FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:
Kate Patterson, San Francisco Arts Commission
Tel: 415/252-4638 E: kate.patterson@sfgov.org
Photos available on request.

SAN FRANCISCO ARTS COMMISSION ANNOUNCES THE SELECTION OF 13 ARTISTS TO CREATE MAJOR PERMANENT ARTWORKS FOR THE NEW GENERAL HOSPITAL

Artists include renowned sculptor Tom Otterness

SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2010 – Director of Cultural Affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Luis R. Cancel is pleased to announce the selection of 13

"Mother with Children" sculpture proposal by Tom Otterness

prominent local and national artists who will be creating original, permanent works of art for San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center’s (SFGH) new, nine-story, 448,000-square-foot inpatient care facility. Scheduled for completion in 2015, the new hospital will be built amid the medical center’s historic red brick buildings on the 24-acre campus along Potrero Avenue. The SFGH Rebuild project generated approximately $7 million in Art Enrichment funds for a comprehensive public artwork collection of the highest aesthetic standards, which will enhance the hospital environment for patients, visitors and hospital staff. Through research and best practices from the field, the new artwork commissioned for General Hospital will be a model of innovation and creativity for art in a hospital setting. An inter-disciplinary team of hospital staff participated with the Arts Commission in selecting artists, keeping patient care first in mind.
*See below for a list of artists and project descriptions.

“The new hospital will usher in a new chapter of excellent service at San Francisco General,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “The San Francisco Arts Commission has assembled an exemplary group of artists whose work will play a key role in ensuring both a healing and pleasurable environment and for providing comfort to patients and their families at critical times.”

“With the construction of the new San Francisco General Hospital, the city will once again set a new standard for health care, and the Public Art Program will be equally as impressive,” said Mr. Cancel. “The selected artists represent a diverse range of backgrounds and media, and their projects will be a source of pride for city residents for generations to come.”

“We are creating a real asset for the neighborhood and the city, with community art and a healing environment for patients, staff and visitors,” said Sue Currin, CEO of SFGH.

In September 2008, the Arts Commission approved the master plan for the General Hospital inpatient care facility public art program, which was developed in collaboration with representatives from the hospital and the architectural project team and incorporated research on national best practices for commissioning artwork for a hospital environment. The plan identified multiple interior and exterior sites for medium to large-scale permanent public artworks including major commissions of outdoor sculpture; art glass; terrazzo floor design; tile mosaic murals; artist-designed seating; video and light based artwork. The plan also called for the purchase of smaller scale framed two-dimensional works to be installed in public waiting areas. As part of the plan, Arts Commission staff will also evaluate the condition and appropriateness of the existing General Hospital collection, repair and re-frame works for reinstallation and refresh the collection throughout the campus with new works as the budget allows.

The experience of an acute care hospital is one that finds both patients and their families at their most vulnerable. Arts Commission staff worked with the 13 selected artists, who represent diverse artistic and ethnic backgrounds, to develop proposals for artwork that would be appropriate for this type of setting. The guidelines provided to the artists drew upon several studies that measure the impact of art on the clinical and behavioral outcomes of patients in hospital settings. The studies indicated that patients who are exposed to art, especially works that incorporate natural imagery, experience improved health outcomes. Art has also been proven to have a positive impact on the pleasure and well-being of staff and visitors. A hospital arts committee composed of representatives from each area that will receive public art also participated in the selection process, directly contributing their knowledge and sensibility about patient care.

Visitors to the new hospital will experience art on their first approach to the building. From Potrero Avenue, they will be greeted by a large bronze Mother with Children sculpture by acclaimed artist Tom Otterness. The charming sculpture, which features Otterness’ signature cartoon-like figures, celebrates the joy of a new baby and the role that hospitals play in providing health services in the community. For the pedestrian walkway to the entrance, Otterness designed a suite of playful small bronze heart-shaped characters engaged in activities such as talking on a cell phone to daydreaming. The heart sculptures were inspired by San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s “Hearts in San Francisco” fundraiser, which places heart-shaped sculptures in Union Square and throughout the city. Located on the main entry drive turnaround median, Cliff Garten’s Ethereal Bodies installation consists of nine vertical undulating stainless steel sculptures ranging in height from 14 to 22 feet tall that will be lit by multi-colored LED lights at night. Also located on the exterior of the building, is artist Anna Valentina Murch’s design for the plaza connecting the old and the new buildings. Based on the concept of a river as a metaphor for life, Murch created a series of basket like stainless steel banded sculptural seating elements surrounding planters and companion carved granite benches that meander through the space like eddies that flow across the plaza. An important feature of Murch’s installation will be a 6’ tall oval shaped stainless steel banded sculpture, which will be internally illuminated at night to serve as a symbolic beacon.

