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Community

Beyond Decoration: How SFPUC’s Art Installations Embody Our Mission

Norie Sato's Art Wall colorful metal against a building
Whorl Whirl: Our Circular Nature by Norie Sato, is installed on Evans Avenue, between Rankin and Quint Streets, in the Bayview neighborhood.
  • Amelie Hunt

At the SFPUC, public art is far more than beautiful — it’s a powerful, intentional expression of the agency’s environmental mission and of the communities we serve. Blair Randall, SFPUC’s Arts and Education Program Manager, manages our agency’s investment in public art and recently shared some insight into how public art becomes a living part of the SFPUC’s infrastructure and spirit.

Like most major cities, San Francisco has a dedicated ordinance to support public art. At the SFPUC, this means 2% of construction costs for above-ground capital infrastructure are used to create site-specific public artworks. As Blair explains, the goal of SFPUC’s approach towards public art is to create artworks integrated into capital infrastructure which reflect SFPUC’s environmental mission, tell the stories of local communities, and reveal the often-invisible infrastructure of water, power, and sewer systems.

Crucially, these artworks are not just about a place — they are created by, of, and for a place and a community — and their creation involves intense collaboration.

“While a small artwork might be created in a studio, public art is different,” Blair says. “Artists who are commissioned to create public art for our agency really immerse themselves in the operations and mission of the SFPUC, the communities we serve and, drawing from these experiences, create a site-specific, one-of-a-kind artwork. This approach requires a close and intentional partnership between the SFPUC, the artist, the project design team and community members. While it can take years to realize a public artwork working at this scale, when you experience it, there is a depth and resonance to the artwork which is palpable.”

Most SFPUC artworks are commissioned specifically for their unique, agency-owned locations. Artists are selected based on their past work and are commissioned to create unique pieces of public art that speak to our agency’s operations, the location’s history, the local environment, and to community. Blair is at the center of this complicated, interagency process which is as thoughtful as it is meticulous and transparent. There are no fewer than a dozen SFPUC public artworks currently in development and for each Blair works closely with the San Francisco Arts Commission to ensure both artistic excellence and public impact. 

Blair highlights three particularly compelling artworks that exemplify SFPUC’s Community Benefits approach towards public art:

Local San Francisco artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle in front of her artwork to "Navigating the Historical Present: Bayview-Hunters Point," currently displayed at the Southeast Community Center.
Local San Francisco artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle in front of her artwork to "Navigating the Historical Present: Bayview-Hunters Point," currently displayed at the Southeast Community Center.

  • Navigating the Historical Present: Bayview-Hunters Point by Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Alex Pitcher Room, Southeast Community Center. 

    The entire collection of artworks by 27 local artists at the Southeast Community Center is truly exceptional. Navigating the Historical Present: Bayview-Hunters Point by Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle in the Alex Pitcher room provides, literally, the backdrop for so many community events. In this artwork the artist washes family photographs in blue watercolor in the same way that the center wraps the stories of community into the building itself.

  • Whorl Whirl: Our Circular Nature (pictured in article feature photo) by Norie Sato, Headworks Facility for the Southeast Treatment Plant.

    This artwork is hard to miss. Rising 35 feet high and extending 335 feet down Evans Ave this monumental artwork visually interprets the invisible process of wastewater delivery and treatment. Through layered circular forms and shifting colors, the artwork evokes the whirlpools which connect households to the treatment plant, inviting viewers to reflect on often unseen but critical wastewater infrastructure.

The artist Walter Kitundu during the installation of Rúupaywa: Songs of the Watershed at the Alameda Creek Watershed.
The artist Walter Kitundu during the installation of Rúupaywa: Songs of the Watershed at the Alameda Creek Watershed.

  • Rúupaywa: Songs of the Watershed by Walter Kitundu, Alameda Creek Watershed.

    The artist Walter Kitundu collaborated closely with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to create a profound artwork which honors the tribe’s creation story. The artwork takes the form of an eagle, symbolizing both a protector and a creator from the Muwekma Ohlone creation story and, sheltering a bench beneath its wings, invites visitors to feel embraced and protected. The artwork is made of painted steel tubing and glass panels, and includes a sound installation in the nearby gardens. A Golden Eagle feather embedded in plexiglass grounds the artwork and serves as a reminder of the tribe’s past and continuing presence.

 

See for Yourself

To learn more or explore these works, visitors can find information through the SFPUC and Arts Commission websites.