San Francisco Hidden Gems

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SAN FRANCISCO HIDDEN GEMS Wonderful places in San Francisco



“ There are little gems all around us that can hold glimmers of inspiration.” —­Richelle Mead


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GR_613 Type Experiments

01 Divisadero

02 Lower & Upper Haight

03 South San Francisco


The Making of a Fresco

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Presidio Pet Cemetery

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Wave Organ 14

Buena Vista Park Stairs

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Eagle’s Point (Land’s End Labyrinth)

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Camera Obscura

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Filoli Garden

Mount Sutro Forest

Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity

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01 Divisadero


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The Marina district boasts trendy bistros and postcard-perfect views of the Golden Gate Bridge, while Noe Valley offers quaint and quiet boutiques. Wave hello to the sea lions at Pier 39, and sample local cheese and charcuterie at the Ferry Building. Sit in on a yoga session in Dolores Park or marvel at the Dutch Windmill across from Ocean Beach.


Diego Rivera: The Making of a Fresco Presidio Pet Cemetery Wave Organ


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Full view of Diego Rivera’s “The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City” at the San Francisco Art Institute.


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The artist used painter Viscount John Hastings and sculptor Clifford Wight as models for the mural.


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THE MAKING OF A FRESCO SHOWING THE BUILDING OF A CITY

Divisadero

Place: The San Francisco Art Institute Address: 800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA Year: Begun May 1st, 1931; completed May 31, 1931 Painter: Diego Rivera Commissioned by: William Gerstle, President of SFAI, 1930–1931

The first place that I discovered had a mural by Diego Rivera called “The Making of a Fresco Showing The Building of a City.” It was a fantastic day. I didn’t know before that there was a wonderful place like this. On September 10th. 2014, I went to San Francisco Art Institute with my friend seeking to get a conditional admission for her. When I arrived, I was impressed by the Diego Rivera there. It was really big and took up the whole wall. There were a tiny number of visitors who discovered this place too. I just knew that there were many things that I should know and see in San Francisco before leaving this haven.


History The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City by legendary muralist Diego Rivera occupies a central wall in the Diego Rivera Gallery—a contemporary exhib-ition space for new projects by SFAI artists. The mural was commissioned by SFAI President William Gerstle (1930–1931), and was completed by Rivera in the course of one month, from May 1–May 31, 1931. It is signed and dated in the lower righthand corner, under the drafting table.

Rivera’s mere presence in the city was contentious, and his presence at SFAI, an example of the school’s willing-

The work powerfully conflates art and labor—the sheer

ness to absorb controversy for the sake of art.

“work” of creative practice with the individuals who surround, support, and fund a work of art. The mural

As indicated by the title, the fresco shows the building

has been noted as a provocative expression of Rivera’s

of a city and the making of a fresco, including the vari-

politics, and an example of the elevated status the artist

ous individuals involved in the commission, as well as

attributed to the industrial worker.

engineers, artist assistants, sculptors, architects, and general laborers. The central figure of a helmeted worker,

Rivera was an active—though frequently expelled—

rendered in supernatural proportion, can be seen as

member of the Mexican Communist Party in the 1920s

an example of the status Rivera attributed to the indus-

and 1930s. His murals engaged prevailing social and

trial worker, and is the primary subject of the fresco

political issues (particularly, the Mexican Revolution),

within the fresco—it is this figure that Rivera appears to

and portrayed workers and artists engaged in activities

look up to in the work, wielding palette and paintbrush,

of social importance or in purported positions of power.

his back to the viewer.

Anti-communist sentiment in the U.S. made it nearly

The fresco has made SFAI an international destination

impossible for Rivera to obtain a visa to create work in

for the study of Rivera’s work and is considered an

this country, and it ultimately took several individuals

outstanding example of his mastery of the medium.

from disparate sectors of art and government to combat anti-Rivera sentiment and secure his commission

To stand in the gallery today is to brush against a history

at SFAI.

of social critique and artistic rebellion—one that extends from the contained plaster of Rivera’s monumental wall, to the flux of new practices by SFAI’s current artists. Past and present converge here, but a spirit of iconoclasm, nonconformity, and questioning bring the work in the gallery together in shared dialogue.


