Old Blueprints take on a New Look

 Posted by on February 13, 2013
Feb 132013
 

Muni Metro East Yard
Pier 80
Bayview

Muni Metro East Yard

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.

Nobuho Nagasawa Glass Work for Muni

*Anita Margrill Glass work for Muni

These photos I took from the Pulp Studios website.

I am going to simply copy directly what they have to say about these pieces as the information is excellent.

“The beauty of rail car engineering details is revealed in these historic blueprints from the 19th and 20th centuries.” Artist Anita Margrill’s statement rings true upon the very first site of the two towering glass curtain walls on the Metro East Light Rail Vehicle Maintenance and Operations Facility. This installation is a prime example of how art can seamlessly meld with Architecture, while taking two very standard stairwells from ordinary to extraordinary.

The artists Nobuho Nagasawa and Anita Margrill were inspired by the intricate pattern of white lines contrasting with the bold blue on the engineering blueprints they had found in the Muni Metro Archives.

In 1996 Pulp Studio received the call from Judy Moran of the San Francisco Arts Commission to work with artists to fabricate these two very large curtain walls, that measure an impressive 36 feet high by 19 feet wide. At the time Pulp proposed bringing the vision into reality by carving the line portions onto the glass and then painting them white to capture the vibrancy of the bold white lines of the drawing. However, this being a public works project 10 years had passed by the the time the facility was ready for it’s crown jewels to be produced.

During the interim, better technologies were formed and Pulp Studio recommended using their photographic laminated SentryGlas Expressions (SGX) product instead of the carved glass. SGX is a form of laminate that can be printed on in the full RGB spectrum, and even in white to produce photographic quality images. Once laminated the unprinted areas are clear, this product is what allows the blueprints to have their highly defined intricate bold look.

The 21 individual insulated glass sections of each curtain wall are comprised of two parts. A laminated blue glass panel on the interior and a clear glass panel on the exterior laminated with a mechanical engineering drawing printed in white on SGX as the substrate within the glass.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently won an award for the facility from the American Public Works Association, which is a national association that recognizes exceptional public works projects. This facility won in the category of projects costing over $75,000,000. Judy Moran of the SFAC said, “I am sure the curtain walls played a large part in making it an exceptional facility. Everyone is very happy with them, they are stunning.”

These pieces were commissioned for $100,000.

Nobuho Nagasawa has appeared here before with her Liberty Ship sculpture at the SFMTA Motor Coach Facility.

Anita Margrill  was born in New York City . She attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, received her BA from Bennington College, her B. Architecture from CUNY School of Architecture and Environmental Studies, and her MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from San Francisco State University.  As a licensed architect she has designed and built several passive solar houses and she holds numerous copyrights and patents for her water distribution systems.

Familia

 Posted by on February 4, 2013
Feb 042013
 

Potrero del Sol Park
Potrero Hill
Potrero at 25th Street

Familia by Victor Reyes

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 of a mural painted in the hope of staving off vandalism.

Potrero del Sol Park, which is a favorite among skaters and schoolchildren, is bordered by Buena Vista Elementary School and a building maintained by San Francisco General Hospital.

Taggers constantly targeted a wall of the hospital building, according to The City’s Recreation and Park Department. After hospital painters’ efforts to efface the wall were thwarted time and time again, the community rallied.

The school’s PTA found the artist Victor Reyes to compose a mural, and the students competed in a naming contest. The parks department waived the permit fee, the hospital donated paint and scaffolding and navigated the plan through the San Francisco Arts Commission.

The “Familia” mural, whose bright blocks of colors pop against the otherwise neutral surroundings, was unveiled 10 a.m. Wednesday at the park located at 25th and Utah streets.

According to the parks department, the mural is the story of “a shared problem and a creative solution.
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Nico Berry on York Street

 Posted by on January 22, 2013
Jan 222013
 

1354 York Street
Mission/Potrero

Mural at 1354 York Street in San Francisco

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 the role of culture, community, class, and religion, especially in the context of urban life. Aesthetically, Nico’s prolific experience in graphic design is extremely evident. Lettering, patterns, and the appropriation of pop and religious symbolism dominate his work. The media he works with include spray-paint, collage, sculptural elements, and acrylic paints as well as digital designing.

