Mission Cultures Mosaics

 Posted by on August 10, 2012
Aug 102012
 
The Mission District
Start on Hoff and 16th cross the Street and continue on Julian
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Gold Rush
Low Riders
 Immigration
 Asian Influence
 Carnival
These panels were done in 2001 by students participating in the St. John’s Educational Thresholds, Panel Project as part of the Urban Artworks program.
They represent various parts of Mission District heritage and culture.
In 2008, after 35 years, St John’s Education Threshold Center changed its name to Mission Graduates.  Mission Graduates is a nonprofit organization that increases the number of K-12 students in San Francisco’s Mission District who are prepared for and complete a college education.

I Can Cheezburger’s Invisible Bike

 Posted by on August 9, 2012
Aug 092012
 
Chinatown
End of Quincy Street
 Josh Zubkoff’s Invisible Bike
This was taken right after the piece was finished in 2008

This is the image the mural originated from.  It is from Ben Hu’s blog I can Cheezburger

Josh graduated in 2003 from UC Santa Barbara, with a B.A. in Studio Art.  He is presently a system administrator with AdInfuse in San Francisco.

His website shows the vast array of mediums he enjoys working in.  Josh documented a goodly portion of what was going on from beginning to end on his blog.  You have to scroll through quite a bit, but it is actually very, very funny and worth the read.

 

Gigantes in the Mission

 Posted by on August 3, 2012
Aug 032012
 
The Mission District
San Carlos and 19th
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All of us are equal
Some of us grow up to be Giants…
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This mural is by Precita Eyes.  This is the description of the mural from their website:
The “Gigantes” mural project can be read in three concepts; History, Community, and the Future. It features Hispanic players, two of whom are Hall of Famers. Historically, the Giants have been a significant landmark for San Francisco, the Bay Area, and the community of fans who surround them. For this reason the mural includes all four stadiums to represent the four stages of Giants history in placement of the bases on a baseball diamond that stretches from one end of the mural to the other.

Beginning from the left in New York’s Polo Grounds, the mural shows a line of pitchers as follows: Juan Marchal, Gaylord Perry, and a pitcher from the Women’s League who’s been converted to a Giants player.

At the far right, framing the mural on the opposite side of “the pitch” is Giant hitter Orlando Cepeda. Will Clark hits the home run blast to the left of Cepeda in an earthquake shaken Candlestick Park at the” Battle of the Bay” in 1989.

Other Hall of Famers included in the mural from left to right are: Willie Mays, “The Catch” (in New York), JT Snow (showing some fan appreciation), Barry Bonds (hitting the 756), Willie McCovey and the Alou brothers. The team mascot is Lucille the Seal representing the days when the Giants played in Seal Stadium. Lucille is dressed in a serape and sombrero, holding a maraca to celebrate the Hispanic flavor of the mural.

The Giants community is scattered throughout the mural from the fans to the different stadiums throughout history. Because the mural is being created in the Mission District and home to many Giants fans, the mural also features the Mission Reds, the minor league team from the Mission who played at the Seals Stadium in the 1920’s and 30’s. To the right, between Candlestick and Pac Bell Parks, the skyline of San Francisco embraces a few of the Mission District landmarks such as Mission Dolores, the New Mission Theater marquee and palm trees.

“Vamos Gigantes” (Go Giants) hovers above Seals Stadium and into the Mission, representing the saying, which Hispanic fans have come to use throughout the years.

The future of the Giants is celebrated by the fans, some of which are families and friends. A coach and Jr. Giants’ teammates congratulate their team player with cheers as she hits a winning ball.

The “blast” home run ball hit by Clark is representative of baseball as the fabric of America which weaves into our culture. The ball begins at the hit and moves across the entire mural in a pattern unifying players, fans, the 756 ball, stadiums, and future Giants, morphing into the world and ending with Mays’ famous catch.

San Francisco’s Wave Organ

 Posted by on July 25, 2012
Jul 252012
 
Yacht Road
Marina Green
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The View towards the wave organ from Marina Green
Looking back towards downtown and Fort Mason from the Wave Organ
The Golden Gate Bridge from the Wave Organ
Palace of Fine Arts and the San Francisco Yacht Club, view from the Wave Organ
The Wave Organ is an exhibit of the Exploratorium.  It is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture developed by Peter Richards and was installed in collaboration with sculptor and master stonemason George Gonzales. Inspiration for the piece came from artist Bill Fontana’s recordings made of sounds emanating from a vent pipe of a floating concrete dock in Sydney, Australia.

In 1980, Richards (a Senior Artist at the Exploratorium for many years) received a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that enabled him to conduct an extensive period of investigation into the physicality of the Wave Organ phenomenon.

