Join KQED and local historians at a free noontime launch event for the new app on Wednesday, July 31, at 12pm at downtown’s Rincon Annex (121 Spears Street, San Francisco). Come see Let’s Get Lost in action and enjoy the immersive experience of the app at little-known artistic and historic gem in downtown San Francisco. Please download the app before arriving at the event. RSVPs are encouraged and can be made at letsgetlost.eventbrite.com.
Did you know San Francisco is home to some of the most astonishing public artworks created under the New Deal by such acclaimed artists as Diego Rivera? The first installment of tours takes a close look at historic murals at three locations including one of San Francisco’s most important landmarks — Coit Tower. It also includes two lesser known but spectacular gems: Rincon Annex and City College of San Francisco. The app is strategically created to augment the mural experience through interactive hunts that challenge you to locate and unlock hidden meanings and censored images in the murals using the device’s built-in camera. You can compare the mural in front of you to the artists original sketches before they were censored, scan newspaper headlines from the time, swipe through slideshows about the artists and archival photos, watch videos with historical background and listen to “guided looking” audio with narration and expert commentary.
“Let’s Get Lost is yet another new and exciting way to bring to life the treasure trove of stories about the Bay Area for our community,” said KQED President John Boland. “Our audience is curious and hungry for adventure and now KQED will be right alongside them as they explore this beautiful region we call home.”
“Every corner of the Bay Area is chock full of beauty and history. Let’s Get Lost will show you where to go to find these hidden gems and once you get there, give you the amazing background, eyewitness accounts, hidden stories and fun trivia that only KQED can provide,” added Colleen Wilson, executive director, KQED Interactive.
Other Let’s Get Lost tours being considered range from film noir movie locations to the Beat Poets in San Francisco to how to read graffiti.
Let’s Get Lost is KQED’s third mobile app. The KQED mobile app, also available on iPhone, iPad and Android gives you convenient, on-the-go access to the KQED live radio stream, news headlines, local event picks, program schedules, podcasts and member benefits. KQED’s popular member magazine, On Q, also has an app that expands the printed version with app-only content and up-to-the-minute schedule information for KQED Public Television and Radio.
“The New Deal Murals of San Francisco” is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the KQED Opportunity and Innovation Fund and is produced by KQED Inc., in partnership with the California Historical Society and the Living New Deal Project. Producers: Christine Murray, Joan Johnson Miller, Adrienne Calo. Senior Interactive Producer: Mark Taylor. Executive Director, Interactive: Colleen Wilson. Project Director: Louise Lo. Mobile Development and Design: Bayinteractive Inc., Project Manager: Kaisa Pyhälä.
About KQED:
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, and as a leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.