Nico worked as art director for Thrasher skateboard magazine from 1996-2001, then traveled the world creating murals on five different continents. From 2002-2007 Nico created fine art and worked as a freelance graphic designer in Brooklyn, New York. He contributed to a wide range of companies, from Timberland boots and apparel to The Source hip-hop magazine to Fermilab’s high-energy physics facility. In 2007 he relocated to San Francisco where he continues to do murals, design work, and fine art. Most recently he has focused his attention on writing and illustrating children’s books.

Car Mural on York Street

 

 

Domestic Seating in Bronze

 Posted by on January 15, 2013
Jan 152013
 

Duboce and Church
Castro

Chairs on Duboce and Church

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 I feel should be done with all of our public art.  The plaques read:

Inspired by the discarded furniture commonly seen on city sidewalks, Domestic Seating evokes intimate interior spaces and unexpectedly transforms this intersection into a shared experience.  The collection of seating replicated in metal was selected by the artist through a “casting call”.  Announced to local residents, the original furniture was donated by the following members of the community:

Rocking Chair donated by Maitri Compassionate Care
Armchair donated by Peter Mansfield (originally owned by William I. Bernell)
Ikea Chair donated by Missy Buchanan

Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe

Primitivo Suarez has a background in both architecture and visual art. Suarez attended SCI-Arc before receiving his MFA in Sculpture at UCLA in 2000. Suarez has taught in the art and architecture departments at the University of Southern California, Woodbury University, and currently at the University of California at Berkeley.

Bronze Chairs near the Market Street Safeway*

Bronze Rocking Chair on Duboce

 

Rattlecan Blasters go back in Time

 Posted by on January 3, 2013
Jan 032013
 

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 have traveled to several states to use their rattlecan skills on commissioned murals.  They have several other murals around San Francisco.

In this are JW for Justin Werely, a friend of Camer1 whose name is on the right.  The blue letters above say AMP which is the graffiti name of the third painter Buddy Raymonds.

I asked Cameron why the dinosaurs, he said that he had been reading a lot about them to his son and just likes them.

Zoe Ani and the SF StreetSmARTS program

 Posted by on January 2, 2013
Jan 022013
 

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 indigenous group. She developed her skills in drawing during her travels and forged a unique art education by pursuing opportunities to learn and work in alternative settings.

Zoe began drawing as a teenager in southern Oregon. She began painting at The Art Students League in New York City from 1998 – 2002. She worked primarily in oil. She continued to pursue her craft in her tiny studio in Brooklyn, NY. In 2005 she transitioned from working in oil to encaustic painting after attending a workshop at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

The transition from oil to beeswax required more space to breathe. The natural inclination for expansion and a shift in perspective brought her full circle back to the west coast after twelve years in New York City. She has immersed herself in her new surroundings working out of a bigger studio located in the Dogpatch neighborhood in San Francisco, CA.

This is part of the SF StreetSmARTS program. 

Wes Wong and the Phoenix Hotel

 Posted by on December 31, 2012
Dec 312012
 

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 with some of the best aerosol painters from the Bay Area and beyond, creating innovative murals in San Francisco. Concepts vary in aesthetic tone from photorealistic to illustrative, utilizing the large pool of artistic backgrounds within the crew. They produce murals that fit with their environment and are easily digestible for everyone from blue-collar workers to aerosol art fanatics.

Wes Wong is a visual problem solver living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He works in various aspects of the web by day: branding, user experience, user interface design, web marketing and front end; while painting big murals by night. His background in graphic design has brought a unique approach to mural work, striving to build a strong visual concept that relates to the space or client’s vision, often times finding a mixture of the two.

He quit the typical aerosol life years ago to start a family and focus on professional work. The spray paint itch was hard to kick, so Wes shifted his focus to persuing walls where he can produce large scale murals.

The wall is part of the Hotel Phoenix, the neighborhood is rough and the graffiti prolific.  The purpose of StreetSmARTS is to help prevent graffiti by having property owners hire select artists to paint a surface that has been vandalized in the past, in hopes to prevent further vandalism.

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RESPECT

 Posted by on December 21, 2012
Dec 212012
 

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 or speech).

Characteristics or elements combined and expressed in a particular (often unique) and consistent manner. Derived from ‘stylus,’ the Latin word for a sharp instrument for making relatively permanent marks.
Style Writing is the art form and culture I am MOST passionate about. Writing exemplifies the highest expression of my creative abilities. If there was a single body of work I had to use to represent my being,it would be the “Wild Style”. When I’m doing a Burner, my spirit is in it’s most active and peaceful state.

Bufano in Valencia Gardens

 Posted by on December 20, 2012
Dec 202012
 

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 the City of San Francisco and became the charge of the San Francisco Art Commission.

