• The status of our grant application with the Federal Transit Administration
• The major project milestones we expect to accomplish this year
• The dazzling public art installation planned for the Union Square/Market Street Station
• Recent progress we have made on the Chinatown Station
• The reroutes of Muni lines 30 Stockton and 45 Union/Stockton

You can also find information about our next Community Advisory Group meeting, which will be held on February 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church at 925 Stockton Street.

Two of the winning artists/artist teams will be commissioned to create two original works at each of the stations: a landmark and a wayfinding artwork. The landmark project will serve as the identity for the station and will be located in a prominent area such as the entryway or the large wall expanses on the concourse level. The wayfinding artwork will extend through two or three of the station levels, providing a visual thread for pedestrians to follow through the station.

At the Union Square/Market Street Station, Erwin Redl’s landmark artwork, Lucy in the Sky, will span the entire ceiling of the station’s main concourse. The ceiling’s long

Erwin Redl

expanse will be covered with hundreds of proprietary, translucent 10” x 10” light pixels aligned in a diamond grid. Each pixel will be lit by RGB-LEDs that will cause the small panels to shimmer and shift in color creating an ever-changing and dazzling spectacle for transit users. The wayfinding artwork commission for the Union Square/Market Street station was awarded to the artist team of Jim Campbell and Werner Klotz. Their installation, Reflected Loop, will circumscribe sections of the concourse and platform levels to create a unifying circuit of light and ambient reflections throughout the station. Made of highly polished stainless steel discs supported from above by thin steel rods, the band will wind its way through the station in a sectional loop.

Jim Campbell and Werner Klotz

Tomie Arai

For the Chinatown Station landmark artwork, artist Yu Mei Hou’s installation, Yang Ge Dance of Northeast China, is based on traditional Chinese paper cut art depicting a popular outdoor folk dance from the Northeastern provinces of China. The folk dance is a form of storytelling, and the artist’s work includes imagery from a number of popular legends as well as scenes from everyday life. Tomie Arai’s wayfinding artwork illustrates the history of the area surrounding

Yu Mei Hou

the subway station through architectural glass elements. As riders move through the different layers of the station, they will be able to experience this narrative in much the same way as an archeologist might sift through layers of history to uncover the past.

For the Moscone Station landmark project, local artist Catherine Wagner will transform photographs she took in the late 1970s documenting the construction of the Moscone Center into large-scale photographic drawings that are experienced as sculptural reliefs.  The images of the Moscone Center construction in process will be sandblasted and laser etched onto a grey stone or metal panel that will be set, slightly recessed, into the walls spanning the concourse level. For the wayfinding artwork, Tom Otterness will create a series of humorous sculptural vignettes featuring his signature bronze characters as transit riders, which will be placed throughout the station.

Catherine Wagner

Tom Otterness

For more information, please visit the San Francisco Arts Commission Public Art Program.

Chinese Cultural Center
750 Kearny Street
Operating hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

 The following are the artist proposals displayed for the CTS station:

Landmark Proposals

Gold Mountain Sequoias (金山青松)

Artist: Ming Fay
Title: Gold Mountain Sequoias (金山青松)
“Staged at the first landing of the subway escalators, the mural welcomes visitors as they ride the escalator down into the station, reminding them of the natural beauty that surrounds their urban environment and an important historical time in California’s history. The escalator trip towards the mural allows the viewer to engage the mural and be drawn into the illusive quality of the mosaic’s colored glass pieces. Measuring approximately 14’h x 40’w, the wall of the mosaic feels like a section in a long scroll, allowing the viewers to experience the piece as they move across the platform into and out of the station.  The mosaic’s vibrant colors will definitely light up the subterranean space.”

Yang Ge Dance of Northeast China

Artist: Yumei Hou
Title: Yang Ge Dance of Northeast China
“The mural on the arch wall depicts some of the more popular dances, such as the well known folk tale of the Monkey King, the tale of the White Snake, the story of the four monsters, and pictures of daily life such as a couple’s harmony, wife visiting her family, dancing crowns, young and elderly ladies.  The arch trimming in red tells the tale of Manchurians driving evils out, and the part in green tells of the celebration of one’s 60th birthday.”