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PRESIDIO PET CEMETERY

Divisadero

Address: Mcdowell Ave and Crissy Field Ave, San Francisco, CA 94129 Beginning: As a burial plot for K-9 guard dogs back in World War II, others believe it was a burial ground for 19th-century cavalry horses.

Just south of Crissy Fields in San Francisco’s Presidio district is a tiny cemetery bound by a white picket fence and dotted with miniature gravestones. This is the final resting place of Presidio residents’ beloved pets.

History Surrounded by a white picket fence, the pet cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of loyal animals owned by families stationed at the Presidio. Most of the grave markers mimic those found in military cemeteries and sometimes reflect the pets’ military lifestyle—listing birthplaces including China, England, Australia, and Germany. Many markers also include family names and owners’ ranks, which include majors, colonels, and generals. Others contain only a simple epitaph, such as “A GI pet. He did his time.” As in many military cemeteries, there are also markers to several “unknowns”. Grave markers in the pet cemetery date back to the 1950’s, when the Presidio was home to approximately 2,000 army families. Though there are no official records regarding the site, some credit authorization of the pet cemetery to Lt. General Joseph M. Swing, who was the commander of the Presidio at the time. In any case, there are numerous legends surrounding the cemetery, which some people believe was originally a burial ground for nineteenth-century cavalry horses or World War II guard dogs. During the 1970’s, the pet cemetery fell into disrepair. Legend has it that an anonymous former Navy man became the unofficial caretaker in those years and repaired the deteriorating headstones and repainted the fence. It is believed that he placed the military-style cautionary sign seen at the cemetery entrance.


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The close photographe for the Presidio Pet Cemetery and the whole view of it.


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WAVE ORGAN

Divisadero

Address: 1 Yacht Rd, San Francisco, CA 94123 Peter Richards and George Gonzalez Exploratorium artists in residence, 1986

The place was great and different from any beaches. There were a lot of magnificent rocks which create a sound when the waves hit them. The sound of the waves in this place impressed me. It was really fascinating. This was my first reaction to this place.


History The Wave Organ is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture located on a jetty in the San Francisco Bay. The concept was developed by Peter Richards and was installed in collaboration with sculptor and master stone mason George Gonzales. Inspiration for the piece came from artist Bill Fontana’s recordings made of sounds emanating from a vent pipe of a floating concrete dock in Sydney, Australia. In 1980, Richards (a Senior Artist at the Exploratorium

Director of the Exploratorium, began soon after, but

for many years) received a planning grant from the

actual construction did not start until September 1985,

National Endowment for the Arts that enabled him

seven months after Oppenheimer’s death. The Wave

to conduct an extensive period of investigation into

Organ was completed in May 1986 and was dedicated

the physicality of the Wave Organ phenomenon.

in June to the memory of Frank Oppenheimer.

A prototype, built at the same location, was presented

The Wave Organ is located on a jetty that forms the

as part of the New Music ’81 Festival. Though very

small Boat Harbor in the Marina district of San Francisco.

rudimentary in nature, it generated enthusiasm and

The jetty itself was constructed with material taken

support for a permanent work. Permit acquisition and

from a demolished cemetery, providing a wonderful

fundraising efforts by Frank Oppenheimer, Founding

assortment of carved granite and marble, which was used in the construction of this piece. The installation includes 25 organ pipes made of PVC and concrete located at various elevations within the site, allowing for the rise and fall of the tides. Sound is created by the impact of waves against the pipe ends and the subsequent movement of the water in and out of the pipes. The sound heard at the site is subtle, requiring visitors to become sensitized to its music, and at the same time to the music of the environment. The Wave Organ sounds best at high tide.


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A Visit to One of San Francisco’s Most Delightful Secrets which is Wave Organ.


