology, The Design Academy Eindhoven, and The Sandberg Institute. He is CEO of the design studio ForReal Team.

Mathew Passmore heads Morelab. Passmore is a conceptual artist, a professional musician, an attorney and the National Librarian for Cabinet magazine. He studied Analytic Philosophy at UCLA and Law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law.

Inflatable Bunnies Hop to San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on April 5, 2016

Apr 052016

Inflatable bunnies, an art installation by Australian artist Amanda Parer has stopped in San Francisco for a few days. The monumental rabbits, each sewn in nylon, inflated and internally lit. will be in San Francisco from April 4, 2016 to the 25th. The giant rabbits will travel throughout North America, making stops in Washington D.C., Toronto, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver and Memphis.

The project, made possible by a loan of $50,000 from the S.F. Cultural Affairs office to the San Francisco Arts Commission is also sponsored by the Recreation & Park Department and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development with additional support coming from MJM Management and Another Planet Entertainment.

According to the artists website: Rabbits in artist Amanda Parer’s native Australia are an out of control pest, leaving a trail of ecological destruction wherever they go and defying attempts at eradication. First introduced by white settlers in 1788 they have caused a great imbalance to the countries endemic species. The rabbit also is an animal of contradiction.

They represent the fairytale animals from our childhood – a furry innocence, frolicking through idyllic fields. Intrude deliberately evokes this cutesy image, and a strong visual humour, to lure you into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages in the work. They are huge, the size referencing “the elephant in the room”, the problem, like our environmental impact, big but easily ignored.

The bunnies light up. Photo courtesy of artists website

Chinatown Public Library

Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2015

Dec 212015

1135 Powell Street
Chinatown

The Chinatown Branch of the San Francisco Public Library started its life as the North Beach Branch. It was changed in 1958.

Andrew Carnegie left the City of San Francisco, then under Mayor James Phelan, $750,000 for a main library and branches. One half was for the main library and the rest to be distributed amongst seven branch libraries. The city paid the difference of $1,152,000.

Most of these seven branches have been enlarged very slightly, all have been retrofitted to modern earthquake standards and all are included in San Francisco’s “List of Architecturally Significant Buildings.” All of the branches still serve as libraries.

The old North Beach Carnegie branch was the sixth of the branches built with the Carnegie donation and occupies almost all of the 70’x137′ lot it sits on.

The site was formerly occupied by a school and cost $68, 186.

The building was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in the Italian Renaissance style.

Gustave Albert Lansburgh (1876 1969) was largely known for his work on luxury cinemas and theatres. He was the principal architect of theaters on the West Coast from 1900 – 1930.

Lansburgh was born in Panama and raised largely in San Francisco. After graduating from Boys High School, he enrolled in UC, Berkeley. While a student there, he worked part-time in the offices of architect Bernard Maybeck. Upon graduation from Berkeley, he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts, and graduated in 1906.

Lansburgh returned to the Bay Area in May, 1906, just in time for the building boom that would take place after the earthquake and fire.

First in partnership with Bernard Julius Joseph for two years, then in his own practice, Lansburgh designed numerous buildings in the recovering city. Among these was his first theater, for the San Francisco-based Orpheum Theater company.

Compton’s Cafeteria

Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2015

Jun 272015

Corner of Turk and Taylor
Tenderloin

Funny how a plaque can stop you and educate you about something you may have known nothing about, and at the exact same time leave out so very very much of the story.

If you were to hear about this event during those times you would have been told that in Gene Compton’s Cafeteria at the corner of Taylor and Turk Streets, in August 1966*, a person, described as a “queen” threw a cup of coffee in a police officers face. The police began arresting “queens” and a riot broke out. The riot included around 50 to 60 patrons, and an unnumbered amount of police.

*The exact date of the riot is unknown because 1960 police records no longer exist and the riot was not covered by newspapers.

Photo Courtesy of Shaping San Francisco and FoundSF

While hard to believe in our more progressive times that it was unlawful to crossdress or impersonate a female in San Francisco in 1966. The harassment of “effeminate” gay males was prolific and since discrimination was so prevalent, often the only type of employment open to the transexual, drag performing and “gay” population was prostitution. The one thing that has not changed was that the tenderloin was a place to ply your trade.

Another thing that has not changed is Glide Memorial’s open heart and helping hand to the situation. Glide began a program titled Vanguard to help trans and gay youth improve their living situations. Vanguard had been holding their meetings at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria.

To continue the story in the words of Susan Stryker, author of Screaming Queen:

“Late one August night in San Francisco in 1966, Compton’s Cafeteria was hopping with its usual assortment of transgender people, young street hustlers, and other down-and-out regulars who found refuge there from the mean streets of the seedy Tenderloin neighborhood. The restaurant’s management, annoyed by a noisy crowd at one table that seemed be spending a lot of time without spending a lot of money, called the police—as they had been doing with increasing frequency throughout the summer. A surly cop, accustomed to manhandling Compton’s clientele, grabbed the arm of one of the queens.

She responded unexpectedly and threw her coffee in his face. Mayhem erupted: plates, trays, cups, and silverware flew threw the air at the police, who ran outside and called for backup. Tables were turned over, windows were smashed, and Compton’s queer customers poured out of the restaurant and into the night. The paddy wagons pulled up, and street fighting broke out in Compton’s vicinity, all around the corner of Turk and Taylor. Drag queens beat the police with their heavy purses, and kicked them with their high-heeled shoes. A police car was vandalized, a newspaper stand was burned to the ground, and—in the words of the best available source on what happened that night—“general havoc was raised in the Tenderloin.”

According to Strykers’s Screaming Queens the next night, more transgender people, hustlers, Tenderloin street people, and other members of the LGBT community joined in a picket of the cafeteria, which would not allow transgender people back in. The demonstration ended with the newly installed plate-glass windows being smashed again.

All of this was three years before Stonewall.

If you would like to explore further, Susan Stryker’s documentary is titled Screaming Queens . The fascinating story, by the author and filmmaker, about how the movie came about, can be read here.

