Public Art Projects

Harvey Milk Statue Set to be Unveiled

Clay model of bust of Harvey Milk in the studio of the artists
Daub Firmin Hendrickson Sculpture Group.

The statue of San Francisco’s first gay Supervisor, Harvey Milk, will be unveiled during a gala party at San Francisco’s City Hall on Thursday, May 22, 2008, 6-9 PM at San Francisco City Hall.

The project to place the memorial to Milk in City Hall is a joint undertaking between the Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Committee and the San Francisco Arts Commission. It is the first such public/private partnership of its kind. The effort began in 2003 when the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the creation of such a memorial to Milk.

Harvey Milk advanced the struggle for LGBT rights by becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Less than a year after taking office he was assassinated by a homophobic political opponent. The unveiling of this memorial, in the very building where he served and lost his life, will again make history; it will be the first such tribute to an LGBT leader to be placed in a seat of government in the United States.
 
The statue of Harvey Milk will be unveiled at a ceremony to be held in City Hall on May 22, 2008, on what would have been Milk’s 78th birthday. The event starts at 6 PM, is free and open to the public, and will feature friends of Milk’s, local dignitaries, the Gay Men’s Chorus, and special guests.

Louise Bourgeois's Crouching Spider on the Embarcadero

Louise Bourgeois "Crouching Spider," 2003. Bronze, silver nitrate and polished patina, and stainless steel, 106.5" x 329" x 247." Courtesy Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco and Cheim & Read, New York. Photo by Perretti & Park Pictures.

Louise Bourgeois’s monumental bronze sculpture titled “Crouching Spider,” on loan to the City by the artist, is currently installed by the San Francisco Arts Commission on the Embarcadero at Mission Street - Entry Plaza at Pier 14.

Originally produced in 2003, this cast from the artist’s famous “Spider” series was made specifically for display in San Francisco. Louise Bourgeois, 95, is considered to be one of the world’s most important and influential artists living today. She was born in Paris in 1911 and moved to New York in 1939 where her prolific career has spanned seven decades. Concurrent with the display on the Embarcadero, Ms. Bourgeois’s work is on a worldwide museum tour starting with the Tate Modern in London and traveling to the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

The sculpture, courtesy of Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco and Cheim & Read, New York, will be on loan for eight months or longer. “Crouching Spider” is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Sculpture in the City program, which brings both permanent and temporary sculpture installations by local and national artists to the City. This is a temporary project of the San Francisco Arts Commission and is placed on the Embarcadero courtesy of the San Francisco Port Commission. Art Enrichment funding is provided by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

Press Contact:
Jill Manton, San Francisco Arts Commission: 415-252-2585
Sylvia Brown and Susan Collins, Brown & Collins: 415-421-7137

san francisco international airport public art

Check out the permanent collection of Public Art at the San Francisco International Airport.

Central Subway Public Art Program

The City and County of San Francisco is undertaking the construction of a new subway system stretching from Chinatown to South of Market where it will connect with the new T-Third Street Rail Line. Scheduled to be completed in 2016, the transit system will include three subway stations, one above-ground platform, and a long underground pedestrian walkway connecting the Central Subway with other public transportation. The Arts Commission is currently working with local communities and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to develop a comprehensive arts program to reflect the rich cultural and historic context within which this new transit system will be located.

Please click here for information about the application process and Public Art Policies. Applications are available on CaFÉ, an online artist application service, and the deadline for submissions is April 30, 2008.

Branch Library Improvement Program

San Francisco Public Library Branch Library Improvement Program Art Enrichment Projects

Photo: A Library Book, an artwork at the new Mission Bay Branch Library by artist Vince Koloski (detail)

Art on Market Street

Talking Market Street: If Market Street Could Talk... by Sixth Street Photography Workshop with A Home Within. Project took place in Summer and Fall of 2006. Read More

New Art on Market Street Application Guidelines