The Wave Organ is located on a jetty that forms the small Boat Harbor in the Marina district of San Francisco, walking distance from the Exploratorium. The jetty itself was constructed with material taken from Laurel Hill Cemetery, providing a wonderful assortment of carved granite and marble, which was used in the construction of this piece. The installation includes 25 organ pipes made of PVC and concrete located at various elevations within the site, allowing for the rise and fall of the tides. Sound is created by the impact of waves against the pipe ends and the subsequent movement of the water in and out of the pipes. The sound heard at the site is subtle, requiring visitors to become sensitized to its music, and at the same time to the music of the environment. The Wave Organ sounds best at high tide.

Laurel Hill Cemetery also called Lone Mountain: A “who’s who” of early San Francisco occupied the guest list of the “silent city” including: Andrew Halladie, the inventor of the cable car; David Broderick, the popular US senator, who was killed in a duel at Lake Merced by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court; James King of William, whose assassination resurrected the Vigilantes in 1856; Senators Latham, Baker, Sharon, Fair and even Napoleon’s son.

Classical marble tombs and elaborate monuments glorified the affluent departed while a more humble section was reserved for the poor. A vault in the cemetery was devoted to the Chinese, but when “the Chinese must go!” movement gathered steam in 1870s, it was “bespattered with mud and filth, battered with stones and sometimes defaced in a most irreverent manner. The animosity that people bear towards the living, seems to extend even beyond the grave.”

Until Golden Gate Park came of age, Lone Mountain Cemetery served as a park where families would picnic and young couples would promenade among the dead.

Lone Mountain Cemetery was so successful that during the 1860s three other cemeteries were developed to the south, on the slopes adjacent to Lone Mountain. To avoid confusion, it made sense that Lone Mountain Cemetery, which was not located on Lone Mountain, changed its name to Laurel Hill in 1867.    Western Neighborhood Projects

San Francisco, like many major cities, has no cemeteries within the city limits.  This was due to health considerations in the early part of the 20th century.  The history of the removal of Laurel Hill Cemetery was especially contentious, and if you are interested, there is an interesting article about its history at SF Genealogy.

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San Francisco’s Holocaust Memorial

 Posted by on July 24, 2012
Jul 242012
 
Land’s End
Legion of Honor
Holocaust Memorial by George Segal

Time has taken its’ toll on this memorial.  The hand on the man above was not to touch the wire as they were electrified.

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This memorial shows ten figures sprawled, recalling post-war photographs of the camps.  Placement of this work was controversial.  The choice to look over such a truly beautiful landscape recalling death in a rather graphic way was not acceptable to many.  The artist however, insisted that the viewer might consider death while facing towards the monument and life while facing towards the Golden Gate.
Segal’s work is executed in bronze and painted white. It has been the subject of grafitti, but Segal mentioned, at a 1998 conference at Notre Dame University, that he did not find this a problem since grafitti was a reminder that problems of prejudice have not been solved.
Segal’s ensemble of bodies is not random. One can find a “Christ-like” figure in the assemblage, reflecting on the Jewishness of Jesus, as well as a woman holding an apple, a reflection on the idea of original sin and the biblical connection between Jews and Christians, and raising the question of this relationship during the Holocaust.
The essential figure of the man standing at the fence is probably derived from Margaret Bourke-White’s famous Life Magazine 1945 photograph of the liberation of Buchenwald.
Another plaster version of Segal’s “The Holocaust” can be found at The Jewish Museum in New York.
George Segal (November 26, 1924 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.
Although Segal started his art career as a painter, his best known works are cast lifesize figures and the tableaux the figures inhabited. In place of traditional casting techniques, Segal pioneered the use of plaster bandages (plaster-impregnated gauze strips designed for making orthopedic casts) as a sculptural medium. In this process, he first wrapped a model with bandages in sections, then removed the hardened forms and put them back together with more plaster to form a hollow shell. These forms were not used as molds; the shell itself became the final sculpture, including the rough texture of the bandages. Initially, Segal kept the sculptures stark white, but a few years later he began painting them, usually in bright monochrome colors. Eventually he started having the final forms cast in bronze, sometimes patinated white to resemble the original plaster.
I am a very big fan of Segal’s work being moved to tears while standing in front of his “Bread Line” sculpture at the FDR Memorial in Washington D.C..

While these are at the Johnson Atelier. Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ so the background is different they are the same figures as the FDR Memorial.

Mural Projects in the Tenderloin

 Posted by on July 23, 2012
Jul 232012
 
The Tenderloin
126 Hyde Street
 This group was shot on May 6, 2012
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True Compassion by Evan Bissell

This temporary mural was created through twelve workshops with local artists about the nature of compassion. The double portraits depict the artists interacting with themselves in a compassionate gesture of their choosing. The portraits will be left untreated and then washed away before a new one is painted each Thursday in chalk pastel by the artist Evan Bissell.

The participants of the workshop painted the medallions that frame the installation. The symbols contrast with the background drawings that represent challenges to our ability to be compassionate on a personal level as as a society.

The mural is made possible by the Intersection for the Arts, Larkin Street Youth Services and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.