The building today 2015

The building itself has a wonderful history as well. It was designed by architect Abraham M. Edelman and built in 1907. At that time it was the 115 room with 50 baths Hotel Hyland. It became the Hotel Young in 1908, The Hotel Empire in 1911 the Chapin Hotel in 1920, the Hotel Raford in 1923 the Tyland Hotel and then the Warfield Hotel in 1982 it is now the Taylor Street Apartments.

Abraham (or Abram) M. Edleman (August 19, 1863) was the son of a Polish-born American rabbi living in Los Angeles. While most prolific in Los Angeles, with many buildings on the National Historic Register, he often worked in partnership with firms in San Francisco.

Edelman began his own practice in Los Angeles in the 1880s; he became a member of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1902 and remained a member until 1941.

Edelman’s education came from having worked as an apprentice for various architects in San Francisco, which most likely is how his name became attached to this particular building.

Castro District History

Posted by Cindy on May 12, 2015

May 122015

Castro Street

The Castro Street Design Project was a street improvement project by the City of San Francisco that improved the cable car turn around at Market Street and Castro Street between Market and 19th. This included the fabulous rainbow cross walk you see above and historic markers placed in the sidewalk up and down Castro Street on both sides of the street for those two blocks.

The native Yelamu people lived nearby in the village of Chutchul relocating each winter to the bayside village of Sitlintac. A creek flows past grassland and chaparral toward the bay along the path of today’s 18th street.

American settler John Hohner purchases a portion of Rancho San Miguel, Castro Street, named after a prominent Mexican Era Californio Family, makes the western border of the nascent neighborhood known as Horner’s addition.

Thousands attend the first known festival on Castro Street to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Twin Peaks Tunnel. The San Francisco Chronicle declares the celebration “A riot of hilarity and merrymaking.”. The tunnel opens in 1918.

The Nasser Brothers open the Castro Theater. The first movie palace designed by Prominent architect Timothy Pflueger. An early usherette at the theatre, Janet Gaynor, goes on to win best actress at the Academy Awards in 1929.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, A queer activist and charity group founded in 1979, organize one of the world’s first AIDS related fundraisers, a dog show on Castro Street. Local resident and disco star Sylvester is one of the judges.

A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence

National attention turns to the Castro as thousands gather to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriages in California, marking a milestone in the neighborhood’s historic role as a center for LGBT rights.

There are many more plaques along the sidewalks, all part of the City’s improvement program.

Whispering Dishes

Posted by Cindy on January 28, 2014

Jan 282014

Market Street and Yerba Buena Lane
Financial District

This exhibit is the first of a series titled Living Innovation Zones. Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) are new public spaces opening up along Market Street between Octavia and The Embarcadero. The LIZ’s are collaborationa between the community, innovators, and the City to enhance the public good, foster learning and sharing, and showcase innovation. The City plans to streamline permitting in order to boost participation in the program and bring more projects to sidewalks.

“Whispering Dishes” is the first exhibit, and is a partnership between the Exploratorium and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. It features two 8-foot-tall dishes facing each other on the sidewalk 50 feet apart. They focus sound in such a way that two people whispering across the 50-foot distance are able to hear each other even with surrounding street noise.

The project was funded through Indiegogo. The goal was $75,000. The amount raised was $32,696. with an additional $5000 matching funds by the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District (YBCBA).

This is the “Singing Bench.” It is next to the Whispering Dishes. If two people sit down, each places one bare arm or hand on the metal-plated armrests, then they hold hands with the other, a tune plays as a subtle electric current courses through this newly created circuit.

These two projects are some of the favorites at the Exploratorium on the Embarcadero, which is how they were chosen.

This piece no longer resides on Market Street

Eng-Skell

Posted by Cindy on January 8, 2014

Jan 082014

1043 Howard Street
SOMA

It is hard to believe that in a world of corporate mergers and gentrification of neighborhoods, that the original company that built this wonderful deco building still occupies it.

In 1900 W.A. England and H.D. Skellinger founded the Eng-Skell Company. The company made flavoring extracts for the bakery and bottling trades and specialties such as orange bitters for the bar trade.

In 1930 the company built this three-story Art Deco building in SOMA. The building was designed by architect A.C. Griewank. It is 100,000 square feet and originally housed a laboratory, manufacturing plant, warehouse and office space. There was a Research Department with a staff of trained chemists. Somewhere along the line they became ESCO but their website still proudly displays this Howard Street Building.

224 Townsend Street (1935) was also designed by A.C. Griewank. Both buildings feature fluted pilasters that divide the bays and a three-dimensional, stepped triangular parapet over the primary entrance. Although we know he was an engineer/architect there is no information about A.C. Griewank to be found at the City of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Library, or San Francisco Heritage.

We do know he was a writer for the Architect and Engineer. In November of 1917 they published an article titled “California Cotton Mills’ New Building,” by Mr. A.C. Griewank, the architect of the California Cotton Mills Factory in Oakland, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

(update) The San Francisco Public Library has informed me that Mr. Arthur Carl Griewank was born on the 6th of September 1886 in Laporte, Indiana and died in San Francisco on October 9, 1942,

I found an A.C. Griewank listed in the 1911 alumni record of the University of Illinois stating Mr. A.C. Griewank was a 1910 graduate of the University and was then working with the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company.

He was also listed as a San Francisco Port Engineer in 1930.

From the November 1930 American Chemical Society Publication:
The Eng-Skell Co. , 208 Mission St., San Francisco, Calif., manufacturer of flavoring extracts, chemical specialties, etc., has approved plans for a new three-story plant at Russ and Howard Sts., and will proceed with work on the superstructure at once. It is reported that it will cost over $54,000 including equipment. A. C. Griewank, address noted, is company engineer.

