Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Tag: SFAC

  • Old Blueprints take on a New Look

    Muni Metro East Yard Pier 80 Bayview This view, taken through a fence, is as close as one will get to the art work at the new Muni Metro East maintenance facility. * These photos I took from the Pulp Studios website. I am going to simply copy directly what they have to say about…

  • Familia

    Potrero del Sol Park Potrero Hill Potrero at 25th Street Familia is by Victor Reyes, who has many pieces around San Francisco. On June 9, 2011 the San Francisco Examiner ran this article about the mural: A community that came together to solve the problem of persistent graffiti at a neighborhood park celebrated the unveiling…

  • Nico Berry on York Street

    1354 York Street Mission/Potrero This mural is part of the San Francisco StreetSmARTS program and was done by Nico Berry. Nico Berry’s cultural perspective is shaped by his encounters with hip-hop, skateboarding, and urban youth culture while growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Over the years he has also become interested in exploring…

  • Domestic Seating in Bronze

    Duboce and Church Castro Titled Domestic Seating these bronze chairs are by Primitivo Suarez.  They are on the corners of the intersection of Duboce and Church where there are several muni stops as well as Mona Caron’s Bicycle Coalition Mural. Fortunately the SFAC has placed plaques explaining the murals on the corners as well, something…

  • Rattlecan Blasters go back in Time

    1340 York Street Mission District This mural is part of the SF StreetSmARTS program.  Painted by Rattlecan Blasters in 2011. Rattlecan Blasters consists of graffiti artists, Cameron Moberg (aka Camer1 from San Francisco) and Aaron Vickery (aka Fasm from Modesto). The duo teams up frequently to paint church youth rooms and exhibit in art shows. They…

  • Zoe Ani and the SF StreetSmARTS program

    2840 San Bruno Excelsior District M.K. Zoe Ani’s work ranges from representational to abstract landscapes. Her perspective is enriched by her Hawaiian and American Indian heritage. Her experience is one of a dichotomy of two cultures separated not only by a vast ocean, but also a mindset that is reflective of the dissemination of each…

  • Wes Wong and the Phoenix Hotel

    601 Eddy The Tenderloin This long series is part of the San Francisco StreetSmARTS program.  The artist is Wes Wong, he is part of the Fresh Paint Crew. Fresh Paint, a San Francisco Mural painting crew aims to defy assumptions of what is possible with a spray can. The group is comprised of and collaborates…

  • RESPECT

    1601 Lane Bayview/Hunters Point Respect This mural is on the side of the YMCA in the Bayview.  It was funded by SF StreetSmARTS program and was done by Senay Dennis, also known as Refa One. Refa’s website had this to say about his calligraphy murals. Style 1: a distinctive manner of expression (as in writing…

  • 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…

  • Liberty Ship at Islais Creek

    SFMTA Islais Motor Coach Facility Sitting on Islais Creek in the new Shoreline Park Indiana Street and Ceasar Chavez Bayview This 340′ Long Steel Sculpture is an abstract representation of the old Liberty Ships that were built in the Shipyards of this neighborhood.   The sculpture is by Nobuho Nagasawa a New York based artist.…

  • Refa One

    4546 3rd Street Bayview * These two paintings on roll up doors in the Bayview are part of the StreetSmARTS program.  They were painted by Senay Dennis, also known as Refa One. “Writing is the song of my soul and the call of my spirit. This art work has a power – emanating from a…

  • Benny Bufano in the Sunnydale Projects

    1654 Sunnydale Visitacion Valley This Beniamino Bufano statue is of a Bear over the Head of Peace.  It was done somewhere around 1935-1940 and stands in front of the Community Center at the Sunnydale Projects.  Bufano was a prolific sculptor in his time and his work can be found all over San Francisco. Sunnydale was…

  • Transverse and Column at the Balboa Park Bart Station

    Balboa Park Bart Station Ocean and San Jose Avenue Transverse and Column by Carroll Barnes – 1977 Corten Steel 9’H x 8’W x 19’L * Carroll Barnes was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1906.  He attended Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC and was awarded a national scholarship to study with Carl Milles…

  • Sunset Playground’s New Fencing

    2201 Lawton Sunset District Sunset Playground This piece was commissioned by the SFAC for $70,000.  The artist selected was Bryan Tedrick. Brian is a local boy, born in Oakland, he holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He is a prolific and very versatile metal sculptor. These five sculptural elements were inspired by the…

  • Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

    7th and Bryant SOMA Peter Voulkos – (nicknamed)Hall of Justice – 1971 24 X 26 X 11 Feet – Bronze Peter Voulkos   (1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art. Born in Bozeman, Montana, he first studied…

  • 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…

  • A Facelift for Junipero Serra Park

    300 Stonecrest Drive Lakeside There are two ceramic tile murals by San Francisco artist Bean Finneran, installed in 2007 at Junipero Serra Playground in San Francisco. The pieces are part of the SFAC Civic art collection and cost $23,000. Employing just two shapes, squares and darts, Bean Finneran varied the color relationships to create two…

  • Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue

    1344 Ocean at Grenada Ingleside/Sunnyside There are three of these mosaic Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue between Miramar and Grenada. Done by Laura True, they were installed in 2008.  The Spheres range in size from 3′ to 5′ in diameter and were commissioned by the SFAC at a cost of $47,500.

  • Fire, Air, Earth and Water

    Helen Willis Park Broadway and Larkin These columns, titled Fire, Air, Earth and Water were done in 2004 by San Francisco resident, Amy Blackstone.  Amy has several pieces around the Bay Area. Excerpt from a March 6, 2004 SF Chronicle piece about Amy Blackstone:  “I love gardens. To me, especially in an urban setting, a…

  • Celebrating the UN Charter through Art

    Hinckley Walk at Golden Gateway Commons Fountain by Jaques Overhoff Jacques Overhoff has several pieces around San Francisco.  Overhoff was born in 1933 in the Netherlands and studied at the Graphics School of Design and the University of Oregon.  He moved to San Francisco in the 1950′s.

  • Cast Glass at the Mission Street Garage

    4th and Mission 5th and Mission *   These sandblasted, fused and cast glass pieces are by Narcissus Quagliata.  Narcissus Quagliata is an Italian and U.S. Citizen.  He was born in Rome in 1942 where he studied painting with Giorgio De Chirico. At the age of 19 he moved to the U.S. and studied at…

  • Street SmARTS Mural at 485 Scott Street

    485 Scott Street Western Addition/NOPA Marina Perez-Wong (aka Micho P. Wong) is an artist participating in Community Arts and Education’s StreetSmARTS program. As a native San Franciscan, Marina bridges the gap between the fine art world and the public with site-specific works of San Francisco’s Mission District. Marina is the recipient of many awards including…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 200 California Street

    200 California Street Financial District Hawaiian by Gwynn Murrill – Bronze- 2002 This is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program. San Francisco’s “Downtown Plan” adopted in 1985, was developed under the fundamental assumption that significant employment and office development growth would occur. New commercial development would provide new revenue sources to cover a…

  • Bufano, hidden amongst the SFSU campus trees

    San Francisco State University Lakeside St. Francis by Beniamino Bufano – Red Granite This gift to the campus from the City of San Francisco sits on the main quad of the campus.

  • Carlos II, King of Spain Gazes out over Harding Park

    7-99 Harding Road Lake Merced – Sunset District The sculpture of Carlos III was a gift to the city from King Juan Carlos I of Spain in honor of the Bicentennial of the City of San Francisco. CARLOS III, KING OF SPAIN Settler of California, champion of the cause of the American Independence, who directed…

  • Juan Bautista de Anza at Lake Merced

    Lake Merced * This equestrian statue of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, founder of the City San Francisco, is located in a parking lot off Lake Merced Boulevard on the north shore of the Lake. A plaque, in both Spanish and English, on the statue base reads: As a high tribute to an illustrious historical…

  • Aileen Barr’s work at West Portal Playground

    West Portal Playground 131 Lenox Way A $1.5 million renovation project in 2005 saw the West Portal Park’s original clubhouse expanded and upgraded. The park includes a picnic area, playground and large play field. The building also features artwork commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission Public Art Program. “The Secret Garden,” a series of…

  • Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan Grace the Jose Coronado Playground

     Jose Coronado Playground and Clubhouse 21st and Folsom Mission District Raizes/Roots, Ray Patlan and Eduardo Pineda, Jose Coronado Playground Clubhouse The entire exterior of the Jose Coronado Clubhouse is sheathed in eleven hundred terra cotta-colored tiles, designed and hand-painted by artists Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan. The tiles depict Aztec-inspired images of birds and frogs in…