Temporary Public Art for Great Highway Unveiled

It’s difficult to get San Franciscans to agree on pretty much anything when it comes to the Great Highway.

But Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Ocean Beach Park, says consensus did emerge when it came to discussions around public art. Lux’s nonprofit is working with San Francisco Recreation and Parks to “activate” the two-mile stretch of roadway for the April 12 grand opening of the yet-to-be-named park.

“After the victory of Prop K, we also spoke with numerous community leaders, neighbors and local art professionals on how best to approach art at the new park,” Lux said in an online meeting with the media on Monday. “The vast majority of people want the ocean to remain the star of the space, and want art and park features that compliment and don’t overwhelm the natural beauty of the coast.”

He then presented images and renderings of 11 new murals and five sculptures, privately funded by Friends of Ocean Beach Park and other donors, that will be temporarily installed along the Great Highway for up to one year. The planned artwork includes colorful paintings on asphalt at major intersections, a crab sculpture that doubles as an optical illusion and metal giraffe sculptures near the San Francisco Zoo.

Of the 18 artists selected for the park’s opening installations, all but one are from the Bay Area, with four artists making their public art debuts. They are: Zach Coffin, Emily Fromm, Chris Granillo, Sarah Grimm and Jamae Tasker, Peter Hazel, Matley Hurd, Orlie K, Alice Lee, Cameron Moberg, Josue Rojas, Joey Rose, Wesley Skinner, Martin Taylor and Christina Xu.

Work on two of the murals, a “playscape” panorama by Emily Fromm and an homage to local flora and fauna by Orlie Kapitulnik (aka Orlie K), is already underway.

As the very visible harbingers of the changes to come, Fromm and Kapitulnik have experienced the tension in the neighborhood firsthand. Fromm’s mural was just days away from completion when it was vandalized with white spray paint sometime between Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15, right when the Great Highway closed to car traffic.

The message “JOEL LIE$ #RECALL” — a reference to Sunset Supervisor Joel Engardio’s support of Proposition K and subsequent efforts to recall him — was written in what appeared to be the same white paint on the highway surface.

“Having been there for six weeks, I’d say 75% or more of the interactions I received were super, super positive, and people have been really excited,” Fromm said in Monday’s meeting. “Around that time of the closure especially, we had some people who made us feel unsafe and said really hurtful things. And we appreciate you all for stepping up so, so much because when you’re out there all by yourself, it can be a little bit daunting.”

Shannon Riley, CEO of Building 180, the art production agency that helped Friends of Ocean Beach Park select the muralists and sponsored three of the sculptures, said over 60 volunteers helped Fromm restore her mural over the weekend. Fromm said she’s on track to complete the piece and put the final protective layer on by the end of this week.

Lux stated that protecting the artists involved in the project is even more important than protecting the art. “We hope that people will find more productive and respectful ways to express their opinions than destroying the artwork,” he said. Friends of Ocean Beach Park is spending $400,000 on the artwork and other preparations for the park’s opening day.

During the Great Highway’s monthlong closure, the city will conduct its annual sand relocation from the north end of Ocean Beach to the south. As the artwork is installed, Recreation and Parks will use the month-long closure to add seating and recreation areas.

While some Outer Sunset residents have raised concerns about the environmental impact of the artwork, Lux stressed that everything installed over the coming month is temporary. “The people of San Francisco, through voting on Prop K, have removed the element that is not natural to the landscape that has been causing the most harm — and that’s automobile pollution,” Lux said.

He said welcomes feedback on the pieces, as well as the contact information of artists who want to be involved in future open calls.

“The work we’re doing is activating day one of the park, which is just the beginning,” Lux stressed. “Rec and Parks is launching a public engagement process to guide long-term improvements, and we hope that our artistic placemaking work helps inform the community’s engagement with that process.”

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Arts Commission will present the full list of planned artwork to the SFAC’s Visual Arts Committee on Wednesday, March 19 at 2 p.m. General public comment will take place in person near the beginning of the meeting.