Despite not knowing much about Mr. Griewank personally, I am sure he would be please to know that some of his structures he designed still stand today. They include: (in San Francisco) 1130 Howard, 1035 Howard, 1126 Howard, 224 Townsend and Piers 1-35 where he acted as engineer on the substrates and transit sheds, as well as, the California Cotton Mills Building in Oakland

Tudor Revival and Craftsman Style Firehouse

Posted by Cindy on November 20, 2013

Nov 202013

1088 Green Street
Russian Hill

The SFFD History site says:

After the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, Newton J. Tharp was named city architect and was charged with rebuilding city government buildings. He designed this firehouse along with a number of Beaux Arts-style firehouses. Located on top of Russian Hill, this firehouse was designed to conform to the neighboring architecture and is the only firehouse of the Tudor Revival and Craftsman styles.

1915

During the horse-drawn era, the Department chose to build their firehouses at the top of the City’s many hills as it was quicker to respond to fires that were “downhill.” To get the four ton steam engine back to the firehouse took time. All San Francisco steam engines and trucks were drawn by a three-horse hitch, and at times the double horse team from the hose wagon was also hooked up to the steam engine, making a five horse team. Even with five horses, the return trip up the hill to the firehouse was often difficult. On the steepest return up Leavenworth to Green Street, there was a mechanical pulley system to move the steam engine up the hill. In 1918 the company received a 1917 American LaFrance Type 45, registry #2623, chain drive 6 cylinder 120 HP engine with a 900 GPM rotary gear pump and hose wagon and the horses were retired. In 1952, and the Company was deactivated and the firehouse was closed.

In 1959, philanthropist Mrs. Louise M. Davies bought the firehouse at a sealed bid City surplus property auction for $17,500. Mrs. Davies had the communications area on the main floor remolded into a sitting room that featured the 1855 Knickerbocker No. 5 hand engine and other fire memorabilia. The wooden apparatus floor was used for social receptions, banquets and dancing. The upstairs dormitory and officer’s rooms were converted into living areas. Mrs. Davies, an Honorary Chief of Department, often opened this firehouse, her city home, to neighborhood associations and charitable organizations for fund-raising events. During the 1970’s and 80’s, Mrs. Davies hosted many fund-raising parties for the SFFD Museum in this firehouse. In 1978, Mrs. Davies donated the firehouse to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the 1998, the Trust sold the firehouse to the Scottish American St. Andrew’s Society.

Takaroa

Posted by Cindy on November 19, 2013

Nov 192013

1086 Green Street
Russian Hill

Takaroa Fountain by David Ruth 2004
Pyrex Glass

This fountain sits outside a condominium complex on Green Street, and was a private commission.

According to David Ruth’s website:

The Look of ice comes from the fusing of borosilicate glasses like Pyrex. After I was introduced to the material I tried to erase the white veils but ultimately saw that they offered a new style of fused glass that resembles ice. Rather than the liquid flow I had been used to, the ice gave me a different way of conceptualizing my sculpture and fired my interest in ice as a metaphor for making glass.

David Ruth is an Oakland based artist. He received an M.F.A. from California College of Arts and Crafts, in 1987 a B.A. in American History from Porter College, UC Santa Cruz.

Night time photo from David Ruth website

Underwriters Fire Patrol

Posted by Cindy on November 18, 2013

Nov 182013

147 Natoma
SOMA/Financial District

According to the History Department of the SFFD:

On May 24, 1875, the City’s insurance companies joined together to organize and fund the Underwriters Fire Patrol. The UFP was like a fire department; it had its own firehouses, alarm system and firemen whose only task was salvage practices. The patrol worked at fires in conjunction with the SFFD. These firemen often worked below the fire floor and spread waterproof covers over merchandise threatened with water damage. They also saved and removed business records from the fire building.

The insurance companies realized that if valuable items could be saved from fire damage that their business expenses could be controlled. Due to the reduction of these expenses, their policy holders would not have to pay higher premiums. On this premise, the Underwriters Fire Patrol was organized.

On March 27, 1911, the company received a 1911 American LaFrance, registry #25, Type 5 Fire Patrol Wagon with a 4 cylinder 50 HP engine, the first motorized apparatus in San Francisco.

This three-story brick structure, designed by Clinton Day, has a terra-cotta bracketed cornice with egg and dart molding, and an arched entry ornament in bead and reel pattern molding.

Clinton Day is also responsible for the Union Trust Company Building, he has been in this site before here.

The building was sold at public auction in 1956. The construction fence is part of the new expansion of SFMOMA.

Engine Company #13

Posted by Cindy on November 14, 2013

Nov 142013

1458 Valencia Street
Mission

Built in 1883, this is the City’s oldest standing firehouse. In the heart of the Mission District, this rare brick firehouse in the Victorian Italianate style has a front surface made entirely of cast iron detail. Such buildings are very rare in San Francisco with most clustered in the Jackson Square area.

On the conversion from horse drawn to motorized apparatus, the company was assigned a 1916 American LaFrance Type 12 Chemical and Hose Car with a 35 gallon chemical tank with a 6 cylinder 100 HP engine.

Engine Co. No. 13 remained assigned here until 1958. The firehouse was sold at the City’s surplus property auction and is now privately owned.

Company History:
1883   Engine Co. No. 13 organized and assigned to quarters
1906   Earthquake or Fire damage to the firehouse, $2,000
1917   Converted to motorized apparatus
1918   August 15th, Battalion 6 organized and assigned to quarters
1941   November 1st, Battalion 6 relocated to the quarters of Engine Co. No. 7, 3160 – 16th Street
1941   November 1st, Division 3, commanded by an Assistant Chief, is organized and assigned to quarters
1954   October 14th, Division 3 relocated to the quarters of Engine Co. No. 10, 2300 Folsom Street
1958 February 7th, Engine Co. No. 13 relocated to new quarters at 3880 – 26th Street
1959   Sold at a City & County of San Francisco public auction

Experiences Engine Company #13. 1458 Valencia St. San Francisco

On the morning of the earthquake April 18th, 1906, our Company first removed the horses and apparatus to a place of safety in the street, from where we responded to a still alarm at 22nd & Mission Sts. Arriving there we found Lippman’s Drygoods Store on fire, and took the hydrant on the corner of Bartlett & 22nd Sts., but could get no water; therefore we canvassed the neighborhood testing all hydrants but were not successful in obtaining water until we reached Valencia & 22nd Sts. We worked under directions of Battalion Chief McKittrick and with the aid of other Companies were able to extinguish this fire at 12 M, April 18th, 1906.