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There are many more marvelous, unique, interesting, and beautiful sights to see in the greater Bay Area than most visitors and even residents could ever imagine. People can find the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz easily, but if you are willing to embrace the unknown, you will find that San Francisco is full of hidden gems.


OTHER HIDDEN PLACES FOR EXPLORATION

THE SPIRE

TOM AND JERRY CHRISTMAS TREE

The Presidio

Noe Valley

A 100 ft-tall art installation off of

Every December 12th-25th, Tom

Arguello Blvd on Bay Area Ridge

Taylor and Jerome Goldstein bring

Trail in the Presidio, this thing is

Noe a 65 ft, brilliantly illuminated

made from 38 large cypress trunks

Christmas tree. Oh and also, “hum-

that had originally been cleared

an-sized teddy bears, bathroom

to make room for new growth,

-sized presents, and a nightly visit

before being fastened together by

from St. Nicholas himself”.

“legendary forest art-man Andy Goldsworthy” into a new tower.

THE OWL MAN The Mission

CASTING POOLS

You’ve seen the window full of owls

Golden Gate Park

right by BiRite on Dolores and 18th;

You know there are buffalo, but

that’s not a secret. What you haven’t

you probably don’t know there are

seen is INSIDE of George Heymont’s

these pools over by the Golden

house. Until now. You’re doing God’s

Gate Park Fields, which MacNiven

work, Tyler. God’s work.

described as a “great place to practice your fly fishing without the hassle of flying to Montana”.


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Lower & Upper Haight

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Every neighborhood in San Francisco has its own personality, from the hippie chic of the Upper Haight to the hipster grit of the Mission. The Upper Haight is filled with a potent mix of locals and tourists. Many shops are geared toward luring visitors with some kind of reflection of the neighborhood’s storied past.


Buena Vista Park Steers Eagle’s Point (Lands End Labyrinth) Camera Obscura


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BUENA VISTA PARK STAIRS

Lower & Upper Haight

Address: Eagle Point Labyrinth, Lands End Trail, San Francisco

One of the many places that I discovered had the stairs that are in the Buena Vista Park. It was really beautiful and it gave me a sense of haven. One of my friends took me to see this hidden place and I really was surprised because I’m leaving in San Francisco almost three years and I didn’t know this place before.


History Buena Vista Park, located in the center of the city, is named for the spectacular views from its upper slopes. The oldest park in San Francisco, it features secluded, winding trails and one of the city’s few remaining coast live oak groves. Buena Vista’s natural area is on the park’s northern side. Oak woodlands have always been considered special places, and many cultures have deemed the oak sacred. A world of creatures thrives among the shadows of an

Acorns from the oak trees are the main food source

oak woodland. The acorn crop comes in the fall when

for squirrels. Some species of squirrels gather nuts for

other food sources dry up and many animals must put

the winter and store them in any accessible hiding

on fat for the winter. Several species of the birds known

place, usually by burying them. Although squirrels gene-

as sapsuckers drink from the trees’ phloem (vascular

rally have excellent memories for their caches, many

tissue that transports sugars throughout the tree), just

an oak tree has gotten its start from a forgotten acorn.

below the bark. Western harvest mice strip the bark,

If you look carefully into one of the trailside drainages

and Botta’s pocket gophers eat the roots of saplings.

in Buena Vista, you might see fragments of engraved

Insectivorous bird species such as brown creepers and

marble. The park’s meandering trails and drainage

nuthatches scour the trunks, branches, and leaves for

system are lined in part with headstones. Starting in

the many insect species that live in oaks.

1914 and continuing through the 1940s, San Francisco removed all the cemeteries within its limits except the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio and the cemetery at Mission Dolores. Headstones and monuments of the dead were relocated to Colma, although remains were not always moved with them. Unclaimed headstones were recycled for building sea walls, landfills, and park gutters such as those found in Buena Vista Park.


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A quick hike through Buena Vista park leads to a hilltop view of the Golden Gate Bridge.


