Public Art Proposal Display
Art Proposals for the Alex Pitcher Room at the Southeast Community Center
The San Francisco Arts Commission is conducting a selection process to choose artwork for the Alex Pitcher Room of the new Southeast Community Center to be located at 1550 Evans Street. The Alex Pitcher room is a multipurpose event space that will be rented out for birthdays, wedding, meetings, and other events. The goal of the artwork is to celebrate the Bayview community—its people, values, history, and culture. Four artists were chosen as finalists by a Selection Panel to create site-specific proposals for the Alex Pitcher Room: Alice Beasley, Louisiana Bendolph, Phillip Hua, and Ron Saunders.
Bayview Crossings is designed to honor the people and community of The Bayview. Set against a fabric montage of typical housing stock for the area, a population diverse in age, ethnicity, income and interests crosses paths every day. The yellow crosswalks further tie the elements of the montage together and hint at the “crossings” of time and space reflected in this artwork. The piece has two components. The first is the background which would run the 65’ 7” length of the wall and would be approximately 14’ high. It would be sewn by the artist (at approximately 50% scale), then photographed and printed in panels on either a plywood or aluminum substrate by subcontractors. The second component is the figures presented as a cross-section of The Bayview population. These figures, also constructed in fabric by the artist at approximately 50% scale, will be photographed, printed and individually cut out from a substrate of either plywood or aluminum. If plywood is used, the edges of the figures would be beveled and painted black. The high gloss of the figures will contrast with a more subdued matte of the background. In contrast to the background, the figures will be sewn in high key colors. 
Louisiana Bendolph proposes to create an original abstract quilt top to serve as the design directive for the Alex Pitcher room at the Southeast Community Center. Her work, Doorway To A Dream, will be recreated as a custom-made ceramic and glass tile installation measuring 13 feet high and 60 feet long. The work will be installed along the top edge of the back wall of the Alex Pitcher room.
For the Alex Pitcher Room in the new Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans, artist Phillip Hua proposes a three-dimensional photocollage mural commemorating the six founders of the Southeast Community Center: Alex Pitcher, Eloise Westbrook, Espanola Jackson, Harold Madison, Ethel Garlington, and Shirley Jones. The imagery will show the six founders in the foreground while their names, relevant newspaper and publication quotes, and images of the Bayview surround them. Included are drawings for the original Southeast Community Facility, an image of the Bayview Community Center (an historic site where community meetings were held), a map of the Bayview, and an image of the shipyard (the reason many African Americans came to San Francisco). Behind the founders will be gold leaf to elevate the imagery to one of value and prestige. The goal of the mural is to provide and preserve visual and written histories of these important community leaders for generations to come.
The images created for this proposal are inspired by the history and culture of Bayview Hunter’s Point. They were designed to embody the richness of the diverse individuals who have proudly made this community their home, and inspire future leaders to continue to be engaged with life in the Bayview.
Opportunity For Public Comment
Please take a few minutes to review these artwork proposals and provide feedback on the public comment form below. Public comments will be considered by the Selection Panel as part of the Final Selection Panel meeting where the Panel will recommend one proposal for implementation. Please note that public comments do not constitute a vote.
The Final Selection Panel meeting will take place Friday, November 2, 2018, 9 a.m.–4:00 p.m. at 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 302. All Artist Selection Panel meetings are open to the public. An agenda for the meeting will be posted 72 hours in advance of the meeting on SFAC’s website under the Public Meeting section: www.sfartscommission.org.
The proposals are available online at www.sfartscommission.org/calendar, in the Public Art Proposal Display section. Comments may be emailed to sfacpublicartcomment@sfgov.org, or hand delivered/mailed to 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 325 by Wednesday, October 31, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.