Our next move was to Hayes Valley where we reported to Chief Dougherty who sent us to Laguna & Oak Sts., but finding three engines in line from that hydrant we searched the neighborhood for water but were unable to obtain any. Battalion Chief Dolan directed us to the corner of Gough and Eddy Sts. and in connection with Engine Company #24, we led a line to the corner of Gough & Grove Sts., fighting the fire at that point under command of Battalion Maxwell. We fought the fire in this vicinity for sixteen hours finally saving the corner of Gough & Golden Gate Ave.

On April 19th, at about 4 A. M. we were ordered to Fifteenth & Shotwell Sts., reporting to Battalion Chief McKittrick. We were able to save the East side of Shotwell St., north of Fifteenth St. and worked in this vicinity until three P. M. of April 19th, 1906. Finding water at Fifteenth & Valencia Sts., we led down to Mission St., fighting the fire at that point, but finding the pressure inadequate we removed to Eighteenth & Howard Sts., connecting with a broken main.

We next endeavored to obtain water at Church & Twentieth Sts., but finding other Companies in line at this point, we assisted in this vicinity until the fire was extinguished on Twentieth St. We were finally ordered to our quarters at 11 A. M. April 20th, 1906, having been in duty 53 hours.

S. & P.

(signed) Daniel Newell, Capt

(From the UC Berkeley Library Archives of there 1906 Fire and Earthquake)

Film Vaults of the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on November 7, 2013

Nov 072013

245-259 Hyde Street
The Tenderloin

I have driven by this area with these stunning Art Deco/Art Moderne buildings all in a row, and never pursued the history. An evening of beers at the Brown Jug with Mark Ellinger and my eyes were opened.

Originally theaters purchased the films they showed their patrons. Then Harry, Herbert and Earle C. Miles, San Francisco brothers, realized there was a business in buying films in bulk and renting them to movie houses. Their original distribution centers were on Market Street/Golden Gate Avenue.

Inside these four buildings were film vaults with thick concrete walls and big iron doors with elaborate sprinkler and ventilation systems. The reason is, the original films were highly flammable nitrate-based. Movie theaters frequently caught fire because of these flammable films, even more reason for a delivery system. In the 1950’s a less flammable form of acetate based film, actually called safety film, came into existence.

The first building of the series is the MGM Film Vault, distinguished by the MGM Lion.

These four buildings are built on two lots. The MGM and the Comedy and Tragedy buildings were on one lot (255-259) and the brown building and the blue building hidden behind the tree were on a second (245-251). These now all sit on one lot.

According to Mark’s article at Found in SF the original owners of the corner building were the Bell Brothers in 1930 and then Frank and Ida Onorato in 1947.

Until the end of the 1980s, businesses along this stretch of Hyde Street and around the corner on Golden Gate Avenue included Wally Heider Studios (now Hyde Street Studios), Monaco Labs and Leo Diner Films—a recording studio and motion picture labs/post-production facilities that, with the advent of acetate-based Kodacolor and black-and-white reversal motion picture film in the early 1950s, had taken over film exchange buildings.

The architects were O’Brien Brothers and W.D. Peugh (1930). These gentlemen worked together on several buildings in San Francisco including the Art Deco Title Insurance Company Building on Montgomery Street, where you can read about their long history with San Francisco.

These buildings housed 20th Century Fox, Loews, and United Artists film exchanges as well.

Mid Market Sees Black and White

Posted by Cindy on April 8, 2013

Apr 082013

1125 Market Street
Mid Market Area

This piece is a collaboration of Cannon Dill and Feral Child. Cannon Dill is from Mill Valley and presently lives in Oakland. Feral Child is a California based artist who has been working in the streets for the past five years. Influenced by folk art, activism, and the geometry within nature.

These two have been collaborating around the bay area lately with a artist well known to this website, Zio Ziegler.

Fire at Fire Station #24

Posted by Cindy on December 4, 2012

Dec 042012

100 Hoffman
Castro/Cole Valley

Fire by Jaap (Jacob) Bongers – 1993

Jaap Bongers was born in Stein, Holland and studied at the Jan Van Eyck Academie of Fine Arts and the Stadsacademie of Fine Arts, both in Maastricht, Holland. In addition to his travels to Africa, Bongers also visited the United States for the first time in 1985 and settled permanently in San Jose in 1987.

This piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Art Commission for $14,000.

The words are ways to say fire in several other languages.

Api – Indonesian
Apoy – Ilocano/Filipino
Feu-French
Feuer-German
Fuego-Spanish
Fuoco Italian
Hapuy-MalayoPolynesian
Ignis – Latin
Lume – Galician
Moto – Swahili/Shona (Bantu)
Uguns – Latvian
Vatra – Serbian
Vuur – Dutch

Honoring San Francisco Vets

Posted by Cindy on November 11, 2012

Nov 112012

Tenderloin

Shannon Alley

between Geary and O’Farrell

These murals were done in 2011 around Veterans Day. They are part of the SF Vets Mural Project. According to their website: The alley will contain murals painted by veterans which will tell their story. The significance of this alley is that the art regarding veterans is very often done by artists that are not veterans. This alley will give veterans a permanent voice and presence within the community. The SF veterans alley will work with all veterans regardless of discharge status, gender, sexual orientation, theater of conflict or time period served. Any veteran worldwide will have an opportunity to propose and paint their own mural in this alley.

Apparently this alley was chosen because it was where vets come to shoot up.

This mural is titled “Torn Constitution” It is by Randy L. Figures USS San Jacinto Desert Storm Crew.

This mural, titled Wage Slave was done by Bryon Parker and LN, KS and DM.