EAGLE’S POINT

(LAND’S END LABYRINTH)

Eagle Point Labyrinth, Lands End Trail, San Francisco, CA Distance: 1.5 miles Elevation gain: 443 ft When to go: Year-round

My family headed out to explore Lands End. This rugged and wild little corner of San Francisco hardly feels like a city at all! It feels more like the edge of the world. I saw many beautiful cypress trees frame sweeping coastline views, rugged, rocky beaches and glimpses of old shipwrecks and the Golden Gate Bridge. On the scale of difficulty, this one ranks more like a nice walk in the park, but totally worthwhile and a perfect choice for the entire family.

History Lands End is a park in San Francisco within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is a rocky and windswept shoreline at the mouth of the Golden Gate, situated between the Sutro District and Lincoln Park and abutting Fort Miley Military Reservation. A memorial to the USS San Francisco stands in the park. Numerous hiking trails follow the former railbeds of the Ferries and Cliff House Railway along the cliffs and also down to the shore. The most-traveled trail in Lands End is the Coastal Trail, a section of the California Coastal Trail that follows the railbed of the old Cliff House Railway. This trail is handicap-accessible until the Mile Rock Overlook, and bike accessible until the Eagles Point steps. A spur trail takes users to Mile Rock Point and Mile Rock Beach, which offer views of the Golden Gate. Additionally, Lands End contains the ruins of the Sutro Baths. Other historic sites include numerous shipwrecks, which are visible at low tides from the Coastal Trail and Mile Rock. The Yelamu Ohlone tribe lived at Lands End before Spanish settlement began in 1776. After the Gold Rush, entrepreneurs designed the new Cliff House as a fashionable resort for the wealthy.


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There are a number of overlooks along the Lands End trail, but much of your view will be filtered through trees.


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At the 0.56 mile mark, we followed the steps down toward Mile Rock Beach. You’ll descend (and later ascend) about 180 feet down to the rocky beach.



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There are a number of informal fire rings setup on this point. We explored a bit, then took the trail up to the Eagle Point Labyrinth.


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CAMERA OBSCURA

Lower & Upper Haight

1096 Point Lobos Ave., San Francisco, California Built in 1946 Architectural style: Novelty Governing body: National Park Service

Camera Obscura is a place that I went to and it was interesting. The interesting part was this camera is old and has an old system which is rare to see these days. I was really surprised when I know there are just four cameras similar to Camera Obscura in the world and not a lot of people know about.


The Camera Obscura in San Francisco is a large-scale camera obscura and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located near the Cliff House restaurant perched on the headlands on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach on the western side of San Francisco, California. The Camera and restaurant are currently owned by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 2001.

History Cameras obscura, devices which project an image

Technology

of the surroundings onto a surface using only existing

The San Francisco Camera Obscura projects an image

exterior light sources, usually sunlight, have a long

onto a horizontal viewing table via a reflected image

history in San Francisco. The first recorded reference to

from a viewpoint at the top of the building. A metal hood

one in the city is from the 1860s in an attraction called

in the cupola at the top of the building slowly rotates,

Woodward’s Gardens. A previous incarnation of the Cliff

making a full revolution in about six minutes, allowing for

House was noted to have had a camera obscura on its

a 360° view around the building.

fourth floor in 1896. This camera obscura was destroyed when the restaurant burned down in 1907.

Light enters the building via an angled mirror in the metal hood. It then passed through a lens with a 150 in.

When the fourth Cliff House opened in 1937, the owner

(381 cm) focal length and is projected onto a parabolic

was approached by businessman Floyd Jennings with

white “table” in a black room. The origin of the lens is

the idea of adding a camera obscura to the cliffs behind

uncertain but it appears to have been part of a telesc-

the restaurant. It was installed on the site in 1946 and

ope, likely manufactured by the Clark Lens Company of

has been in continuous operation since then.

