Public Art Program

The San Francisco Arts Commission, through the Public Art Program, is conducting the Central Subway Public Arts Program to create an exciting range of artworks for the Central Subway stations and adjacent properties.  As with all new City capital improvement projects, two percent of the eligible Central Subway construction costs will be allocated for public art.  The Arts Commission worked with cultural agencies along the Central Subway corridor, local communities and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to complete a comprehensive Central Subway Arts Master Plan, which is available on the Arts Commission website.  The Arts Commission worked with the SFMTA and local communities to develop a comprehensive public art program that reflects the rich cultural and historic context within of the areas in which this new transit system will be located.  Following the submission of proposals by 19 national and local artists, a public display period was conducted July 9 to 16, 2010 with the winners announced July 30.  The winners and photos are shown below and the San Francicso Arts Commission press release about the Central Subway Public Art Program is available at the Arts Commission website.

The San Francisco Arts Commission approved the selected artists for the Central Subway Public Art Program who will create 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 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.

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 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. The wayfinding artwork is to be announced.

We list all available art proposals out for bid on our Request for Proposal page.