And the lucky few go home by Reuben Santos

At dusk he stood

highlighted as he dragged his cigarette

smoke and ash swayed

thunder flash white

a protective arm cradled his head

he got up, stunned and staggered

and ran way

“Medic” was all he yelled

we are away

as he screams

we checked machine guns

rotated turrets

and looked for signs from our attacker

I am away

away on a Mission

in the compound

run to aid the fallen

and he screamed

the medics cut his clothes

they pick shards from his back

each pick a wince

dust cleared,

and only one was not standing

two medics on either side of him

they sway with his sway

as his back is draped in a red cape

and I watched

and I watch perched

and everything slips away

The last panel reads:
Veterans are the light at the tip of the candle, illuminating the way for the whole nation. If Veterans can achieve awareness, transformation, understanding and peace, they can share with the rest of society the realities of war. And they can teach us how to make peace with ourselves and each other, so we never have to use violence to resolve conflicts again. Thicht Nhat Hanh

The local television station ran a great program about this area, if you would like to view that you can click here.

The Great White Way

Posted by Cindy on November 9, 2012

Nov 092012

My interest in the revitalization of Market Street came about when I wrote this piece for Untapped Cities about the Hibernia Bank Building.

A friend who has a wonderful website about the architecture of Mid Market and other areas of San Francisco, titled Up From The Deep, introduced me to this project, and I feel so passionately about it and its success that I would like everyone to take the time to view the video, go to the website, and please, if you can, donate to the cause.

This is the purpose of the project

“In San Francisco, an unusual coalition of artists, city officials, property owners and residents is working together to reverse a 50 year decline of the once “Great White Way of San Francisco”. While many cities have attempted to revitalize neighborhoods through the convergence of arts and technology, few have been successful at doing so while preserving their unique cultures.

Will this revitalization unwittingly open the door to gentrification and displace the current low-income residents? Will the reality of pricing people out defeat the promise of lifting people up? Can political and ideological enemies put aside past differences and work together to make real change? Our film, 5 Blocks, is a journey through the trials and tribulations of a community struggling to transform itself from “skid row” to the promise and hope of a vibrant neighborhood.

As artists, we are keenly interested in the role that arts can make in transforming lives. This project follows a large-scale attempt to use the arts to transform an entire neighborhood, an ambitious and daunting task. This may be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to revitalize this gritty neighborhood and, therefore, to document the process. The lessons learned, whether through success or failure, can serve as a model for other communities across the globe.

Through the process, we share the stories of the people who currently live and work in the neighborhood, people whose voices aren’t usually part of high-level conversations concerning their fate. It is vital to capture this story now, during the messy, difficult discussions about change, and while tentative first steps are taken.”

Artists that are participating in this project are:

Patricia Araujo. Araujo has been familiar with SoMa, since she’s been painting San Francisco’s central city architecture for over a decade, addressing the themes of urban growth and decay. Her work has been collected in two books “SOMA Rising” and her latest “The City from SOMA Grand” which is the feature of a current exhibit at SOMA Grand that is running through December 15th.

Ronnie Goodman. After a 10-year sentence for first-degree burglary at San Quentin State Prison, Goodman, 51, came back to San Francisco, where he’d grown up, and found his way to Central City Hospitality House, which offers art programs for the poor and afflicted. His block prints have been displayed in galleries around town.

Mark Ellinger. Is my friend and an amazing photographer of the slowly dying architecture that made this city great.

Wendy MacNaughton. Wendy’s home town is San Francisco. She’s written advertising copy, designed humanitarian campaigns in Kenya and Rwanda, produced a film in The Democratic Republic Congo, sold used books, counseled survivors of torture, served as a social worker and non-profit advertising campaign director. She created and illustrated the national campaign for the first democratic elections in Rwanda.Wendy received degrees in art and social work from Art Center College of Design and Columbia University, respectively.

Goddess of Democracy

Posted by Cindy on November 6, 2012

Nov 062012

Portsmouth Square
Chinatown

During China’s 1989 Tianamen Square protests, when hope for sought-after reforms seemed to be fading, artist activists unveiled a 33-ft. tall paper mache and foam sculpture of the “Goddess of Democracy.” The statue, in the tradition of other giant torch-brandishing women, became an icon for the Democratic Movement, though it was demolished by government troops only five days after its appearance.

Not surprisingly, replicas and tributes to the figure cropped up in other countries. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, a 10-ft. tall bronze version on a granite base was dedicated in 1994. The work was created by sculptor Thomas Marsh from the San Francisco Academy of Art, with the assistance of a group of anonymous Chinese students and other volunteers.

Thomas Marsh was born in Cherokee, Iowa in 1951. He received a BFA in painting from Layton School of Art in Milwaukee Wisconsin and an MFA in sculpture from CSU Long Beach. He is a classic figurative sculptor.

The Jungle on Clarion Alley

Posted by Cindy on November 3, 2012

Nov 032012

Clarion Alley
The Mission

This gorgeous woman is by BODE. This mural is in Clarion Alley in the Mission District.

Clarion Alley runs just south of 17th Street from Mission to Valencia.

CAMP, or the Clarion Alley Mural Project originated in 1982, inspired by San Francisco’s Balmy Avenue just down the street. None of the artists that formed CAMP had participated in the Balmy Alley project, nor did any of them have any background in mural projects. There is no theme to the alley or what artists are allowed to paint. Once an artist is given space, and as long as it is maintained it pretty much belongs to the artist. There is a committee that notifies the artist if the mural has been tagged or defaced.

The Clarion Alley area has an ethnically diverse set of residents and owners, but it is also the site of serious drug dealing and substance abuse, and is frequently used as an outdoor toilet. Although Clarion opens onto Valencia Street directly across from a new district police station, that has had no impact on the alley’s illicit users.

It was hoped that if the alley became the site of artwork which brought visitors, then its “inhabitants” would be inclined to go elsewhere to defecate and shoot up, there is some indication that this is happening, but not fully.

Mark Bode is the son of legendary Vaughn Bode, and is a prolific and highly successful artist in his own right.

Sirron Norris Paints Calumet

Posted by Cindy on October 22, 2012

Oct 222012

As you can see, this piece by Sirron Norris is huge.

