Public Art Proposal Display

Art Proposals for the SFWD at 2000 Marin St. Public Art Project

Public Comment Period:

March 08, 2024 to March 25, 2024

Proposal Viewing Location

Southeast Community Center
Main Lobby 
1550 Evans St. 
San Francisco, CA 94124
On view: March 15th through March 25th 
 
Public Comment
View the Proposals

SFWD-2000 Marin.pngThe San Francisco Arts Commission is conducting a review process to choose an artist or artist team to create an artwork to be integrated into the north and west facades of the parking garage of the new San Francisco Water Department campus at 2000 Marin Street. The highly visible, monumental artwork shall be inspired by water and reflect the activities of the San Francisco Water Department, including connecting all to deliver high quality, efficient and reliable water to the residences and businesses within the City and County of San Francisco. The artwork shall also reflect the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s mission to provide its customers with high quality, efficient and reliable power, water, and sewer services in a manner that is inclusive of environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to its care. Four artists/artist teams were chosen as finalists by a Public Art Review Panel to design site-specific proposals for this artwork opportunity. They are: Hughen/Starkweather, Walter Kitundu, RE:site, and Favianna Rodriguez.

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Hughen/Starkweather

Confluent Systems

HughenStarkweatherBoard_Final.jpgHughen/Starkweather propose to create a site-specific, timeless, monumental artwork that reflects the interconnectedness between water and infrastructure. Confluent Systems makes visible what is often invisible: the complex engineered and natural systems that make life in the city possible. The imagery includes dynamic, fluid shapes symbolizing water – the essential element that sustains all human activities – and the complex, efficient systems of the San Francisco Water Department that keep businesses and residents supplied with reliable water, power, and sewer services. 

Comprised of layered and shaped metal panels with perforated patterns of varying shapes and dimensions, this artwork will herald the start of the Evans Avenue art corridor and will be a treasured artwork created by local artists for the neighborhood and the City. A network of vibrantly colored lines, rectangles, and geometric forms intertwine with the water shapes, symbolizing an intricate network of pipes. To make the work, the artists referenced local engineered and natural systems including SF recycled water systems, the Hetch Hetchy system, the Tuolumne watershed, San Francisco reservoirs, Bayview Hunters Point street grids, hydroelectric lines, green infrastructure, and the location of the building itself, which sits on the former shorelines of Islais Creek and San Francisco Bay before the area was developed.

As part of this project, Hughen/Starkweather will work with youth and teens in Bayview Hunters Point to create artwork and writing that reflects observations of local ecologies. The youth, artists, and local nonprofits will work together to create an ecology field guidebook to the area that includes information about plants, soils, histories, and water systems, and highlights the artwork and writing by the youth on these topics. The field guides will be distributed throughout the community free of charge, and serve as an educational resource made by and for the community, and promoting awareness, appreciation, and understanding of local ecosystems.

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Walter Kitundu

Those Who Carry Water

Kitundu Proposal board FOR WEB.jpgThose Who Carry Water is a site-specific portrait of the water system, the people who sustain it, and the community through which the water flows. The work will be made of large architectural glass panels mounted on the north and west sides of the building. The water images will be digitally printed with ceramic enamels with hand painted touches.

Every image will reference a high-resolution photograph of water taken at locations in the water system managed or made possible by the SFPUC. From Hetch Hetchy to powerhouses, from public pools to treatment plants, Kitundu will photograph water in many locations and conditions. He will also photograph those who care for and maintain water systems, the birds and beings of the watershed, as well as the people of Bayview whose silhouettes will later appear in the glass, made visible by the water itself. The SFPUC has an established history of photo documentation and we hope to contribute images to their archive as well as provide closer looks to visitors by making prints available for the Administration Building or other interiors onsite.

Kitundu will partner with celebrated choreographer and long-time San Francisco community leader Joanna Haigood to build relationships with SFPUC workers and the people of Bayview around water issues and to generate the photographs and stories that will be expressed in the glass. We want this artwork to be of the community rather than merely in the community. Haigood is known for her in-depth research and community-involving creative process and has maintained a studio running free arts education programs in Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood for more than 30 years. Our time spent will also result in the creation of an aerial performance on the building for the unveiling of the work. The development of this performance is central to making the physical artwork as it provides a vital framing for our extensive research and interactions. It animates and activates our connection to people and will bring their stories to life in spectacular fashion. It is also a way of honoring and giving back to our community.