There are two other sculptures that were part of this grouping.  The Frog and The Seal are still at Aquatic Park.

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This collection of statuary is by San Francisco darling Beniamino Bufano.  They sit in a courtyard of the completely newly rebuilt Valencia Garden Housing Project.

During the work that was done at Valencia Gardens, the statues were placed at the Randall Museum for restoration and the enjoyment of the citizens of San Francisco.

The $66 million development of the new Valencia Gardens replaced 246 dilapidated and blighted housing units with 260 affordable homes for extremely-low and low-income families and seniors. Valencia Gardens is located on a 4.9-acre site between Valencia, Guerrero, 15th, and 14th Streets in the Mission District, the same location as the previous public housing which stood for over sixty years.

After almost a decade of planning, the revitalization of Valencia Gardens was made possible through a network of partnerships and collaborations at the local, state and federal levels. As a HOPE VI development, $66 million in development financing was provided by both the public and private sectors.

The design and architecture of Valencia Gardens are based on new urbanism principles that have shown to increase the quality of life and sense of community in other HOPE VI affordable housing developments. Most importantly, Valencia Gardens is integrated into its neighborhood with new public roads and walkways, as opposed to being isolated by fencing, as was the case with the previous project.

 

Liberty Ship at Islais Creek

 Posted by on December 19, 2012
Dec 192012
 

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. Nobuho had this to say on ArtNet

My work ranges from site-specific projects to installations and public art. I create an interactive space that is informed by the actual place — its history, people and spatial narrative. This approach requires detective-like investigation and quasi-archeological research, exploring sociological and psychological aspects of each site. Immediate physical and social context influences the form, content, and choice of materials and media.

I see my artist’s identity as inevitably “hybrid” – in my case, part sculptor, journalist, poet, architect, and urban designer. Materials and methodology follow upon the necessary diversity of evolving concepts as a project reveals its conditions. I see this process as an excavation of meanings – cultural, geopolitical, social, personal – that lie hidden within the materials themselves. By revealing personal memories, collective histories, unacknowledged myths, and contradictory issues, I try to open up key social and personal reserves that can galvanize public interaction. Art, after all, has the power to deconstruct the blockages of social energy and serve as a catalyst to new vision and public self-discovery. My goal is to create artwork that provokes and revives a site and wakes people up to the poetry of place.

I am intrigued by the sense of scale, both human and civic, and how relatively small change can enhance private experience within the public setting. A truly livable space should stand the test of time. It spurs social communication and inspires reconstruction. When history is brought to the surface through public art, it can serve as source for the renewal of cultural identity and the evolution of social values.

My goal is to create works that attract people to possibility where and as they live. The development and realization of art in public is a dialogue with a place and its time – land and substance, its past, its people, the future they create – made new, immediate, and somehow timeless.

Based in New York City since 2001, Nobuho Nagasawa was born in Tokyo, and raised in Europe and Japan, and received her MFA at Hochschule der Künste in Berlin.  She came to the United States as a visiting scholar through the invitation of California Institute of the Arts in 1986, where she studied visual art, critical theory and music.

This piece was commissioned by the SFAC for $750,000 in the 2008-2009 budget year.

Refa One

 Posted by on December 14, 2012
Dec 142012
 

4546 3rd Street
Bayview

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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 higher power than myself. I have submitted unapologetically to the call of putting this work out there.  However, I am also doing this with unconditional love for Life, Humanity, the Most High and that ONENESS in the universe.” – Refa One

For well over two decades, Oakland California native Refa One has been instrumental in the development of the innovative, unorthodox genre of art known as “Aerosol Art” (Graffiti Art/Writing). Immersed in HipHop culture as a youth, the walls of urban structures became his canvas. Refa One’s refined, self-styled calligraphy has earned him international acclaim amongst Spray Can Artists and enthusiasts alike. A lifetime of involvement in HipHop culture combined with his radical political awareness, has translated into a successful career as a Spray Can Calligrapher, muralist, illustrator, activist, and educator. Refa One’s design aesthetic reflects his belief in HipHop culture as a vehicle for radical political and social change. His pieces are maps of visions and reflection, capturing the intellectual value and heritage of the common urban vernacular in his work. His themes materialize in the fusion of his unique HipHop Calligraphy and his use of eclectic, cultural iconography. The end result is a multitude of powerful works that engage the spirit, intellect, and imagination.