Bissell is a 2005 graduate of Wesleyan University with a double major in Painting and American Studies with an Ethnic Studies concentration. He was trained in 2011 as a circle keeper by Sujatha Baliga.

Sujatha Baliga’s work is characterized by an equal dedication to victims and persons accused of crime. Sujatha has worked extensively with victims of domestic violence and child sexual abuse as an advocate and board member for rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters. The convergence of Sujatha’s interest in Tibetan ideals of justice and her work with women accused of killing their abusers drew her to law school and ultimately, criminal defense work. After several years as an appellate public defender in New Mexico and at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City, Sujatha relocated to California in 2006 to work on capital cases.

Qi Lun in Little Saigon, San Francisco

 Posted by on July 20, 2012
Jul 202012
 
Little Saigon
The Tenderloin
Qi Lun by Walter Wong – Marble and Granite 2008

These dragons mark the entrance to a two-block corridor of Larkin Street between Eddy and O’Farrell officially declared Little Saigon in 2004.

There are about 250 Vietnamese American-owned businesses in the Tenderloin and eighty percent of the
businesses on the two blocks of Larkin are owned by Vietnamese Americans

The two granite and marble pillars serve as a symbol of peace, happiness and safety for the Vietnamese that have settled here. Most were refugees fleeing persecution by the Communist government after the 1975 war.

Designed by Walter Wong, the pillars weigh eight tons each and are topped by statues of Qi Lun, mythical creatures that are said to bring peace and prosperity.

“Some people wanted our symbol to be a boat to reflect the refugee experience, but this is a business district,” said Tuongvi Tran, who worked with the project for three years and is the executive director of the Vietnamese Elderly Mutual Assistance Association of San Francisco. “The Qi Lun will bring luck and help (the district) grow.”

The project, which took six years to coordinate, was challenged by an initially nonexistent budget. It was only after the Clean City Coalition granted $76,000 of the $108,000 needed for construction to begin that the ball got rolling. Community fundraising covered the rest of the expenses.

 

 

Miguel Hidalgo in Mission Dolores Park

 Posted by on July 19, 2012
Jul 192012
 
 Mission Dolores Park
The Mission
Miguel Hidalgo – Liberator of Mexico 1810

On the back in the marble is carved:

Monument Presented by
The Mexican Colony
To the City of San Francisco
September 16th, 1962

Below it is a brass plaque that reads

Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla
Father of Mexican Independence
1753-1811
The liberation of Mexico after 300 years of domination by Spain started on September 16, 1810
in the town of Dolores in what is now the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla a priest and other patriots, among whom were Juan Aldama and Ignacio Allende, were at first successful but eventually Miguel Hidalgo was captured and executed. The war continued until its final victory in 1821 under the leadership of Vicente Guerrero and Agustin de Itrubide.
This monument by Juan F. Olaguibel was cast in bronze in Mexico and presented to the City of San Francisco by the Mexican Community September 16, 1963.
Father Hidalgo, who gave his El Grito battle cry in the city of Dolores, Mexico, was executed by Spanish troops before Mexico gained independence. The anniversary is celebrated in Mexico with decorations, and Mexico’s president rings the bell of independence.
“He’s the equivalent of your Abraham Lincoln,” said Mexican Consul General Alfonso de Maria y Campos, who attended the ceremony along with San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who has helped efforts to refurbish the park.
The 43-year-old bronze statue of Hidalgo and the rest of the 13.5-acre park underwent a yearlong restoration to remove garbage and years of graffiti, with $30,000 from the city and $5,000 in donations raised by the Mexican Consulate. Trees were planted, flower beds restored and the statue scrubbed free of paint and pigeon droppings.
Juan Olaguibel 1896-1976 is responsible for one of my favorite public sculptures in Mexico City The Northern Star Shooter also called Diana the Huntress.
Mission Dolores Park is  a 13.7 acre park in the city of San Francisco.  It is undergoing a $13.2 million renovation scheduled to be completed in 2014.

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Liberty Bell of Mission Dolores Park

 Posted by on July 18, 2012
Jul 182012
 
Mission Dolores Park
The Mission
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                                                                                  The plaque reads:
Mexico’s Liberty Bell
(A Replica)

On the early morning of Sunday September 16th a.d. 1810, Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla rang the bell of his church in the town of Dolores, in the now state of Guanajuato calling the people to mass and to bear arms against the Spanish yoke of 300 years. The original bell stands now above the central balcony of the National Palace in the City of Mexico where the president rings it at exactly eleven o’clock in the evening of each September 16th in a traditional ceremony called “El Grito” – The “Cry” of Independence

Plaza and monument presented to the City of San Francisco by Lic. Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, President of the United Mexican States September 16th 1966

On May 17th, 2009 the San Francisco Chronicle ran this interesting article:

This seems like heresy, given the apartment prices around Dolores Park, but that gloriously hip plot of land connecting the Mission District to the Castro neighborhood was once deemed “cheap” enough to house the dead. According to Charles Fracchia, president emeritus of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, when Dolores Park (then Mission Dolores) was purchased by Congregation Sherith Israel for a Jewish cemetery in 1861, the area was “well out of town.” “There were virtually no residences in around the park,” he said.