An Ocean to Cross/A Land to Build

Artist: May Sun
Title: An Ocean to Cross/A Land to Build
“The focal point on the wall is a long photographic panorama of vintage photos of Chinatown taken by German immigrant photographer Arnold Genthe at the turn of the century. The images show street life – men gathering around a letter writer, pedestrians, vegetable sellers and other workers as well as a Chinese typesetting facility.  Above the long panoramic photo panel is a group photo of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Republic, taken with his supporters in San Francisco.  A fugitive on the run, he traveled to California to raise funds from the overseas Chinese for his cause – to overthrow the corrupt Manchu Dynasty in China.  The Chinese in San Francisco were instrumental in its success.”

Wayfinding Proposals

The Chinese Underground Garden

Artists: Carl Cheng
Title: The Chinese Underground Garden
“Three elements of Chinese gardens will be used throughout the station to provide continuity to the cultural community: the moon gate, the window lattice grill designs and the natural vistas, all inspired by the Tang and Sung Dynasty.  The artist will take images of contemporary garden vistas, fruits and vegetables displayed in the local shops and combine them into original artworks to be constructed into the window boxes. Contemporary shadow outlines and silhouette patterns will be used in fabricating the grill designs.”

Urban Archaeology

Artist: Tomei Arai
Title: Urban Archaeology
“In this urban narrative, passengers will be presented with a visual timeline that begins with contemporary images of the Chinatown community at the subway entrance and ends on the Platform Level with life before the city was founded.  Moving from level to level, passengers will be invited to experience the artwork in much the same way as archeologists sift through layers of history to discover clues about the past.”

The Garden

Artists: Yun-Fei Ji
Title: The Garden
“For this project, I will use the Chinese hand scroll as my point of departure. I envision a contiguous scroll that wends its way through the three levels of the subway station, with occasional breaks, as dictated by the architecture.
The subject of the scroll will be the building of a classical Chinese garden, an ideal place of harmony and fulfillment that reflects the dreams and desires of the community. This garden will be populated with contemporary Chinese Americans, young and old, going about their everyday business of working, playing and socializing, as they do in Chinatown’s parks. These characters will be approximately 14 inches tall and will be situated at eye level.”

Inception, Confluence and Flow

Artists: Faye Zhang
Title: Inception, Confluence and Flow
“In this series of works, I play with the varying forms and movement of water. My initial inspiration for these pieces came from the unifying quality of water. Not only is San Francisco nestled by the Bay, but early immigrants traveled thousands of miles on waterways, coming together and settling down to make communities within the city. The powerful and beautiful motion of water truly connects us all.”

For more in-depth proposal information and images please visit the display at the Chinese Cultural Center or visit the San Francisco Arts Commission Web site and email your comments on the proposal to Zoe Taleporos, Program Associate (zoe.taleporos@sfgov.org).

 Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street
Operating hours: Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.;
Wednesday, closed; Thursday, 1-8 p.m.;
Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

 The following are the artist proposals displayed for the MOS station:

 Landmark Proposals

(Untitled)

Artist: Brian Tolle
Title: (Untitled)
“Passengers ebb and flow through train stations, not unlike the fog that rolls in and out of San Francisco each morning and night. I propose the creation of landmark artworks that celebrate these phenomena. Using computer generated models and state of the art CNC router technologies, molds will be generated to create unique works that depict single moments of a surface seemingly in motion. The works proposed will be cast in translucent fiberglass.”