This is what Sirron had to say about the piece before it began. (The scaffolding came down on August 31st).

This mural will be funded by Calumet and will be a collaboration with Precita Eyes (www.precitaeyes.org)and the 3.9 art collective (www.threepointninecollective.com).

My hope with this project, is to reach out to other artists and arts organizations in my community through collaboration. I also want to inspire my interns and give them one of the biggest challenges in their artistic life. On a personal note: this will be one for the books and will push my talent and experience to it’s fullest. I know the team I have at the gallery and the invaluable experience Precita eyes has, will help accomplish this massive undertaking. Keep posted for updates as we move closer to starting.

MURAL UPDATE: SF master muralists Jet Martinez & Apex will join us on the Calumet mural project!

Sirron Norris was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Sirron traveled extensively through out the United States, eventually settling down in San Francisco in 1997. Initially, Sirron worked as a production artist in the video game industry while he perfected his skill set as a fine artist. In 1999, Sirron quickly gained notoriety from his first showing at The Luggage Store, a well-known leader in the “mission school “ art movement. Shortly thereafter, Sirron received his first artist in residence from the De Young Museum. That year, Sirron’s career propelled into the limelight and today is known as one of San Francisco’s most notable artists.

Here is a great video of Sirron and this particular piece.

The Presidio Pet Cemetery

Posted by Cindy on September 10, 2012

Sep 102012

Presidio
McDowell and Crissy Field Avenues

This military pet cemetery is a hidden treasure of San Francisco. If you are in the area when construction of Doyle Drive is completed, have a stroll, it is a really sweet place to wander.

Surrounded by a white picket fence and shaded by Monterey pines, the pet cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of loyal animals owned by families stationed at the Presidio. Most of the grave markers mimic those found in military cemeteries and sometimes reflect the pets’ military lifestyle—listing birthplaces including China, England, Australia, and Germany. Many markers also include family names and owners’ ranks, which include majors, colonels, and generals. Others contain only a simple epitaph, such as “A GI pet. He did his time.” As in many military cemeteries, there are also markers to several “unknowns”.

Grave markers in the pet cemetery date back to the 1950’s, when the Presidio was home to approximately 2,000 army families. Though there are no official records regarding the site, some credit authorization of the pet cemetery to Lt. General Joseph M. Swing, who was the commander of the Presidio at the time. In any case, there are numerous legends surrounding the cemetery, which some believe was originally a burial ground for nineteenth-century cavalry horses or World War II guard dogs

During the 1970’s, the pet cemetery fell into disrepair. Legend has it that an anonymous former Navy man became the unofficial caretaker in those years and repaired the deteriorating headstones and repainted the fence. It is believed that he placed the military-style cautionary sign seen at the cemetery entrance. Today, the pet cemetery is officially closed to new interments.

Doyle Drive is the multilane elevated freeway that rises above the former Presidio Army Base to shuttle motorists from the streets of the city to the foot of the bridge. Built in the 1930s, at the same time as the Golden Gate Bridge, Doyle Drive is now a seismic hazard, so it is being completely rebuilt. But the new construction intersects with the pet cemetery so, to preserve the site, the cemetery has been fenced off. A sign placed at the entrance says that the “Presidio Parkway project is taking special care to protect the beloved pet cemetery, which has been designated an environmentally sensitive area and is maintained as an important cultural landmark. The pet cemetery is situated directly below the new, southbound bridge currently under construction. In order to protect graves like those of Willie the hamster and Buddy the bird, falsework (temporary structure used to build the new bridge) has been installed to span the entire length of the cemetery to support the long span span, 105-foot-long beams were placed across the cemetery and covered to prevent any debris from entering.” Sadly, a lot of damage was done by the construction before these steps were taken, I do hope when the project is over, attention will be paid to restoring this little hidden treasure of San Francisco history for all to enjoy.

Fire creates Firehouse Art

Posted by Cindy on September 5, 2012

Sep 052012

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 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 .

Arnold Genthe’s Photography at CCSF Chinatown Campus

Posted by Cindy on August 28, 2012

Aug 282012

Washington and Kearny
Chinatown

Diligence is the path

Up the mountain of knowledge

Hard work is the boat

Across the endless sea of learning

This is the Washington street side of the new Chinatown campus of San Francisco City College. This particular window is the library. The archival photograph is by San Franciscan Arnold Genthe. This young immigrant girl in traditional Chinese dress gazing out at the city is the cover photograph for the book Genthe’s Photographs of San Francisco’s Old Chinatown.

She is framed by a couplet, in English and in Chinese calligraphy, metaphorically extolling the cultural virtues diligence and hard work as the “path up the mountain of knowledge and the boat across the endless sea of learning.” For years this poem has been displayed on the student bulletin board at the Filbert campus, but no one is quite sure of its origin.

Genthe’s autobiography, As I Remember (1936), is the chief source of information about his life. In it, Genthe recounts a cosmopolitan upbringing in Berlin, Frankfurt, Korbach, and Hamburg. His father, Hermann Genthe, was a professor of Latin and Greek and, later in life, founded and served as director of a gymnasium or preparatory school.

Under his father’s tutelage, young Arnold grew up well versed in topics from poetry to classical literature

In 1895 he accepted an offer to tutor the young son of Baron F. Heinrich von Schroeder when the family moved to San Francisco. Thus began a new life for Genthe in America.

Genthe’s first photographs were made while in the employ of the von Schroeders to illustrate his letters home.

Genthe became involved in photography at a crucial juncture in the history of the medium. The introduction of the hand-held camera and easier methods for development and printing encouraged many people to try photography.

Genthe opened his first portrait photography studio in San Francisco in 1898 and became very active in the city’s cultural and social milieu. At the socially prominent Bohemian Club, he mingled with artists, writers, theater people, community and business leaders, and entertained famous out-of-town visitors. Through contacts at the illustrated weekly The Wave, he met Frank Norris, Jack London, and Mary Austen.