On the interior of the building, a different artist was assigned to each floor so that each level would have a distinct identity. As visitors enter the hospital’s main lobby, they will be immersed in a vibrant fully-integrated artistic treatment designed by Rupert Garcia that includes designs for the lobby floor, the wall space above the reception desk and the two story wall space adjacent to the main stairway leading to the mezzanine level. The focal point of the lobby will be a lush dramatic terrazzo floor featuring a multicolored flower motif that will be echoed in the wall pieces.

For the surgery waiting room located in the basement level, Paul Kos will create a video installation that will provide a window view into nature. The installation will be comprised of five video LCD flat screens turned on their vertical edge and mounted in a recess of the waiting room’s east wall. The flat screens will be framed to match other windows in the building and will feature a view that looks out onto an aspen tree that will sway and dance in the wind.

For the second floor, which is the maternity ward and where children are treated, Lena Wolf has designed three large mosaic murals inspired by her interest in folk art, fables and the natural world. For each mural she has created imagery that combines elements of flora and fauna to create otherworldly and mythical narratives.

Artists selected for the third through seventh floors were asked to create designs for a series of 25-foot long corridor windows that look into the building’s light courts and for a floor-to-ceiling backlit curved glass display that greets visitors as they enter each floor from the elevator lobby. Mildred Howard’s design for the third floor features tranquil Bay Area landscape imagery layered with brightly colored floral elements rendered in a style that resembles the artist’s earlier collage work. For the fourth floor, Stephen Galloway created a series of lush green photographs of the Western Redbud, a California native tree, which will be digitally translated into art glass. The fifth floor will feature a field of Nancy Blum’s exquisitely rendered botanical line drawings of medicinal plants found in Northern California. The sixth floor will integrate designs by two artists: Julio Cesar Morales and Arthur Stern. Morales’ artwork consists of etched line illustrations based on photographs of people that the artist encountered on visits to General Hospital and represent the broad spectrum of people who visit the hospital. A colorful and uplifting patchwork of many colors referencing the diversity in San Francisco, Stern’s stained glass design is a simple, yet sophisticated, abstraction of hills and neighborhoods, which upon closer inspection, reveals tiny streets, houses, stores, trees, parks, schools, etc. For the seventh floor, Alan Masaoka’s three stained glass murals depict the soft silhouettes of tree branches and birds taking flight, as well as a creek with rounded stones, which together represent the soaring of the spirit of humanity.

The new General Hospital also features a roof garden that provides patients and visitors with a restorative space to catch a breath of fresh air, and serves as a therapeutic center for the Acute Care for Elders unit. Integrated into the garden’s landscape design, Masayuki Nagase’s proposal is based on the natural elements of water and wind and includes a series of five hand-carved stone benches and two hand carved stone sculptures. The artist’s installation also includes an integrated pathway made of exposed aggregate, which will lead visitors through the garden to discover additional hand carved granite pavers embedded in the pavement throughout the space.

For more information or to view images of the proposed artworks, visit www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection.

About the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Public Art Program
The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the city agency that champions the arts in San Francisco. We believe that a creative cultural environment is essential to the city’s well-being. Established by charter in 1932, SFAC programs integrate the arts into all aspects of city life. Programs include: Civic Art Collection, Civic Design Review, Community Arts & Education, Cultural Equity Grants, Public Art, SFAC Gallery, Street Artists Licensing, and the San Francisco Symphony Youth and Community Concert Series. The agency’s core values are committed to the principle that all residents have equal access to arts experiences in all disciplines, that programs are provided comprehensively and evenly throughout the city, and that they are innovative and of the highest quality.

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary, the Arts Commission’s public art program was established by the City Arts Enrichment Ordinance in 1969, as one of the first of its kind in the country. The public art program seeks to promote a diverse and stimulating cultural environment to enrich the lives of the city’s residents, visitors and employees. The program encourages the creative interaction of artists, designers, city staff, officials and community members during the design of city projects in order to develop public art that is specific to the site and meaningful to the community.
SFAC Public Art website: www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection

About San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH)
San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center is the sole provider of trauma and psychiatric emergency services for the City and County of San Francisco. A comprehensive medical center, SFGH serves some 100,000 patients per year and provides 20 percent of the city’s inpatient care. As San Francisco’s public hospital, SFGH’s mission is to provide quality health care and trauma services with compassion and respect to patients that include the city’s most vulnerable. General Hospital is also one of the nation’s top tertiary academic medical centers, partnering with the University of California, San Francisco on clinical training and research.

For more information on the SFGH Rebuild: www.sfdph.org/dph/rebuildSFGH/

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