Flocking

Artist: Joyce Hsu
Title: Flocking
“The average commuter may spend up to five hours a week in a transit station for their daily migration. For me, these spaces are hardly inspiring of dreams. But what if commuters were presented with a flock of jet-pack flying devices (ornithopters) with bird-like wings against the backdrop of a dreamlike sky? The artwork would be the embodiment of both the imaginative (flying) and natural landscape (marshland) into the constructed environment (station). It will become a strong icon for the station, offering commuters a reminder of their dreams and an opportunity to dissect that eternal problem up close. The installation will be aesthetically intriguing, and become synonymous with the vibrancy of South of Market.”

Arc Cycle (working title)

Artist: Catherine Wagner
Title: Arc Cycle (working title)
“In the late 1970s I photographed  the beginning of the construction of the Moscone Center. My interest was not in the convention center as it stands today, rather it was the process of construction that speaks to the idea of change, a common denominator in all of our lives.  For the new Moscone Central Subway Station, I propose to transform images from the series George Moscone Site into large-scale photographic drawings that are seen as sculptural reliefs.  These would span the concourse wall from the turnstiles to the elevator shaft (concourse end, concourse side wall).  The images of the Moscone Center construction in process would be sandblasted and laser etched onto a grey stone or metal panel that would be set, slightly recessed, into the wall.  Having the opportunity to transcribe this imagery onto the subterranean façade, close to the site of their creation would highlight the cyclical nature of dynamic urban change.”

Wayfinding Proposals

(Untitled)

 Artists: Tom Otterness
Title: (Untitled)
“My initial ideas show the movement of life from above ground to the track level – using figures and buildings that are a cross between early constructivist abstraction and simple children’s building blocks. People are represented by four essential geometric forms: the sphere, the cone, the cube and the cylinder.  These abstract concepts can symbolize differences in race, class, culture and gender. The project will demonstrate the intermingling of all these different people on the platform of the subway, commuting to work, shopping with their families, carrying things here and there, and tourists with cameras on the way to museums. Like the city, the subway is a place where all types are welcome, where everyone converges and everyone is on equal footing.”

Untitled

Artist: Mildred Howard
Title: Untitled
“Waiting for a train to arrive, you may daydream of people or events that happened at this site in the past or even some you just saw last week. Subway stations are an allegory of modern life, with movement, fleeting glimpses of people and random relationships, mysteriously acceptable. To capture these ideas and help people navigate through the space, I would install related art pieces at all three levels of the station, as if leaving bread crumbs as clues to find your way to and from a particular place. This method would incorporate an art piece repeated in different shapes and locations within the station. This led me to the idea of the grid of glass at various locations that reveals imagery, telling the rich history of the site and the diversity of people who use the station. It conveys the mystery of the experience of walking down into the earth to catch a train that will disappear into a black hole while I am on it!”

Radiant Rays

 Artist: Michele Oka Doner
Title: Radiant Rays
“Monolithic concrete, the primary construction material of the station, is by far the most potent factor to consider when responding to the mission statement. With this in mind I propose a work of art based on light.

Beginning with the glass curtain wall of the head house an expanding radiant pattern, evoking the sun’s rays, will dominate the entrance. This radial motion is designed with an actual vanishing point in mind. It establishes palpable tension in the visual surface of the head house glass wall, and serves to extend the sense of space to an imagined plane.

The lines themselves will be sandblasted into the glass curtain wall and tipped lightly with gold leaf, adding a high note of brilliance to the site.”

For more in-depth proposal information and images please visit the display at the Contemporary Jewish Art Museum or visit the San Francisco Arts Commission Web site and email your comments on the proposal to Zoe Taleporos, Program Associate (zoe.taleporos@sfgov.org).