This community work will be critical to the creation of an artwork that shares stories from Bayview residents about their relationships with water under the stewardship of the SF Water Department. Selected lines from the stories we receive will adorn the images inside the garage creating an interior poem weaving together ideas from multiple communities. When we were introduced to this project it was clear that the SFPUC wanted this project to have a meaningful impact in the surrounding community and we are taking that to heart.

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RE:site

Waterlines

ONLINE_REsite_SFPUC_Narrative 030424._Board30x40in.jpgWaterlines is inspired by the major watersheds that supply water to the people of San Francisco and the ecological importance of the coastal wetlands of the Bay Area. We see things differently reflected in water, as if through a looking glass into another world. Reflecting on water becomes a resonant metaphor for this work, prompting curiosity about where our water comes from and the work that SFPUC does to connect Bay Area communities with life sustaining water.

As artists, we envision Waterlines as a visually poetic distillation of the interconnectedness of all things and being in harmony with nature. The form of this artwork evokes the water lines that connect communities across San Francisco. The proposal utilizes an array of pipe segments that are mounted to the parking garage façade. The pipes are each individually coped through a laser cutting process. Each pipe segment will be painted on the interior so that the coping reveals punctuations of color that will resolve into an expansive artistic composition. 

Generated using a parametric program, the façade artwork features a panoramic expression of reflected landscapes on the water surface. Whimsically surreal, the composition distills the journey of water from the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range to the San Francisco Bay, following the path of the SFPUC Water System. Our team will work with a local Bay Area art photographer to capture these stunning, geographically distinct vistas. Merging the themes of nature and technology, the composition also evokes the appearance of a streamgraph, a type of data visualization that uses multiple data categories to show how values, such as how water usage or rainfall, change over time.

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Favianna Rodriguez

Tides of Transformation: Reshaping San Francisco’s Water Legacy

Favianna_Rodriguez_Proposal_Board_JPEG.jpgTides of Transformation: Reshaping San Francisco’s Water Legacy is about reimagining our relationship to water by examining the past, present and future. Through abstract symbolism, vibrant hues, and my distinctive collage approach, I aim to chronicle the intertwined tales of three communities that have deeply shaped San Francisco's water system:

  1. The story of water itself and how it moves from the natural world to the city. I will illuminate crucial species connected to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the Tuolumne River. Employing symbols such as regional birds, water motifs and system maps, I'll trace the intricate journey of water.
  2. The invaluable contributions of SFPUC’s water workers who are fundamental to water operations and who organized for better working facilities. Via symbols such as pipe fittings, tunnel drawings and tools, I will celebrate the laborers.
  3. The story of the Black leaders in the Bayview-Hunters Point community who organized for change and justice around the water system. Through powerful symbols such as hands and star-like shapes, I aim to celebrate the organizing power of changemakers past and present, fostering a narrative of healing and forward momentum.

Central to this narrative tapestry—encompassing both human and ecological entities—is the ethos of transcending past systemic missteps. My objective is to champion themes of environmental justice, sustainability, and repair.

My artistic process is deeply rooted in dialogue and hands-on art workshops with local stakeholders, community advocates, labor leaders, environmentalists, and social justice organizers.  I will also include a community benefits package for local artists to create art about SF’s watersheds and the future of climate justice.

View a larger image of the proposal

Opportunity For Public Comment

Please take a few minutes to review these artwork proposals and provide feedback. The proposals are available online at www.sfartscommission.org/calendar in the Public Art Proposal Display section, where you can leave feedback in the public comment form. Comments may also be submitted via email to sfacpublicartcomment@sfgov.org by Monday, March 25th at 5:00 p.m.

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Information For

What's Coming Up

Public Meeting

Executive Committee Meeting

December 18
/
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Hybrid: 401 Van Ness | Rm 125 and Online
Public Meeting

Visual Arts Committee Meeting

December 16
/
2:30 PM to 6:00 PM
Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 408 and Online
Public Meeting

Community Investments Committee Meeting

December 09
/
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online
Public Meeting

Full Arts Commission Meeting

May 06
/
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online
View the Calendar