Like the 15 to 20 other cemeteries in San Francisco, the graves were moved when property values got too high to justify burial grounds. (Parking lots, on the other hand …) After the city of San Francisco bought the land for nearly $300,000 in 1905, Dolores Park was briefly a refugee territory for people stranded by the 1906 earthquake and the accompanying fires.

Nowadays, the park has become the place to enjoy a sunny afternoon in the Mission. As the wide variety of park visitors indicates – from Latino families to young hipsters to Castro gays – it sits at the intersection of a number of San Francisco demographic groups. And it always has. Fracchia says that even while the park’s two statues – one the Mexican liberty bell and the other of Miguel Hidalgo, the George Washington of Mexico – speak to the Latin American heritage of the area, the immediate environs were a haven for the Irish community for much of the first half of the 20th century. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

California Volunteers Memorial on Market Street

 Posted by on July 17, 2012
Jul 172012
 
Market Street at Dolores
Mission/Castro
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California Volunteers by Douglas Tilden – Bronze on a granite base
Dedicated August 12, 1906
Erected by the Citizens of San Francisco
In Honor Of
The California Volunteers
Spanish American War
1898
First to The Front
At the end of the Spanish-American War, when the troops returned, San Franciscans went wild. Sixty-five thousand dollars was raised, $25,000 of which was allocated for a memorial. Douglas Tilden won the national competition. California Volunteers, a bronze work sixteen feet high and ten feet long mounted atop a granite base ten feet high, stands at the corner of Market and Dolores Streets. The monument shows an American soldier, with pointed gun in one hand and a sword in the other, standing over a fallen comrade, a cannon nearby. Above them the goddess of war, Bellona, is astride the winged horse Pegasus.
This sculpture originally sat at the corner of Van Ness and Market but as the city of San Francisco grew, the sculpture had to be moved from its original location. In 1917 it was moved about eleven feet and in 1925 it was moved from Van Ness and Market Streets to Market and Dolores Streets.
It is maintained by the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Tilden remained a recluse for most of his life and died in 1935. In 1987, many of Tilden’s personal artworks were discovered in an abandoned storage facility.

16th and Mission Bart Station

 Posted by on July 14, 2012
Jul 142012
 
The Mission
16th and Mission
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 Palaza del Colibri by Victor Mario Zaballa 2003
Lawrence Berk – Metal Fabricator

Colibri are hummingbirds. They are a medium to large species found in Mexico, and Central and northern South America.

16th Street Mission Station is a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station in the Mission District. It is used by the Richmond–Millbrae line, the Pittsburg/Bay Point – SFO line, the Fremont – Daly City line, and the Dublin/Pleasanton – Daly City line. It is an underground station.

This particular intersection of San Francisco is one of the most crowded and interesting places to visit.  It is not the safest or the cleanest, but you will truly find people from every walk of life, dressed in every imaginable outfit, carrying odd things, playing instruments, selling legal and illegal items, and sometimes just hanging out and catching some sunshine.

Victor Zaballa has other metal work in San Francisco. A prolific and fascinating artist Victor Zaballa is an Aztec originally trained in aeronautical engineering in Mexico City. He has lived and worked in San Francisco for a number of years where he is a popular and respected member of the artist community. He works in every medium including cut paper, painting, tile, steel, wood, and wire sculpture, puppet theater, and music composition, performance and musical instrument invention and construction. His performing group “Obsidian Songs,” has been heard in numerous venues throughout California.  He has had a kidney transplant and is a very loud voice in the Latina community for organ donation and education.

On May 17th 2003 the Plaza was dedicated to Victor Miller (1948-2002) “Founder and publisher of the New Mission New, the voice of the Inner Mission for over 20 years. Victor was a tireless advocate and watchdog for the community whose vision and journalistic skills provided the most perceptive and trustworthy observations of the Mission Neighborhood.”

New Mission News
Comforting the Afflicted and Affecting the Comfortable since 1980

 

Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

 Posted by on July 13, 2012
Jul 132012
 
Lands End
Legion of Honor
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Joan of Arc by Anna Huntington
Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans” is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais, and burned at the stake when she was 19 years old.
Anna Huntington has been on this site before.  This piece was one of her earliest public works, exhibited at the Salon of 1910 in Paris. Several replicas were made, and the statue won Anna the Legion of Honor from the French government. In 1927.