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Preservation The Camera Obscura was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 for its engineering significance. While the exterior of the building was extensively modified in 1957 to appear as a giant camera, the internal workings of the camera obscura, the basis of its placement on the Register, have remained unchanged since its erection in 1946. The 1957 external architecture was due to be evaluated for historical significance upon reaching fifty years of age in 2007.


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The camera obscura is a rare device, based on a 15th century design by Leonardo da Vinci. It produces 360 degrees of spectacular Live Images of the Seal Rock Area.


The Giant Camera Obscura building from outside.


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San Francisco is one of those cities that need no introduction; like Hollywood and New York, this city already enjoys international renown for everything from sightseeing to entertainment to food.


OTHER HIDDEN PLACES FOR EXPLORATION

PUG SUNDAY

SAN FRANCISCO SUNDIAL

Alta Plaza Park

Ingleside Terraces

At 2:30pm on the first Sunday of

$20 says you have no idea where

every month, everyone in SF with

the Ingleside Terraces neighbor-

a pug goes to Alta Plaza Park. Real-

hood is (it’s over by CCSF, by the

ly. “It’s basically the pug version of

way), but here’s a reason you

the Woodstock.”

should: it’s got this GIANT-ASS sundial sculpture that accurat-

16TH AVENUE MOSAIC STEPS

ely-ish tells time (except during

The Sunset

Daylight Savings). MacNiven says

A staircase designed by local arti-

it’s the largest of three mega sund-

sts and put together by more than

ials in SF.

300 people from the neighborhood, these mosaic steps (right by

BERNAL SLIDES

Grand View Park) took two years

Bernal Heights

to decorate.

These are two deceptively steep slides set in the side of the hill in Bernal (the top is at Winfield and Esmerelda), which’re even more fun because they’re “tucked in a quiet neighborhood where no one can hear you scream, as 30 layers of lower-thigh skin burn off within the first 8ft.” We’re so in.


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03 South San Francisco


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Filoli Garden

Mount Sutro Forest

South San Francisco

Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity


South San Francisco is a hidden oasis of the Bay Area. It is very much its own distinct city, which is not even contiguous with San Francisco city.


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FILOLI GARDEN

South San Francisco

Location: 86 Canada Road, Woodside, California Built in 1915 Built for William Bowers Bourn II Architect: Willis Polk Architectural style: Georgian style

I just feel astonished when I know there is a place like Filoli Garden. It is full of green colors because of the trees. It is not just that, but the trees are trimmed, uncluttered and they are comfortable to the eye which is beautiful. This garden is one of the magnificent gardens that a a lot of people do not know much about because it is located away from the main city of San Francisco. I hope the next time when I visit this garden, I will carry a big jug of warm tea to enjoy more and to take a rest from this busy life.

History Filoli is a country house set in 16 acres of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre estate, located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Lake, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Filoli is open to the public. Filoli was built between 1915 and 1917 for William Bowers Bourn II, owner of one of California’s richest gold mines and president of Spring Valley Water Company, supplying San Francisco’s water, and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn. In 1910 they had bought an estate in County Kerry, Ireland, but wanted a country place nearer home. The principal designer, San Francisco architect Willis Polk, used a free Georgian style that incorporated the tiled roofs characteristic of California. Polk had previously designed Bourn’s houses in Grass Valley and on Webster Street in San Francisco. Polk’s friend Bruce Porter was commissioned to collaborate with the Bourns in planning the gardens, which were laid out between 1917 and 1922. The horticulturist who designed the plantings and fixed the original color schemes was Isabella Worn; she supervised the garden’s maintenance for 35 years.


Some of the hedges were unbelievable. The one in the photo below looks fantastic.


