Public Art Proposal Display

Art Proposals for Herz Recreation Center Public Art Project

Herz.jpgThe San Francisco Arts Commission is conducting a review process to choose an artist to create a work for the new Herz Recreation Center at Sunnydale Ave. and Hahn St. The artwork should be a community asset, promoting peace and harmony. The artwork should also reflect the identity of the surrounding neighborhoods, while being appropriate to the Herz Recreation Center and contributing to its welcoming community environment. Three artists were chosen as finalists by a Public Art Selection Panel to design site-specific proposals for this artwork opportunity: Miguel Arzabe, Natalya Burd, and Sanjay Vora.
 
 
 

Basket(ball) Weaving

Miguel Arzabe

Arzabe_Herz Presentation Board_sm.jpgBasket(ball) Weaving is inspired by the woven basketry of the Ohlone people- the first known inhabitants of the land. The Ohlone baskets were often given as gifts and used in important community ceremonies, much like how in the textile tradition of my Bolivian heritage, fine textiles commemorated significant events. To begin the design process I will partner with Mercy Housing in the Sunnydale Neighborhood to host a series of three art workshops. We will make colorful posters within the theme: The Community at Play. These posters will be cut into strips and woven with another poster that portrays a basketball Earth held in a pair of hands. The colorful palette is a celebration of the diversity of people who call the area their home now. The pattern is inspired by the basket motifs. Note that the portraits depicted in the proposal design are placeholder images that will be substituted with the posters created by the community in the art workshops. The resulting paper weaving design will be rendered into a 9’ x 6” wide by 8’ tall Byzantine smalti glass mosaic on the Recreation Center’s facade by the fabricator Mosaika. The individual pieces of glass are half an inch wide or less. Basket(ball) Weaving is my gift to the Sunnydale community. I hope it draws people together to play in a spirit of vibrant inclusion - a welcoming greeting for a variety of community recreation.

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Untitled

Natalya Burd

final presentation board small size.jpegFor the exterior wall of the Hertz Recreation center, I used a close-up image of a Monterey Cypress tree, a symbolic tree for Mclaren Park and San Francisco-which was originally introduced to the Bay Area in the 1880s. This was almost at the same time as the development of the Sutro Forest and the Sunnydale neighborhood. The image of the tree is placed on colored glass and mirror panels, that slightly change its appearance depending on the light and the time of the day. I hope for viewers to be engaged in the tree's movement through space and light and to be immersed in the peaceful presence of the tree (viewing it from top to bottom). Additionally, I hope the vibrant, multicultural Sunnydale Community comes to light via the interchangeable colors of the glass panels.

The piece consists of 12 solid laminated color glass panels. Each panel has 3 layers: tempered mirror on the back, thick color glass in the middle, and tempered glass with an art image on top. All the glass layers are bonded and laminated together, allowing the work to be sturdy and durable.

My goal is to take advantage of the natural characteristics of the colored glass and mirrors (e.g. sunlight reflections, feeling of space, etc.) to enhance viewers' experience of the natural beauty depicted through large-scale tree images. I truly believe that nature embodies a universal and powerful language that is understand by everyone. In essence, I hope to connect the rich history of the Sunnydale Community with the beauty of McLaren Park through my work.

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Reflection and Projection

Sanjay Vora

Sanjay Vora Herz Proposal Board for WEB.jpgThroughout time, joy and play amongst family and community have been universal to the human experience. The Herz Recreation Center and adjoining plaza is designed for this very purpose--for gathering, for playing, and for experiencing joy amongst the Visitacion Valley neighborhood and greater community. I think of my piece as being born from a reflection of what was, is, and will be in the spaces of the Herz Recreation Center Plaza and surrounding neighborhoods. Comprised of 36 colorful and uniquely painted ceramic tiles, and 36 mirror¬polished stainless steel tiles, this experiential and interactive wall piece will celebrate and reflect the multiracial, multicultural and intergenerational joy and play of this vibrant neighborhood. Through a composite visual depiction interspliced amongst actual reflections, visitors will experience the painted visuals of people playing and smiling spread across the ceramic triangles while they will simultaneously "see themselves", the plaza, and the park reflected in the juxtaposing mirror triangles. The concept imagery currently depicted in the renderings are an example of what the various people in the scene could be doing and how they may appear.

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Opportunity For Public Comment

Please take a few minutes to review these artwork proposals and provide feedback on the public comment forms below. Public comments will be considered by the Review Panel as part of the Final Review Panel meeting where the Panel will recommend one proposal for implementation. Please note that public comments do not constitute a vote.
 
The Final Review Panel meeting will take place remotely on Thursday, May 5, 2022, 12:00–4:00 p.m. All Artist Review 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 by Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.
 
For more information, please contact: art-info@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2100. 

What's Coming Up

Public Meeting

Visual Arts Committee Meeting

April 17
/
3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online
Public Meeting

Executive Committee Meeting

December 18
/
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Hybrid: 401 Van Ness | Rm 125 and Online
Public Meeting

Community Investments Committee Meeting

April 16
/
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 408 and Online
Public Meeting

Civic Design Review Committee Meeting

April 15
/
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online