Benny Bufano in the Sunnydale Projects

 Posted by on December 12, 2012
Dec 122012
 

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 built in the 1940’s as a means to house military personnel and their families, it was later bought by the city of San Francisco and converted to a low-income housing project.

The Housing Authority was created in 1938 to help poor families build better lives by creating temporary subsidized housing. Over the years, the once well-kept projects turned into havens for crime, and the services that families need to get out and move on – such as child care, job training, legal help and counseling – evaporated with cutbacks.

Sunnydale, is quite possibly the most dangerous, depressed and decrepit area of the city. The dilapidated barracks that make up the development are lined up on a hillside in the shadow of the Cow Palace, opposite McLaren Park.

An estimated 1,633 people live in the square mile of concrete housing. Once considered a nice place for a family to live, the development is now home to those who can’t afford anything else.

The above was from a February 2008 SF Gate article by Leslie Fulbright.  A two part series titled Life at the Bottom.

 

Transverse and Column at the Balboa Park Bart Station

 Posted by on December 11, 2012
Dec 112012
 

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

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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 at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills Michigan.  He was awarded the California Cultural Citation from Governor Earl Warren.

Carol Barnes and his artist wife Evangel Barnes discovered the town of Three Rivers when they decided to honeymoon in Sequoia National Park, fell in love with the town, and then made Three Rivers their home. It was while living in Three Rivers that he carved the Paul Bunyan shown below.

Upon his death in 1997, Carroll Barnes left behind a large body of public work, as well as, one other Paul Bunyan, which still stands today on the grounds of the College of Sequoias in Visalia.  However, The Paul Bunyan he created in Three Rivers is believed to be the largest sculpture ever made by anyone, from a single fallen sequoia.

Sunset Playground’s New Fencing

 Posted by on November 29, 2012
Nov 292012
 

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 Sunset District’s setting sun and plentiful wind.

Sunset Playground is a four acre park that occupies a full city block between 28th and 29th Avenues, at Lawton and Moraga. In addition to a recreation center, the site has two tennis courts, a basketball court, a baseball field, children’s play areas, and a small community garden. Open since 1940 the park was in need of  a complete renovation.  This renovation, a three year project, was funded to the tune of $14 million through the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond.

Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

 Posted by on October 27, 2012
Oct 272012
 

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 painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College), then earned an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1954, after founding the art ceramics department at the Otis College of Art and Design, called the Los Angeles County Art Institute, his work rapidly became abstract and sculptural. He moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he also founded the art ceramics department, and where he taught from 1959 until 1985.

This was the first piece restored by the organization called ArtCare.

It underwent a specialized cleaning, repatination, and application of a protective coating—all made possible with private funds (estimated at $35,000) issued by the newly formed ArtCare. The program aims to enlist private donors to complement the existing city government–provided annual budget of $300,000. Currently 15 public artworks in parks, plazas, and other public spaces are slated for repair.

According to the San Francisco Art Commission, there are approximately 3,500 objects in the collection of public art project in need of restoration, estimated in excess of $86 million dollars. The City of San Francisco allocates approximately $15,750 annually toward the care of the entire collection.

 

 

Creazione by Dimitri Hadzi

 Posted by on October 24, 2012
Oct 242012
 

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 drawing prize and his strength in math and science gained him admission to Brooklyn Technical High School. Upon graduating he worked as a chemist by day while continuing to study chemistry by night. On July 4, 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served in the South Pacific, where an officer encouraged his efforts at drawing. After the war, he returned to New York, decided to turn away from chemistry, and became a student of painting and sculpture at Cooper Union. At the age of 29, a Fulbright Scholarship took him to Athens where he studied the history of Greco-Roman sculpture while learning the technical demands of carving in stone. The GI Bill subsequently allowed him to continue his studies in Rome, where he set up his first studio. At his death, Mr. Hadzi was emeritus professor of visual and environmental studies at Harvard, where he had taught sculpture and printmaking for many years.

A Facelift for Junipero Serra Park

 Posted by on October 20, 2012
Oct 202012
 

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 distinct artworks for the new clubhouse. The optical effect of each is strikingly different. On the south wall, facing the playing fields, the 7-foot by 9-foot pattern appears to be vertical stripes, while the north wall’s 7-foot by 8-foot mural becomes a series of oscillating squares. Viewers may discover, upon further investigation, that each pattern contains the other.