Even as the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed Genthe’s studio, equipment, books, and art collection, he used a borrowed camera to document the events as they unfolded. Genthe and Ashton Stevens, drama critic for the San Francisco Examiner, toured the ruins with visiting celebrity Sarah Bernhardt.

Intrigued by San Francisco’s Chinatown, he shot a series of photographs documenting life there before the destruction of the city in 1906. About 200 photographs in the series survive.

Dancing Dahlias on Claude Lane

Posted by Cindy on August 27, 2012

Aug 272012

8 Claude Lane

Union Square/Financial District

This mural, (on the outside of Claudine Restaurant) is by Vogue TDK. According to an interview he did with 1:AM he got into graffiti in late 1984, after school, I turned on the TV to the local PBS station and caught the start of the documentary “Style Wars”. There was a scene where there was a MTA train moving down the tracks, then the train curves to show some graff and that was it. I was hooked and knew that is what I was going to do.

As far as why he is the artist he is today: I always did some sort of art throughout school. With the help of my parents, after graduating high school, I attended Academy of Arts in San Francisco, majoring in graphic design. After two years of that, I switched majors to illustration for another two years. During my schooling at the Academy, I incorporated my spray painting in both my homework and random jobs. A lot of what I learned at school translated on to the constant painting I did at the 23rd Oakland tracks. On the flip side, what I learned from my fellow graff peers and what I learned on my own also started appearing in my schoolwork.

The mural that flows to the interior of the restaurant is by Leon Loucheur, who is responsible for the Make Moves mural in SOMA. Leon is part of the Chamber Made Group.

Muni brings art to an industrial building

Posted by Cindy on August 25, 2012

Aug 252012

700 Pennsylvania

Potrero Hill

The Muni Ways and Structures Facility is located at 700 Pennsylvania Street at the base of Potrero Hill. The facility centralizes several Muni functions, including, among others, a machine shop, welding, carpentry, painting, and locksmith. Although the size and shape of the complex is unchanged from its former role as an overhead-door factory, it has been given a colorful new life through the work of San Francisco artist Robert Catalusci. The exterior walls are now painted ox-blood red and graphite with silver and copper-green accents. In addition to custom paint design, the artist designed massive steel gates and four 18-square-foot sculptural panels over the building’s four roll-up doors. The three-dimensional ‘waffle’ pattern of the gates and panels is painted in high-gloss silver that is slightly reflective so that the structures appear to change with the light throughout the day.

Catalusci’s gate and panel designs and bold paint application were inspired by the industrial and transportation orientation of the complex. He selected color to symbolize the ethnic diversity of the design team and Muni workers. For instance, he chose red as the color of international workers, and graphite and silver for their associations with industry and metal work. The artist worked in tandem with city architects, in particular Howard Wong, AIA, and the rest of the design and construction team throughout the five-year renovation project. In addition to the custom paint design, Catalusci, who hails from a family of builders, drafted plans for the huge gates and produced final drawings.

As a fine artist, Catalusci usually creates multi-media and large-scale three-dimensional sculpture based on architecture. He holds a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute and has exhibited regionally, in several private venues and at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery and the Capp Street Project.

Robert Catalusci’s work on the design and construction of the 700 Pennsylvania Muni Ways and Structures Facility was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The commission is a result of the city’s percent for art ordinance, which provides for an art allocation of 2% of the cost of construction of new or renovated city structures.

Joseph B. Strauss, Golden Gate Bridge Engineer

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2012

Aug 242012

Golden Gate Bridge

Joseph Strauss (1870-1938) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an artistic family of German origin, having a mother who was a pianist and a father, Raphael Strauss, who was a writer and painter. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1892. Strauss graduated with a degree in economics and business.

He was hospitalized while in college and his hospital room overlooked the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. This sparked his interest in bridges. Upon graduating from the University of Cincinnati, Strauss worked at the Office of Ralph Modjeski, a firm which specialized in building bridges. At that time, bascule bridges were built with expensive iron counterweights. He proposed using cheaper concrete counterweights in place of iron. When his ideas were rejected, he left the firm and started his own firm, the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago, where he revolutionized the design of bascule bridges.

Strauss was a prolific engineer, constructing some 400 drawbridges across the U.S. He dreamed of building “the biggest thing of its kind that a man could build.” In 1919, San Francisco’s city engineer, Michael O’Shaughnessy, approached Strauss about bridging the Golden Gate, the narrow, turbulent passage where San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. Strauss caught fire with the idea, campaigning tirelessly over the next decade to build the bridge. He faced enormous opposition from the “Old Guard” — environmentalists, ferry operators, city administrators, and even the engineering community. Yet in November 1930, a year into the Great Depression, voters at last supported a bond issue for Strauss’ bridge. The ambitious project finally had its green light. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened to the public. Returning to his other great love, poetry, Strauss composed verse for the occasion, exulting, “At last, the mighty task is done.” It would be the last mighty task of his life. Exhausted, Strauss moved to Arizona to recover. Within a year, he would die of a stroke. – The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley

Strauss alienated many people in his quest to build the structure — his first suspension bridge. Obsessed with claiming credit as the span’s creator, he minimized the acknowledgement given to Charles Ellis and Leon Moissieff, the two visionaries who actually worked out the significant engineering challenges of building the bridge. Strauss’ detractors blocked the statue of the chief engineer proposed for the bridge plaza; his widow would eventually fund its creation in 1941, inscribing it, “Joseph B. Strauss, 1870-1938, ‘The Man Who Built the Bridge.'”

The sculptor for the statue was Frederick W. Schweigardt. Born in Lorch, Germany on May 3, 1885. Schweigardt studied at the Munich and Stuttgart Academies and with Auguste Rodin in Paris. He immigrated to America in 1930 and the following year settled in San Francisco. He was active in San Diego during the time of the California Pacific Exposition in 1935. He died on Sept. 21, 1948 while visiting in Albany, NY.

The sculpture itself is bronze and stands 7 feet tall, it was done for a commission of $10,000.

Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library

Newscopy: STATUE TO STRAUSS–Mrs. Annette Strauss today pulled the strings that unveiled a memorial statue of her late husband, Joseph B. Strauss, who designed and built the Golden Gate Bridge. The statue stands at the toll plaza between two pillars overlooking the Golden Gate. It was executed by Frederick W. Schweigardt, San Francisco sculptor.”.

The bridge plaza was remodeled and upgraded for the Golden Gate Bridges 75th Anniversary. There is now a new Bridge Pavilion and new Cable Overlook, (named for an impressive sample of the cable of this suspension bridge). There’s a new main plaza leading out to the relocated statue of Joseph Strauss. Down from the plaza are other view terraces, one of which incorporates part of the c.1902 Lancaster battery structure, a reminder of when this was a military installation. The Bridge Round House (a restaurant until the ’70s) and the 1938 Bridge Cafe were both restored as well.

San Francisco’s Fire Chiefs House

Posted by Cindy on August 23, 2012

Aug 232012

870 Bush Street

In Memorium

Dennis T Sullivan

1838-1906

By fire shall hearts be proven, lest virtue’s gold grow dim, and his by fire was tested, in life’s ordeal of him. Now California renders the laurels that we won “dead on the field of Honor” her hero and her son.

Dennis T. Sullivan was the revered chief engineer of the San Francisco Fire Department at the time of the Great Earthquake and Fire. He was at the Chief’s Quarters, 410 Bush Street, during the disaster, and was mortally injured when he fell through the floor and into the cellar. According to eyewitnesses, brick chimneys and the dome of the California Hotel crashed 60 feet through the adjoining fire station, which housed Chemical Company No. 3, as well as Chief Engineer Sullivan and his wife Margaret.

Sullivan lingered near death for four days and finally died at the Presidio’s U.S. Army General Hospital, where he was taken when the Southern Pacific Company Hospital at Fourteenth and Mission streets was evacuated because of the fire.

City Architect John Reid Jr. designed the new Fire Chief’s residence in the 1920’s to look like a firehouse. San Francisco was the country’s first city to have a separate building for its chief. It is now Official City Landmark No. 42.

According to the San Francisco Municipal Record of October 1925:

Some time after Chief Sullivan’s death a fund of more than $15,000 was raised by subscription to build some sort of a memorial to his memory. It was placed out at interest owing to the fact that the trustees of the fund were unable to agree upon what sort of a memorial should be built.

For several years the matter of building a home for the Fire Chief in the place of temporary shack that had been provided after the fire of 1906 by the City on Willow avenue, an alley west of Van Ness avenue, had been under discussion. The matter had been delayed owing to differences of opinion as to a location for the home, and the further fact that, owing to the very great advance in the cost of building material, an appropriation of $15,000, provided by the Supervisors, had become wholly inadequate for a building in this district, which was within the fire limits and was required to be of fire-proof construction.

At this juncture and after two appropriations had been made for two succeeding years in the annual budgets, and when hope that the building would ever be erected was almost despaired of, the trustees of the Sullivan Memorial Fund decided to assist in the building of the home and that is should be known as the Sullivan Memorial. The original amount of the Sullivan subscription had been increased, through the interest earned, to almost $20,000 and, together with the $15,000 provided by the Supervisors, was sufficient to build the home shown in the accompanying picture.

The plaque was designed by M. Earl Cummings whose work can be found all over San Francisco.

San Francisco Municipal Record:

On either side are two bronze doors which swing open and which enclose the garage in which the automobiles of the Chief stand always in readiness. The door to the right of the picture is the entrance leading up to the home itself, which is located on the second and third stories. On the ground floor at the left of the building is a window of the room for the Fire Chief’s operators. There are three beds in the room, and other conveniences for the men, who sleep there, one man always being on duty. The house is connected directly with the Central Fire Alarm Station.

The present fire chief does not occupy the house.

Professor Wangari Maathi

Posted by Cindy on August 22, 2012

Aug 222012

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 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.

Get your insane Cheesburger here

Posted by Cindy on August 20, 2012

Aug 202012

7th and Mission

SOMA

This hamburger, and many others around town, are by Steel. He is a man in the pursuit of a good time. He enjoys good jokes, good friends and good cheeseburgers. In his spare time he does artwork in San Francisco and anywhere he travels.

Another of his talents is designing hats. Check out his “Murder at Midnight” at Goorin Brothers. Murder at Midnight is part of the 1331 Minna Line of hats by Goorin Brothers.

The 1333 Minna Line is a limited edition artist line founded in San Francisco. The collection began with a few local artist partnering and has now expanded to a universal roster of illustrators, tattooers, graffiti writers, painters, designers and photographers. The principles of community and collaboration are found in every piece.

Herakut and Rusk Paint the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on August 16, 2012

Aug 162012

The Tenderloin / Polk Gulch

Hemlock and Polk

The area under this fire escape in Hemlock Alley has been the home to many worldwide known graffiti artists. Roa was featured here not too long ago.

This piece is by Arkut, Hera (who often paint as Herakut) and Rusk, all from Germany.

HERA, 27 years of age, born in Frankfurt, is looking back on a straight and classic art education with taking lessons from old weirdo artists, starting from when she was eight. That plus her never-ending years of studying Graphic Design account for her preferences today: she says, she would rather paint in the rain than do work at a desk. Even though that kind of weather might get you sick and makes it hard to foresee the final result of your piece because it keeps washing all pigments off the wall – it is still better than doing some tedious office work.

AKUT, 31 years, decided to take a ride when the graffiti wave reached his hometown Schmalkalden. Together with CASE, TASSO and RUSK, he formed the MA’CLAIM Crew, which is nowadays worldwide renowned for their photorealistic style in graffiti. AKUT studied Visual Communications at the Bauhaus University in Weimar.

RUSK is from Berlin.

MA’CLAIM has a wonderful blog if you are interested in seeing other works.

Stylefile interviewed Arkut and Hera, the interview is very enlightening and what I found interesting is that Hera mentioned that she was especially fond of Os Gemeos, whose work you can see here.

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