An area known as “the wedding place” in Floli Garden


MOUNT SUTRO Listing: San Francisco Hill Location: San Francisco, California, U.S. Prominence: 208 ft

My husband and I were going for a walk, and suddenly an idea came up in our mind to go to places that we did not discover yet in the city to overcome the red tape. So, I searched for some places that are hidden gems in San Francisco and I found Mount Sutro. The whether was too cold that day as usual, and we were not sure to go to this place due to the whether or not. In the end, we decided to go to see this wonderful place. We had to walk for 12 minutes up the stairs of a small mountain to arrive to the place. I remember that when I got there, I did not control myself and cried “What is this amazing place.� It was a really cold day, but the splendor of the place made us forget about anything around, and enjoy the stunning scenery there in addition to the scenery of the whole city with its beautiful buildings. It was really a great day.


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Geography Mount Sutro is a hill in central San Francisco, California. It was originally named Mount Parnassus. The low South San Francisco

mountain is 208 feet in elevation. Mount Sutro is one of the forty seven hills within San Francisco, and among its original “Seven Hills”. Most of Mount Sutro is owned by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Of that a 61-acre parcel, including the summit, is protected as the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve by UCSF, and open to the public.

The 19-acre city-owned portion of Mount Sutro and the eucalyptus forest, called the Interior Green Belt, is

Sutro Tower, a large television and radio broadcasting

contiguous with the UCSF-owned 61 acres Mount Sutro

tower for the San Francisco Bay Area and very visible

Open Space Reserve portion. The forest is bounded

City landmark is not on Mount Sutro. It stands on a lower

on the north by the UCSF Medical Center and the UCSF

hill to the south between it and Twin Peaks.

Stem-cell Research Building; on the west by the Sunset District.; on the south by the Forest Knolls neighborhood, built in the late 1950s on cleared forest land; and on the

Sutro Forest

east by the Cole Valley neighborhood.

Mount Sutro has been covered by a dense forest, with about 80% being introduced Eucalyptus trees, that was planted in the late 19th century. The older trees

History

are now over 100 feet tall. The mountain is within San

Much of 19th century Mount Sutro was within the Rancho

Francisco’s fog belt, receiving fog throughout the

San Miguel of Alta California, a Mexican land grant given

summer. The tall trees precipitate the fog, with the moi-

to Jose de Jesus Noe in 1846.

sture being absorbed by the duff and tree roots, and the forest remains damp through the summer months.

The ranch property was acquired by Adolph Sutro in 1879,

It receives some 30 to 40% of its moisture from fog

shortly after his Comstock Lode stock was bought out

drip. There is a dense understory of non-native Himalayan

by his partners, the “Silver Big 4.” That enabled Sutro to

blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and several other plants.

invest in San Francisco real estate on a very large scale,

The forest provides habitat for a number of bird species,

at one point owning almost 10% of San Francisco’s total

including Great Horned Owls and various woodpeckers.

acreage. Sutro used annual Arbor Day celebrations to

Over thirty species were recorded in a single morning

plant trees (eventually thousands of them) on the rocky

of bird watching.

coastal sage and chaparral clad slopes and hollows and in sand dunes on his properties. Sutro originally planned to develop residential neighborhoods on the hill, then named “Mount Parnassus,” and on another to the east he named “Mount Olympus.” The hill was later renamed Mount Sutro, in honor of Sutro who also was the 24th mayor of San Francisco, from 1894 to 1896.


Sutro Tower from the beginning of the Eucalyptus grove.


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DIEGO RIVERA’S PAN AMERICAN UNITY “My mural will picture the fusion between the great past of the Latin American lands, as it is deeply rooted in the soil, and the high mechanical developments of the United States.”

South San Francisco

—Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity is a place where I went to while I was visiting City College to see my friend. We were walking on the college stairs and suddenly, I saw a narrow alley that took us to another area of the college. I asked my friend to walk into this alley to discover the place. We found some statues there near to a building. The building was empty and had a weird look from inside. Then, my friend pointed me toward a big painting on the wall which was really interesting. We spend 15 minutes there discovering this painting and trying to understand the meaning of it. That day, I thought of how many times that I have to spend in San Francisco to see all interesting places in it. San Francisco is full of hidden gems that I’m eager to know and see before I leave.


