Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Tag: sculpture

  • Sumer #24 by Larry Bell

    101 Second Street SOMA Financial District Sumer #24 by Larry Bell – Bronze Sumer #24 is a result of the POPOS program and the 1% for Art program of San Francisco. While it is viewable through the windows of the building it is available for viewing up close from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm M-F.…

  • Open Book at the Library

    960 4th Street Mission Bay This piece, by Vince Koloski, is in the Mission Bay Branch Library. The artwork is an illuminated book sculpture with quotes about reading and text from a variety of ancient and contemporary cultures. Vince Koloski was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1953. In 1977 he attended New College in Sarasota, Florida…

  • Globe by Topher Delaney

    299 2nd Street Courtyard Marriott Hotel – 1st Floor SOMA – Financial District Globe by Topher Delaney – Bronze This piece is a result of the 1% for Art and POPOS programs in San Francisco.  It is available for viewing from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. – However, if you step into the Lobby you…

  • Time to Dream

    Joseph P. Lee Rec Center 1395 Mendell Bayview Time to Dream by Amana Johnson The Joseph P. Lee Rec Center, like many in San Francisco is behind a locked gate and only open during very limited hours.  I have relied on the artists website for a description of the piece and the photo of the…

  • Dos Leones at SFGH

    1001 Potrero San Francisco General Hospital So much of the collection paid for by the San Francisco Art Commission is not readily available to the general public.  This piece is no exception.  On the patio of the 3rd floor of SFGH, the doors were locked, however, you can see the sculpture through the window. Titled…

  • American Bison at SFGH

    1001 Potrero San Francisco General Hospital 2nd Floor – Cafeteria Patio Buffalo by Raimondo Puccinelli Raimondo Puccinelli, (1904-1986) born and raised in San Francisco, is known above all for his sculpture which has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His standing as a sculptor was confirmed early on, firstly by the interest shown…

  • Anish Kapoor in San Francisco

    235 2nd Street SOMA Financial District Making the World Many by Anish Kapoor – Stainless Steel Making the World Many is part of the 1% for Arts and POPOS programs of San Francisco.  While viewable through the building window, the piece is available for closer viewing from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm M-F. Anish Kapoor, (born…

  • A Joan Brown Obelisk at 343 Sansome Street

    343 Sansome Street The Financial District Four Seasons by Joan Brown This tiled obelisk is by Joan Brown. Joan Brown was an American figurative painter who was born in San Francisco and lived and worked in Northern California. She was a notable member of the “second generation” of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. She studied at…

  • Bufano at Westside Courts

    Westside Courts Housing Project 2501 Sutter Street Lower Pacific Heights This sculpture, by well known San Francisco sculptor  Beniamino Bufano, is titled Saint Francis on Horseback.  Standing  8′ x 6′ and of black granite  it is located in the central courtyard of the project. It was made in 1935 but not placed here until 1945. Westside…

  • 1360 Montgomery Street – A Streamline Moderne Dream

    1360 Montgomery Street The Malloch Apartments Telegraph Hill The Spirit of California. Muralist Alfred Du Pont (also known as Dupont) was hired to design the images that grace the exterior 1360 Montgomery Street. Du Pont produced two 40-foot high silvery figures in sgraffito, or raised plaster, on the western facade of the building, and a third…

  • Presidio’s Arguello Gate

    Arguello and Pacific Entry to the Presidio The Arguello Gate was built by the Army in 1896. The designer was architect J.B. Whittemore.  The gate was commissioned in 1895 and installed between 1896 and 1897. Over the decades, it experienced much wear and tear, including being hit by a truck in 1996. This collision knocked…

  • Ruth Asawa at the Parc 55

    55 Cyril Magnin Union Square Area Parc 55 Hotel porte-cochere San Francisco Yesterday and Today by Ruth Asawa 1984 – Cast Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete Ruth Asawa used baker’s clay to sculpt these panels.  Ms. Asawa has many works around San Francisco.  An American artist, who is nationally recognized for her wire sculpture. Ruth, at the age…

  • Bufano in Valencia Gardens

    Valencia Gardens Housing Project Corner of Maxwell Court and Rosa Parks Way These animal sculptures at Valencia Gardens were sculpted by Beniamino (Benny) Bufano. They were done in the 1930s for the Work Progress Administration Project at Aquatic Park.  In the 1940s, when the federal government pulled out of  San Francisco the sculptures were given to…

  • Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake Spinning in the Richmond

    851 27th Avenue Richmond District * Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake – 2012 – Stainless Steel Inspired by the natural elements on both macro and microscopic levels, aero #8 is a self-contained wind driven system that creates an infinite number of movements in response to changes in weather patterns. Moto Ohtake was born in 1952…