Roald Amundsen at the Beach Chalet

 Posted by on July 7, 2012
Jul 072012
 
Land’s End
Beach Chalet

1000 The Great Highway

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This memorial sits in the parking lot of the Beach Chalet, it has been there since 1930. It marks where Amundsen’s ship, the Gjoa (pronounced “Joe”) was in dry-dock. It had been pulled ashore here in 1909, and placed on dry-dock display. Amundsen donated the ship and the Norweigan community took up a collection to display the ship in the park. Unfortunately, the ship had a rough time and had fallen into disrepair by the 1930s due to vandalism and the elements. The Gjoa Foundation was formed in 1940 to restore her but was thwarted by the outbreak of WWII. A restoration took place in 1949, but a sever gale in 1960 toppled the uppermost part of the mast, and by 1970, years of neglect had taken their toll. In 1972 she was hauled to Pier 48, loaded on a freighter and sent to Oslo, Norway, where she was lovingly resorted and draws thousands of visitors a year.

Roald Amundsen was one of the world’s most important explorers. Between 1903 and 1906 his crew were the first to navigate successfully the Northwest passage, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Along the way Amundsen’s expedition had determined the position of the Magnetic North Pole. And the epic adventure was completed when his 69-foot sailing ship entered San Francisco in 1906. Its arrival was greeted with great celebration and acclaim.

Amundsen later became the first to reach the South Pole, in a larger ship, the Fram, and he was quite a successful lecturer and writer. His scientific contributions and adventures are graphically recounted in such books as the North West Passage (1908), The South Pole (1912), The North East Passage (1918 -1920), Our Polar Flight (1925), First Crossing of the Polar Sea (1927), and My Life As An Explorer (1927) It’s the Northwest Passage journey of the Gjoa, however, that connects Amundsen to San Francisco.

The sculptor was Hans Jauchen, born in Hamburg, Germany of Danish parents who were famous artists themselves. He immigrated to the US in 1910 and began teaching at Stanford, UC Berkeley and other institutions. His studio – Ye Olde Copper Shop – on Sutter street, provided sculpture services, and ornamental bronze and iron works. One of his most notable works is an altar depicting scenes in the life of Christ, commissioned by financier J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr. for his London home.

Beach Chalet Murals Part III

 Posted by on July 6, 2012
Jul 062012
 
Land’s End
The Beach Chalet – Part III
1000 The Great Highway

Lucien Labaudt’s Beach Chalet murals: John McLaren (G.G. Park Superintendent) in left foreground on bench, with Jack Spring (later General Manager of Parks and Rec Dept.) holding redwood tree’s root ball, while behind on horseback (upper right corner) sit sculptor Benny Bufano and Joseph Danysh, then head of California Federal Art Project.

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Labaudt, following the precedent set by many of his era’s fellow artists to include other artists, depicts here Gottardo Piazzoni, a Swiss-Italian muralist who worked in San Francisco during the first two decades of the 20th century.

There are a few monochrome murals under the stairway they are also by Labaudt.

Beach Chalet Murals – Part II

 Posted by on July 5, 2012
Jul 052012
 
Land’s End
The Beach Chalet Part II
1000 The Great Highway
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It was common for WPA muralists to place people they knew or people of note in their work.  Here Lucien Labaudt inserts Arthur Brown Jr.. Brown was the Architect of City Hall (shown over his left shoulder) and architect of Coit Tower, where Labaudt worked as well.

A few scenes from around San Francisco including Japantown.

Beach Chalet Murals

 Posted by on July 4, 2012
Jul 042012
 
Land’s End
The Beach Chalet – Part I
1000 Great Highway

The Beach Chalet has its own fascinating history. This is however, about the WPA work found at the Beach Chalet.

 

 Port Scene by Lucien Labaut -Beach Chalet Murals
Fisherman’s Wharf
A peaceful beach scene that incorporates some of Labaudt’s friends and family.

 

All the murals in the Beach Chalet were done by one artist, Lucien Labaudt. Born in France, he came to the United States in the early 1900s. He was an accomplished dress designer to the rich and famous of San Francisco High Society. He is responsible for decorating the curved walls in Coit Tower with frescoes (these frescoes are not available for public viewing). In 1936 he painted Advancement of Learning throughout the Printing Press, a fresco at George Washington High School. When asked about the limitations WPA art often came under he wrote “limitation forces one to think and therefore to create…Far from destroying the artist’s individuality, these limitations give him something to fight for. He must solve a problem. ” Labaudt died in a plane crash over Burma in 1943, on assignment to do war sketches for Life Magazine.

“San Francisco Life” is the title of the frescoes covering three walls of the first floor of the Beach Chalet. The mural depicts four San Francisco tourist locales: the beach, Golden Gate Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Marina. Recognizable figures of the time from the arts and politics are shown in the mural scenes, engaging in leisure activities. Since Labaudt painted the mural in 1936-37, during the Great Depression, such leisure would have actually been out of reach for most people. Showing high-profile figures, including WPA administrators, enjoying their leisure time, was most probably a political comment on the inequalities of the times.