Overview Diego Rivera is internationally acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s most important muralists and influential artists. Rivera’s style is a unique synthesis of European painting, socialist ideals, and the cultural riches of pre-Columbian indigenous Mexico. He gave the people of the San Francisco Bay Area an extraordinary work of Pan American art and an inspiring vision of Pan-American Unity. His grand, 22’ high and 74’ long, mural, is entitled “Unión de la Expresión Artistica

The mural includes three self-portraits and a portrait on

del Norte y Sur de este Continente” (The Marriage of

his wife, artist Frida Kahlo. It is a unique combination

the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on

of an artist in his prime and a critical moment in world

this Continent). It is a sweeping synthesis of the art,

history brought together on a monumental scale. It is

religion, history, politics, and technology of the Americas

arguably the most important work of art created in the

that is as timely now as it was sixty years ago.

Bay Area.

Rivera painted this masterpiece, now commonly called

After the fair closed, the mural was intended to be placed

Pan American Unity, in 1940 as part of the Golden Gate

in the new library of San Francisco Junior College (now

International Exposition on Treasure Island in the San

City College of San Francisco). This library was part of a

Francisco Bay. He was commissioned by the organizers

grand architectural plan developed by Timothy Pflueger,

of the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition to paint

a prominent local architect, one of the organizers of the

a large-scale fresco during the run of the fair. It was the

fair, and Rivera’s patron and friend.

centerpiece of Art in Action, an innovative exhibit where fairgoers could watch artists create their work.

World War Two interrupted these plans. Pflueger’s library was never built and the ten panels of the mural were crated and stored first on the fairgrounds and then at the College until Rivera’s death in 1957. That year, Milton Pflueger, Timothy’s younger brother, proposed to install the mural in the lobby of the new campus theater. The mural was moved into this lobby in 1961.



The full painting of Pan American Unity Mural.


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San Francisco neighborhoods and hidden gems are one of the niftiest things about this city. These are a growing collection of the very best things to do in San Francisco Bay area—fun, wonderful, magical experiences. It’s a treasure map to hidden San Francisco gems, a shortcut to the “the rare” things to do which even lifetime locals often miss.


OTHER HIDDEN PLACES FOR EXPLORATION

BRODERICK/TERRY DUEL SITE

FARALLON ISLANDS

Lake Merced

The Pacific

You: “But this is just three rocks in

Difficult to swim to but visible on

the ground; doesn’t seem very cool

clear days, the Farallon Islands—

or secret to me. What gives, Tyler?”

27 miles off the coast—are one

MacNiven: “This California historical

of the premier Great White Shark

landmark is the dueling location of

feeding grounds.

two prominent California statesmen. Stone pillars mark where the two

CAYUGA PARK

men drew arms, and where one

Cayuga Terrace

fell. Boosh.”

Filipino emigrant Demetrio Braceros decided to turn a seedy, crime-ridden

THE CAKE GALLERY

park into a whimsical experience filled

SOMA

with imaginary wooden creatures and

This cake shop is famous for making

totem poles. And after deciding to do

literally any erotic cake you can

that, he actually did it. 20 years later,

think of, from 3D penises to that one

it’s still what MacNiven calls “one of

thing your girlfriend won’t let you

San Francisco’s most precious secrets”.

do. Also, MacNiven says they make “signature boob cakes”


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SAN FRANCISCO HIDDEN GEMS All content for San Francisco Hidden Gems was conceived, designed and produced by Rehab Hassanin. The only exception is the history of the places which was taken from many websites. Design Consultation Stanley Zienka, GR_613 Type Experiments, Academy Of Art University Copyright C 2015 Rehab Hassanin Some of the photographs in this book were taken by the auther. Some images were downloaded from flickr.com and are used in accordance with the Creative Commons Licence. This book is a non-commercial work produced as a student project for educational purposes, and as such is considered a derivative work under the Fair Use Clause of U.S. Copyright law. Manufactured in the USA



GR_613 Type Experiments

Rehab Hassanin // Spring 2015


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