To help whet your curiosity, we wanted to show you a small preview and description of the artist concepts on display for the UMS station. For the viewing of the actual proposals, please visit the exhibit location at the following address:

 Weinstein Gallery
291 Geary Street, 2nd Floor
Operating hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

 The following are the artist proposals displayed for the UMS station:

 Landmark Proposals

SiO2 (Alma's Folly)

Artist: Brian Goggin
Title: SiO2 (Alma’s Folly)
“SiO2 (Alma’s Folly) is a site-specific sculpture that shelters the entrance to Union Square’s Central Subway station. The uppermost portion takes the form of the Silicon Dioxide molecule in an open matrix of steel bars, colored stainless steel orbs, and three streetlamp fixtures which all seem to rest on a frosted glass ceiling. The structure appears to be supported by inverted vintage streetlamp posts set at oblique angles as if they are in motion. Steel bands which echo the profile of the lampposts are set rhythmically in between, carving out an interior space. The lamps, separated from their poles, hang within the molecular matrix and illuminate at night, making the orbs shimmer. SiO2 features lampposts like those from around Union Square, putting this sculpture in perpetual dialogue with its site.”

They Are Looking Down

Artist: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov
Title: They Are Looking Down
“Pedestrians traversing the long concourse in the Union Square/Market Street Station will be startled as they hurry across two mysterious white squares in the floor under their feet. A group of playful boys appear to be leaning over the edge of one of the squares looking up at the passengers with interest and amusement, as though from the other side of the world. What do they think of us? The other large white square depicts the children peering down into an empty square, seemingly transfixed on something far below that we cannot see. What are they looking at? The pedestrians experience being both outsiders, looking down into the white space over the heads of the children, and insiders, being looked at by the children as they hurry to their many destinations.”

Lucy in the Sky

Artist: Erwin Redl
Title: Lucy in the Sky
“The ceiling’s long span is covered with hundreds of proprietary, translucent 10 x 10 inch “light pixels” aligned in a diamond grid. The distance between the light pixels is about six feet measured along the diagonal grid lines. Each light pixel consists of a framed, clear, ½ inch acrylic panel. Each acrylic panel has an 8 by 8 grid of surface holes on both sides. The holes are lit up by RGB-LEDs embedded in the metal frame. The individual light units are computer-controlled and display simple patterns and animations. A vexing scenario unfolds throughout the space’s volume while individual light pixels slowly change color in synch, rendering space a palpable experience. Individual pixels, transparent or lit up, aligned behind each other or seen individually, offer an ever-changing and dazzling spectacle for the viewers.”

Wayfinding Proposals

Union Arcade

Artists: Michael Davis and Susan Schwartzenberg
Title: Union Arcade
 “Union Arcade is an environment of light features, and pattern inlays traveling along the mezzanine and platform levels, designed to celebrate Union Square and its history. By their sequential features these artworks will draw people through the passageway and down to the platform, while suggesting the world above.”

Passing Time

Artist: Keith Godard
Title: Passing Time
“I imagine a passenger entering the concourse and descending to the platform, beginning his/her journey guided by a series of plaques representing either vertical or lateral ‘portholes in time’ covering certain years from over three centuries. The pieces would be smooth non-slip flat embedded into the station floors. A consideration for the wall installations could be rendered in low relief. As the traveler walks through the station’s concourse, the plaques progress from past to present until the viewer arrives at their destination of Union Square.  In the reverse direction, the visual process begins in the modern era so the commuter metaphorically walks back in time toward Market Street.”

Reflected Loop

Artists: Jim Campbell and Werner Klotz
Title: Reflected Loop
“Reflected Loop is a site-specific installation that circumscribes the entire concourse and platform levels above the pedestrian walkways, creating a unifying circuit of light and ambient reflections throughout the station. The band winds its way down one escalator shaft, spans the entire platform level, winds its way back up through the opposing escalator shaft,  and then runs the entire concourse level to reconnect with itself. The installation is a loop that has no beginning or end.”