Ian Ross – SOMA

 Posted by on July 2, 2012
Jul 022012
 
SOMA
870 Harrison
Juxtaposed with Zio Zieglers black and white mural at 870 Harrison street is this vibrant mural by Ian Ross.
 Ian Ross paints energy. In front of an audience on stage, in his lush backyard studio, or in the warehouse at Facebook HQ, his work is alive. Ross works “without the burden of intention” and reacts to each moment with bold graffiti inspired forms and colors. Ross has developed his unique style for 20 years and takes great pride in his spontaneous method. His street art style has become widely accepted and revered in a fine art realm. He has become known as the “Tech/Start-up Artist” painting live murals in high tech offices for Companies like Facebook, Google, Vendini, Alphaboost, AdRoll and Zimride.

 

 

 

Benny Bufano at Fisherman’s Wharf

 Posted by on June 29, 2012
Jun 292012
 
Fisherman’s Wharf
Beach and Taylor Streets
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St. Francis of Assisi by Benny Bufano

Born, Beniamino Bufano, in San Fele, Italy, in 1886, he was one of sixteen children. His family immigrated to New York when he was three, and at six he began contributing to the family income by shining shoes and peddling newspapers. He dropped out of school after the third grade, but entered art school as a teenager, working there as a janitor in lieu of tuition. Later he became apprenticed with the sculptor James Frasier, while he continued to work as a janitor.

In 1915, a fellow sculptor, who’d been selected to create works for the Panama Pacific International Exposition, offered Benny a job as his assistant. Once in San Francisco, Benny’s talents were recognized, and he began receiving regular and lucrative commissions. Saint Francis is the patron saint of San Francisco. Born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226, Saint Francis was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men’s Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. The statue was brought to Fisherman’s wharf to stand a few yards from the Longshoremen’s Memorial Building honoring famed unionist Harry Bridges.

The statue stands 18 feet tall and weights 12.5 tons. In 1928, while the statue was being exhibited in Paris, where Bufano sculpted it, the late English art Critic Roger Fry wrote that is was “the most significant piece of sculpture done within 500 years.” The statue was brought to San Francisco in 1955 through the efforts of Bufano’s close friend Paul Verdier, owner of the City of Paris department store, mayor Elmer Robinson and the French government. San Francisco is lucky to have many of Bufano’s pieces scattered throughout the city, here are a few others.

Washington Square – Fireman’s Memorial

 Posted by on June 28, 2012
Jun 282012
 
North Beach
Washington Square
 Firemen Memorial by Haig Patigian
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 To Commemorate the
Volunteer Fire Department
of San Francisco
1819-1866
Erected 1933
By Bequest of
Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
This sculpture by Haig Patigian  was erected with funds left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an honorary member of Knickerbocker Volunteer Fire Company No. 5, and was originally meant for Coit Tower. The geodetic survey marker, dating from 1869, was placed there by Dr. George Davidson, for whom Mount Davison was named. In 1937, the latitude and longitude of Washington Square were carved onto the monument.

Three firemen grouped on a circular base, are standing, dressed in uniform. Two have hats on. One firefighter carries a woman in his arms; another holds what appears to be a bullhorn, and the third (behind the other two) holds a firehouse.

This statue was paid for by a portion of the monies left behind by Lillie Hitchcock Coit.

Lands End – Kanrin Maru Monument

 Posted by on June 27, 2012
Jun 272012
 
Land’s End
Legion of Honor
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The plaque at this reads:  This monument is erected to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese Naval Ship Kanrin Maru in San Francisco on 17 March, 1860. The Kanrin Maru crossed the Pacific at the same time as the U.S.S. Powhatan which brought the first Japanese Embassy to the United States. Presented to the City of San Francisco by its sister city Osaka as a token of sincere desire to further friendship and goodwill between the United States and Japan and as part of the program to mark the centennial celebration of the opening of their diplomatic relations. 17 May 1960
The monument was a gift from Osaka, Japan Mayor Nakai.

“Maru” means “circle,” the word is frequently added to names of Japanese ships “as a way of blessing the vessel, wishing it safe travels and a safe return to port, thus closing the circle.

There are two sculptors listed for this monument. Mitsui Nakai and Ishi Katsu.

 

 

 

 

I am sharing with Sundays in My City

Land’s End – Great Nature

 Posted by on June 26, 2012
Jun 262012
 
Land’s End
Legion of Honor

The stone reads:  We are grateful, as we stand facing this monument, for the infinite gifts of heaven and earth.  We recognize once again the true fundamental of the human should that pursues the truth, implements the good, creates beauty, and renews his will to step forward.  This way brings about peace in mind and on earth by mutual understanding, encouragement and help.  It was in this spirit that this monument was built.

April 1, 1984
In recognition of the continued quest for world peace by all people.

Great Nature by
Bundo Shunkai

This piece is owned by the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department. According to a Japanese Encyclopedia, Bundo Shunkai (1878-1970) was a Calligrapher and Buddhist monk, Sojo (bishop) of the Tendai sect.  He was a student of Nishikawa Shundo. His style was flexible yet firm.