Finneran found inspiration in Islamic tile patterns and American quilts but drew on her love of strong color to give the patterns a cheerful, modernist flair. According to the artist, the clubhouse architecture and placement strongly influenced her designs. The south mural, overlooking the playing fields, is best viewed from a distance, and responds to the strong verticality of its site. A more animated statement greets visitors on the north, which faces the playground’s main entrance.

Laurey (Bean) Finneran began her career as co-founder of the theatre group Soon 3 and later became a successful jewelry maker. She is currently an active ceramic artist who exhibits frequently both nationally and internationally. This was her first public art commission.

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Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue

 Posted by on October 19, 2012
Oct 192012
 

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

 Posted by on October 18, 2012
Oct 182012
 

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 garden is kind of magical and the gateway is kind of a trumpet announcement.”  Gates are one of Blackstone’s specialties.

 

These pieces are made with steel, fiberglass and patina.  The pipes were donated by Naylor Pipe Company.  They were commissioned by the SFAC for the Rec and Park Department in the 2006-07 budget for $36,000.

Celebrating the UN Charter through Art

 Posted by on October 14, 2012
Oct 142012
 

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

 Posted by on October 5, 2012
Oct 052012
 

4th and Mission
5th and Mission

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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 the SF Art Institute, receiving both a Bachelors and n Masters in Painting and Graphics. He began working in glass soon after graduation.

This piece is titled Oracle.  There are 40 panels, 8 per floor measuring 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 X 28″.  They were commissioned in 1993 by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the Downtown Parking Association and the Department of Parking.

 

Street SmARTS Mural at 485 Scott Street

 Posted by on October 1, 2012
Oct 012012
 

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 the Precita Eyes Community Center Mural Award. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions including the Precita Eyes Benefit at SOMArts and the Children with AIDS Benefit at 111 Minna Gallery.

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Marina designed and painted this colorful mural at 485 Scott Street, which includes images of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square Park and other historic San Francisco landmarks. She collaborated with the building’s owner to design a mural that reflects contemporary San Francisco.

With the help of her long-time friend and fellow painter, Ernesto Aguilar, Marina explains the imagery she chose for the mural in this short video. Marina and Ernesto speak about their previous collaborations and explain how StreetSmARTS has allowed them to give back to their community

The Giants mural they speak of in the video can be seen here.

Richard Mayer at Hastings Law School

 Posted by on September 30, 2012
Sep 302012
 
Civic Center
Hastings Law School
200 McAllister at Hyde
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 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 back in the early 1980’s and then gave it to them in 2008.

In his statement, the artist said: With its affirmation and ambiguity, “Gary Diptych #1 is intended as a metaphor for our times.

Mayer sat on the board of the SFAC when Arneson was chosen to make the, at the time, highly controversial sculpture for a memorial to slain mayor George Moscone

The Mathematical Concept of Tau in Sculpture

 Posted by on September 25, 2012
Sep 252012
 

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 south of Tau casts a shadow on the sculpture much of the day.

A prominent and highly respected northern California sculptor, Roger Berry, who has been called a “monumental master” has been commissioned to make over 30 site-specific sculptural works for municipalities and corporations from the West Coast to the United Kingdom. Berry attended Raymond College at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California and graduated in 1972.

This piece is part of San Francisco’s 1% for Art Program.

200 California Street

 Posted by on September 23, 2012
Sep 232012
 

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 portion of the costs of necessary urban service improvements. Specific programs were created to satisfy needs for additional housing, transit, childcare, open space, and art. The public art requirement created by this plan is commonly known as the “1% for Art” program. This requirement, governed by Section 429 of the Planning Code, provides that construction of a new building or addition of 25,000 square feet or more within the downtown C-3 district, triggers a requirement that provide public art that equals at least 1% of the total construction cost be provided.

 Gwynn Murill was born in Michigan and raised in Southern California, Murrill received her BFA and MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Carlos II, King of Spain Gazes out over Harding Park

 Posted by on September 19, 2012
Sep 192012
 

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 Colonel Don Juan Bautista de Anza
to establish a presidio, a mission and a city in San Francisco,
in the year 1776.

Donated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain on the Bicentennial of
the City of San Francisco, 1976.

Federico Coullaut – sculptor

Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia (1912–1989) was a Spanish sculptor. The son of sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut-Valera, he was born in Madrid.
He continued the work begun by his father in the Plaza de España. Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia finished the monument in this square between 1956 and 1957. Another statue of Carlos III by Coullaut-Valera stands in Olvera Street, Los Angeles. It was presented in 1976 and dedicated by Juan Carlos I of Spain and Sofia of Spain in 1987. Carlos had ordered the founding of the town that became Los Angeles.