  • Art at the Richmond District Library

    351 9th Avenue SF Public Library Inner Richmond  * According to Scott Donahue’s website “these sculptures were designed to integrate into the very symmetrical renovate library landscape and building.  Each dome is a relief sculpture map.  On is the entire Bay Area and portrays a time in history from 15000 years ago to 100 years…

  • Ghost Figures of the Financial District

    580 California at Kearney Financial District This building sits on the corner of Kearny and California Streets. It has twelve untitled figures along the four top edges resembling ghost forms wrapped in long cloth garments. They were created by the sculptress Muriel Castanis from 1982-85 for a commission by the building architects Philip Johnson and…

  • Goddess of Democracy

    Goddess of Democracy

    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…

  • Creazione by Dimitri Hadzi

    Dimitri Hadzi’s Creazione, a bronze sculpture with a spirited sense of movement was inspired by the music of Mozart. Dimitri Hadzi (1921-2006) was born in New York City. As a child he was sent to a Greek after-school program, where he received instruction in Greek language, mythology, history, and theater. His artistic ability won him a…

  • Icosaspirale

      1 Maritime Plaza Icosaspirale by Charles Perry – 1967 – 8 feet – Brass  This sculpture is constructed of bronze rods brazed together into triangular sections. Those sections were assembled into an Icosahedron shape. Note that each triangle that makes up the Icosahedron is itself a spiral. Hense the name “Icosaspirale Charles O. Perry (1929-2011) was…

  • Mark Twain and his Jumping Frogs

    Foot of the Transamerica Pyramid 600 Montgomery Financial District * Frog Pond by Richard Clopton Bronze 1996 Redwood Park Transplanted from the Santa Cruz Mountains 60 miles to the south, magnificent redwoods dominate this park designed by Tom Galli. The fountain designed by Anthony Guzzardo is decorated with the jumping frog sculptures, in a fond remembrance of…

  • Richard Mayer at Hastings Law School

    Civic Center Hastings Law School 200 McAllister at Hyde *  I would like to extend a big thank you to Suzanne Parks, the Volunteer Art Curator at Hastings Law School for this information. This sculpture  is titled “Gary Diptych #1” and is by San Francisco Bay area artist Richard Mayer. He loaned Hastings the sculpture…

  • Garden of Remembrance

    San Francisco State University Lakeside Head by Shu-hie Yang – Student work This piece resides in the Garden of Remembrance. The Garden of Remembrance is located in the quiet courtyard between Burk Hall and the Fine Arts Building, it was dedicated in 2002. It honors the 19 former SF State students who were pulled from…

  • Aristides Demetrios At SFSU

    San Francisco State University Lakeside Caring by Aristides Demetrios Aristides Demetrios has several pieces around San Francisco. Aristides Burton Demetrios (1932-  ) was born and raised in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was the renowned author and illustrator of children’s books, including…

  • The Mathematical Concept of Tau in Sculpture

    160 Spear Street SOMA’s Financial District Tau by Roger Berry – Stainless Steel – 1984 96″ Diameter 14″ Deep Each of the four intersecting cones of Tau describes the form of the solar year. The forward side is in full light in the winter the back surfaces are filled with the summer sun. The building to the…

  • Ornamental Gates at Rolph Playground

    Rolph Playground Potrero at 25th & Utah and 25th Mission/Potrero Hill Isis Rodriguez has created two rolled iron ornamental artworks, one for each side of Rolph Playground.   Isis Rodriguez is a second generation Mid-Western Latina who grew up in Topeka, Kansas and received her first lessons in art from copying Hannah-Barbera cartoons by hand. She…

  • Hermes and Dionysus Shake it Up

    411 Sansome Street Financial District * * This bronze, done in 1986, titled Hermes and Dionysus-Monument to Analysis is by Arman. (1928-2005)  The French-born American artist Arman told an interviewer in 1968. “I have never been — how do you say it? A dilettante.” Arman’s vast artistic output ranges from drawings and prints to monumental…

  • Joan of Arc at the Palace of the Legion of Honor

    Lands End Legion of Honor * * 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…

  • Jon Krawcyzk in SOMA

    SOMA 303 2nd Street * *   Jon Krawczyk’s new sculpture sits in the public space of 303 2nd Street . It is a central part of a recent redesign by Gensler and landscape architects Smith + Smith for owner Kilroy Realty. Krawczyk’s steel and bronze sculptures divulge organic gestures that are the antithesis of the…

  • Marina Green – William C. Ralston Memorial

    The Marina Green Near the end of Fillmore Street * * * 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…

  • SOMA – Large Pieces of Marble

    631 Folsom Street SOMA These giant pieces of carrara marble are by Richard Deutsch are titled Frammenti.  Deutsch has been in this site before and I recommend you visit his website.  He is a very accomplished artist with work all over the world. This piece is titled Fragmented.  The day I was there the fountain was…