 For more in-depth proposal information and images please visit the display at the Weinstein Gallery or visit the San Francisco Arts Commission Web site and give your comments on the proposal. Comments at the San Francisco Arts Commission Website must be posted to:

Zoe Taleporos, Program Associate
zoe.taleporos@sfgov.org

For the Chinatown Station landmark artwork, artist Ming Fay developed a proposal of a large colorful glass mosaic that draws inspiration from the evergreen pine forests of California and the Gold Mountains in the Bay Area. Yu Mei Hou’s landmark design proposal incorporates traditional Chinese paper cut art based on traditional Chinese folk tales, and May Sun’s proposal consists of a large wall artwork incorporating both archival and current photographs of Chinatown, with insets in the adjacent floor area. For the wayfinding artwork, Carl Cheng’s proposal will take transit riders on a walk through an underground Chinese garden. Using architectural glass elements, Tomie Arai will create a site-specific visual narrative about the history of the area surrounding the subway station. As riders move through the different layers of the station, they will be able to experience this narrative in much the same way as an archeologist might sift through layers of history to uncover the past. Yunfei Ji’s wayfinding proposal is based on the Chinese hand scroll that will weave its way through the station telling the story of Chinese-American’s participation in the building of America. Lastly, Faye Zhang proposes a series of mosaics on several level that reference moving water, as passengers move through the station.

At the Union Square/Market Street Station the candidates for the landmark artwork include Brian Goggin whose design consists of a glittering canopy of metal and glass inspired by the sand dunes that once were in the Union Square location. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s landmark proposal children gazing down at a hidden world located somewhere below the floor. The final candidate for the Union Square/Market Street Station landmark artwork is Erwin Redl. Inspired by the famous Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Redl proposes a ceiling grid of hanging 10” x 10” “light pixels” with shifting colors in a diamond shape pattern. For the wayfinding artwork, Michael Davis and Susan Schwartzenberg’s proposal includes overhead lighting with imagery of large-scale historic gatherings in Union Square and a series of artifacts imbedded in the walls that reveal little known historical stories from the downtown area. Keith Godard’s proposes floor mosaics depicting historic bird’s eye views of Union Square beginning in 1776 and continuing to the present day. The artist team Jim Campbell and Werner Klotz propose to create an undulating three-dimensional ribbon that spans the length of two station levels.

For the Moscone Station landmark artwork Brian Tolle’s proposal draws a parallel between the ebb and flow of passengers in the train stations and San Francisco’s famous fog. Using state of the art technologies, he will create molded panels that depict single moments of a surface seemingly in motion. Joyce Hsu’s landmark proposal combines concepts based on San Francisco’s estuarine system as a bird refuge with mankind’s drive to look towards the sky for better mobility. Her design presents commuters with a flock of jet-packed flying devices with bird-like wings against a backdrop of a dreamlike sky. Catherine Wagner’s design incorporates large photographs she took in the late 70s documenting the construction of Moscone Center. For the wayfinding artwork, Tom Otterness has proposed a series of humorous sculptural vignettes featuring his signature bronze characters as transit riders place throughout the station. Mildred Howard’s wayfinding artwork proposal consists of laminated glass panels featuring archival images that appear and disappear as passengers walk past them and that are intended to take transit-users on a journey through time. Michele Oka Doner is proposing a multi-level series of floor insets, elevator designs, and sculptural elements that reference sunlight and other natural phenomena.

We hope to see you at the public art viewing!

Exhibition Locations and Operating Hours:

Central Subway Public Art Program Manager Judy Moran will be available to answer questions from the public at a Q & A session at each of the three proposal display sites, see below for more details.

Chinatown Station
Chinese Cultural Center
750 Kearny Street
Operating hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Q&A with Project Manager Judy Moran: Saturday, July 10 from noon to 2 p.m. on the Pedestrian Bridge that crosses Kearny Street from Portsmouth Square to the Chinese Culture Center in the Hilton Hotel.

Union Square/Market Street Station
Weinstein Gallery
291 Geary Street, 2nd Floor
Operating hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
Q&A with Project Manager Judy Moran, Monday, July 12 from noon to 2 p.m.

Moscone Station
Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street
Operating hours: Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Wednesday, closed; Thursday, 1-8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Q&A with Project Manager Judy Moran: Tuesday, July 13 from noon – 2 p.m.