Financial District- Fire Station #13

 Posted by on June 23, 2012
Jun 232012
 
Fire Station #13
Financial District
530 Sansome Street
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Untitled by Henri Marie-Rose 1969

Henri Marie-Rose (1922-2010) born in François, Martinique, the son of Appien Constance Raymonde and Quentin Joseph Marie-Rose Dite Cétoute, Henri Marie-Rose Dite Cétoute, who later simply went by Henri Marie-Rose, was a San Francisco resident for 58 years, living initially in North Beach before settling on Potrero Hill.

He attended the École des Arts et Métiers and the École des Arts Appliqués in Martinique. He had three one man shows in 1940, 1942 and 1943 and was appointed Attaché Culturel au Projet d’Urbanisme,

Shortly thereafter, he was awarded a scholarship by the French Government to study at the École National Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, but got only as far as North Africa when the Second World War broke out.

Eventually Henri studied at “Beaux Arts” for over eight years. During this period, he met an art student, Marjorie Raitt, who was attending the Sorbonne and the Académie Julian, having recently graduated from Stanford. The couple married in 1952 and traveled by freighter to San Francisco the following year. Within weeks of his arrival, he won the Emanuel Walter Purchase Prize, & later hosted an 18 week series on KQED entitled “Techniques in Sculpture”. In 1960, his work was exhibited in a one man show at the De Young Museum. He went on to exhibit across the country & in Brazil. He spent his final 12 years as a teacher & mentor for Recology’s Artists in Residence Program.

This piece is copper and is part of the San Francisco Civic Art Collection.

Western Addition – Athletics at Hamilton Rec Center

 Posted by on June 22, 2012
Jun 222012
 
Western Addition
Steiner and Post Streets
Hamilton Rec Center
Athletics by Mary Erkenbrack – Ceramic Tile 1955
This glazed ceramic tile mural is of male figures engaged in athletic activities. This tile mural sits between two painted murals names Blues Evolution I and Blues Evolution II
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This tile mural has been on the walls of the rec center since it opened.
Mary Erkenbrack was born in Seattle, Washington on Nov. 30, 1910, Erckenbrack was raised in Rio De Janeiro, London, and Paris as her father, a shipping commissioner, moved about. While in France she studied art in Le Havre at Pension Jeanne d’Arc.
During 1933-35 her married name was Hennessy.   In 1935 she settled in San Francisco and became active in the North Beach art scene.  She soon established Mary E’s Mud Shop and was kept busy fulfilling ceramic orders for Gump’s, Marshall Fields and others.

 

Western Addition – Northern Police Station

 Posted by on June 21, 2012
Jun 212012
 
Western Addition
Turk and Fillmore Streets
Northern Police Station
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This cast concrete panel by Horace Washington depicts the cultural diversity of the Western Addition and its architectural history. The panel also features the likeness of police officers of the past. The piece is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission collection and was produced in 1987. It is 3 feet high by 8 feet long.

Horace Washington (who has work on the 3rd Street Light Rail project) studied at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio before moving to California to study sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute and then completed his graduate studies at Cal State University, Sacramento. He is a San Francisco sculptor and muralist whose works include numerous projects in a variety of materials for public facilities in northern California including the International Longshoremen’s & Warehousmen’s Union mural/ scultpure, the Northern Police Station sculpture, the Martin Luther King Swimming Pool Tile Murals, and the Plaza East ceramic tile and painted mural. He exhibits his work in San Francisco and has been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, Cal State Sacramento, and for the San Francisco Unified School District. He has also taught developmentally disabled adults at the Creativity Explored Art Center. He lives and works in San Francisco.

SOMA – Few and Far

 Posted by on June 20, 2012
Jun 202012
 
SOMA/The Mission
69 Duboce
Between Valencia and Mission
Few and Far – Part III

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The last of this three part post from Few and Far is by Amanda Lynn.
 Amandalynn, whos pieces are all over town, takes her expertise in art and painting into an array of applications. She studied at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and received a Bachelor’s of Fine Art with an Illustration major.

 

SOMA – Few and Far

 Posted by on June 19, 2012
Jun 192012
 
SOMA/The Mission
69 Duboce
Between Valencia and Mission

Continuing with the Few N Far Crews work at 69 Duboce.

 Meagan Spendlove – Meagan has murals all over town.

Agana is from Oakland. From Few and Far’s Website:  Agana is not only a bad ass DJ but she is an art teacher, muralist, jewelry maker, loving/giving friend, always down to paint no matter what!! Agana also films and edits her own videos.. Oooh yes, don’t let me forget to mention… she always has her nails on point every time!

Tatiana Suarez is from Miami and New York.  According to Tati’s website: Tatiana Suarez (b. 1983) is a Brooklyn-based Miami native. Her charming style is distinctive — first, the trademark eyes that draw the viewer into a beautiful and surreal world. Suarez takes full advantage of the oil paint’s ability to create creamy, soft images on canvas. Rich with symbols that stem from her Brazilian and El Salvadorian heritage, subjects appear as if they are under water, frozen in lovely stillness. The doe-eyed figures look childlike, but also exude sexual overtones, ornamented with plants, insects and other unsettling accompaniments. Beauty is presented concurrently with exotic — even creepy — creatures to create enchanted narratives.