This statue was relocated from Justin Herman Plaza, along with Juan Bautista de Anza in 2003. At that time he was placed upon a new base. The bronze is 9-1/2 ‘ H x 38 ” W x 44 ” D and weighs approximately 2000 pounds.

Juan Bautista de Anza at Lake Merced

 Posted by on September 18, 2012
Sep 182012
 

Lake Merced

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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
figure born in Sonora, founder of
the City of San Francisco and with the purpose of
strengthening the friendly ties between the
peoples of Mexico and of the United States,
the state of Sonora of the Republic of Mexico
presents this statue to the City of San Francisco
this month of August of 1967,
at which time Lic. Luis Encinas was governor
of Sonora, the Honorable Ronald Reagan
Governor of California and the Honorable
John F. Shelly mayor of the City
of San Francisco.

The artist is Julian Martinez, a prolific sculptor of heroic Hispanic figures, about whom very little is known.

Juan Bautista de Anza found an overland route from Sonora Mexico to San Francisco in 1776.  Anza’s diary tells of him camping at Mountain Lake Park near what is now Lake Street as he explored the area. From what is assumed to be the Golden Gate Bridge overlook area he chose the site for the Presidio. He then proceeded to the southeast to select the site for Mission Dolores. In 1990, Congress acknowledged the significance of the Anza expeditions by establishing the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. The sculpture was a gift to the City from Luis Encina, the Governor of the State of Sonora, Mexico in 1967. Sculpture dimensions:Bronze: 11-1/2 ‘ H x 42” W x 70 “, weighs approximately 8,000 lbs.

This statue, along with Carlos III of Spain resided in Justin Herman Plaza.  In 2003 they were moved to Lake Merced to accommodate construction.The original intent was to have the two statues together near the de Anza National Historic Trail.  That did not happen. Why Lake Merced was chosen is unknown.

The pedestal was recast when de Anza was moved to Lake Merced.

Aileen Barr’s work at West Portal Playground

 Posted by on September 16, 2012
Sep 162012
 

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 hand-carved tiles by artist Aileen Barr, depicts various flora and fauna native to the area, including leaves, flowers, plants, insects and birds.

Aileen has tile work in many places throughout San Francisco. Aileen Barr studied Ceramic Design at the National College of Art and Design In Dublin, Ireland, graduating in 1985. She worked in New York for a number of years and it was here that she discovered her fascination with handmade tile.

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Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan Grace the Jose Coronado Playground

 Posted by on September 14, 2012
Sep 142012
 

 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 a repeated, checkerboard pattern. The pattern is interrupted periodically by large tile figures of animals and plant forms. Over the Center doorway are two highly stylized king buzzards (Cozcacuautli), in shades of terra cotta, near a blue coyote (Itzcuintli). A polka-dotted deer cavorts on the east wall, along with images of a hummingbird and flower, in yellow, orange and blue. The richly-textured and colored surface, with its warm, deep colors and stylized indigenous images, was created in recognition of the Mission District’s still predominantly Latino community. Artists Ray Patlan and Eduardo Pineda met with the local community and worked with the project architects before identifying a theme and materials for their art. They chose images of flora and fauna in order to highlight nature in this very urban park, as a reminder of the impact of civilization on the natural and indigenous worlds. They chose tile as a way of integrating their art into the architecture and in reference to the great Pre-Columbian ceramic tradition. In addition to designing the artwork, the artists hand colored the tiles, working over more than a dozen weekends. They were helped by Sausalito’s Heath Ceramics, which manufactured and fired the tiles, and ceramic artist Horace Washington, who advised them on the technique of spray painting and stenciling on tile. Eduardo Pineda and Ray Patlan have a long history of involvement with the mural movement, the Mission District and Jose Coronado Playground in particular, in fact, their work at Jose Coronado goes back more than 21 years. Ray Patlan began working with young people to paint murals in the park in 1979, as a way to combat the gang activity in the area. He and Eduardo Pineda worked with a second generation in 1986, and led a third group, including the granddaughter of one of the original artists, to complete the murals in the early ‘90’s. Both artists have committed their working lives to the community, as artists, educators, and administrators. As leaders in San Francisco’s Mural Renaissance they were instrumental in the creation of Balmy Alley, at 24th Street, where you can see their work today. Raizes/Roots was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the Recreation and Park Department. It is now part of the collection of the City and County of San Francisco.

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