SOMA – Few and Far

 Posted by on June 18, 2012
Jun 182012
 
SOMA/The Mission
69 Duboce
Between Valencia and Mission

This is an empty lot that was taken over (with permission) by Few and Far. Few and Far is a woman’s street art group and this is what they say about themselves on their blog:

Few and Far is a movement that brings together talented women who are involved in graffiti, Skateboarding and street art from all over the world. Few and Far connects women by creating social and artistic exchange, by showcasing art on the streets, on walls and in other high profile venues. Few and Far fosters and celebrates the power and expression of female street artists. Importantly, Few and Far consists of a team of open minded, highly creative, cutting edge and dedicated every day females. We seek to expand this movement with the involvement more around the globe, and hope to highlight their commitment to their craft. Also Building life long friendships.

The group is made up of a quite a number of women.

 

 Lady Mags is from Oakland.

Hops is from Seattle.  (From Few and Far’s Blog) Few & Far’s Hops is such a dope person on many levels. She is very motived, fast and clean painting, often finished before any of us have our final outlines up. She paints anything she gets her hands on!

Dime is from Oakland.

Mission District – Carnaval

 Posted by on June 17, 2012
Jun 172012
 
Mission District
18th and Harrison
P.G.& E. Service Yard
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Carnaval by Joshua Sarantitis – 1995
33 X 100 feet

Joshua, a Minnesota resident, is a truly prolific muralist. Joshua Sarantitis  has been creating monumental professional work in public spaces for over 20 years. His 40 commissioned works include glass installations and mosaic murals located regionally and abroad including San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Tucson. His ability to collaborate successfully with design professionals, arts administrators and community is rooted in a desire to find common language between our everyday lives and the arts. Joshua embraces using technology as a tool to aid in mastering media including slumped and fused glass, mosaic, plasma-cut steel, concrete, glass frit, ceramic toner on glass, ceramic tile and paint and fiber. He combines the desire for learning with the skilled execution of an accomplished technician.

This was one of Joshua’s first murals. It was done in conjunction with Precita Eyes. It was funded by P.G.&E., The Neighborhood Beautification Fund, and the Graffiti Clean Up Fund.

The San Francisco Mission District has been hosting a  Carnaval Festival since 1978. There is a very elaborate parade, afterwards streets are blocked off and food and entertainment can be enjoyed to ones hearts’ content.

P.G.&E. (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) supplies Gas and Electricity to most of Northern California.  This would explain the workers in the last panels.

Marina Green – William C. Ralston Memorial

 Posted by on June 16, 2012
Jun 162012
 
The Marina Green
Near the end of Fillmore Street
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Memorial to William C. Ralston by Haig Patigian  1941
William C. Ralston made his fortune in Nevada’s Silver Comstock Lode.  He was one of the richest and most powerful men in California, founding the Bank of California and building the Palace Hotel.  In 1875, after a combination of the expense of building the Hotel, his attempt to buy and resell the Spring Valley Water Company and the effects of the Panic of 1873, which crashed the stock value of his Bank, his body was found in the Bay.  Whether due to a stroke during his regular swim, or from suicide it will never be known.  It is said nearly 50,000 people watched his funeral procession.

This statue to Ralston was commissioned and paid for by Edward Bowes(14 June 1874, San Francisco – 13 June 1946, Rumson, New Jersey) Bowes made his fortune in real estate in San Francisco.  The 1906 earthquake made him reevaluate his life, he moved to New York and became involved in the entertainment industry.  Major ( a rank he obtained in WWI, and insisted on being addressed this way for the rest of his life) Bowes’ Amateur Hour was the best-known amateur talent show in radio during its eighteen-year run (1934-1952) on NBC Radio and CBS Radio.

I have no idea what linked the two gentlemen’s lives.
The Woman is holding an eagle on one hand and a weapon in the other.  On the east and west sides, were ornamental fish, they are no longer there.  The sculptor, Haig Patigian has been in this site many times before.

Telegraph Hill – Coit Tower Murals

 Posted by on June 15, 2012
Jun 152012
 
Telegraph Hill
Coit Tower
WPA Murals
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This pair of canvas’ are also in the elevator alcove.  The depict the farmlands of the Santa Clara Valley and the hills of the East Bay.
The artists was Rinaldo Cuneo. (1877-1939).  Cuneo was a native San Franciscan from North Beach where he maintained a studio.  He was educated at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute as well as in Paris and London.  He taught at the California School of Fine Arts and was a prolific painter.

This is the last in a series of the murals of Coit Tower.  There are more, unfortunately, they are not available to the public.  If you are interested in seeing pictures of them, and learning more about Coit Tower and all of the murals, I highly suggest you search out Masha Zakheim’s Book Coit Tower.

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