#public-art

#public-art

The Bay Lights belong to San Francisco, Illuminate founder Ben Davis said in a Thursday statement announcing the March 20 relighting date. They're a reminder that beauty can live at the scale of infrastructure and that awe can be part of a city's identity. SF Mayor Daniel Lurie also chimed in on the same Thursday announcement. The Bay Lights are an iconic symbol of San Francisco and the entire Bay Area, Lurie said in the same press release.

It's not that advertising campaigns are never announced, but when they are, it's usually in advertising trade magazines, and generally by the agency that did the work. The client doesn't normally issue a press release that essentially says, "We are putting up some posters." Yet that is exactly what the Tate has done, issuing a general announcement that it will run an advertising campaign for its upcoming Tracey Emin exhibition.

Clock House No. 2, a public art installation by Drawing Architecture Studio, does exactly that. Every fifteen minutes, it chimes and glows, turning timekeeping into something you can walk around, peer into, and experience with your whole body. The Beijing-based practice created this piece for the 7th Shenzhen Bay Public Art Season in China, where it's on view until April 19th, 2026.

Meet all the horse statues just installed around San Francisco to celebrate the Lunar New Year's Year of the Horse, as these intricately designed horse monuments now adorn SF parks, markets, and public spaces. You may have noticed that all of the San Francisco Lunar New Year Celebrations are starting a little later than normal this year. That's because the Lunar New Year itself starts a little later than normal this year.

Drawing Architecture Studio presents The Clock House No.2 at the 7th Shenzhen Bay Public Art Season in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on view until April 19th, 2026. Commissioned for the public art program, the Beijing-based practice reinterprets the historical automaton clock as architecture, using low-cost industrial components to construct a structure that chimes and glows every fifteen minutes. Where the clocks once gifted to emperors represented technical virtuosity and expensive craftsmanship, this installation adopts a deliberately rough and economical construction.

An orange cat named Cheeto, who's been an internet meme for quite some time, is a fixture of the physics department at the University of California, Davis campus, where students and staff leave out food, beds, and the occasional note about his whereabouts. Sightings get logged on Instagram, and he's even picked up a joking Rate My Professors profile, complete with five-star reviews. Most days, Cheeto is easy to find sleeping in the sun or stretched out in the landscaping, clearly unbothered by his reputation.

The six-month extension must be approved by the Visual Arts Committee, the full Arts Commission and then Recreation and Parks. Both the Feb. 18 Visual Arts Committee meeting and the full Arts Commission meeting on March 2 will provide opportunities for public comment on the proposal. A spokesperson confirmed that Recreation and Parks does not incur any costs from the installation of R-Evolution. In a presentation created by Building 180 and the Big Art Loop for next week's meeting, R-Evolution is framed as a convenient placeholder until Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park renovations begin. Recreation and Parks currently lists that project's construction start date as "TBD."

I mean, I was excited cause I thought maybe Macy's coming back,

Designed by Boston-based sound and installation artist Ryan Edwards and his team at MASARY Studios, the installation doesn't just sit there looking pretty. Every shift in color and geometry is triggered by audio recorded on Fulton Street itself, whether it be traffic rumbling past, snippets of conversation, subway noise, pigeons, crosswalk signals or devotional music drifting in from Brooklyn Tabernacle down the street.

Sand City sits just two miles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, yet until this month, visitors couldn't spend the night in town. For decades, this half-square-mile town wedged between Costco and Highway 1 has been hiding in plain sight - a warehouse district turned open-air art gallery, where murals climb concrete walls and sculptors work in spaces that once stored industrial equipment.

My mind, though enfeebled by New Year's celebrations, was fine; I'd traveled to Queens to see Jeffrey Joyal's "my Life Underground" at Gandt. For this exhibition, the gallery left its longtime home in a basement for a column-laden miniature ballroom in a clinic up the block, complete with a wrought-iron chandelier and ghostly portrait hanging above the crown molding. Walking through the lobby to the exhibition room, I passed by an empty suggestion box entreating patients to "rate their therapist."

Known for large-scale installations incorporating a range of objects like metallic emergency blankets and orange traffic cones, SpY prompts us to not only see our surroundings differently but also to immerse ourselves in his otherworldly interpretations of space and light. A recent work titled "Divided" towered over a public thoroughfare amid skyscrapers in Xi'an, China. One part of a trilogy called Earth, comprising similar interpretations of glowing orbs within scaffolding, "Divided" splits the sphere in half. Two identical sides sit within their own frameworks,

It's fair to say most of us don't think much about airport architecture when we travel. We're too busy making sure our suitcases are checked before the counter closes, our liquids are out of our carry-ons at security, and we reach the gate before boarding ends.

The removal of San Antonio's rainbow crosswalks, which were originally installed in 2018 with the help of nonprofit Pride San Antonio, follows Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) October 8 order directing the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to remove "any and all political ideologies" from streets across the state.

We want to turn these iconic London black cabs into canvas for hope and help anyone struggling with their mental health as everyone deserves someone to talk to

The sculpture is formed as a continuous spatial loop that frames views and directs movement, producing a sequence of changing visual perspectives. Rather than functioning as an object to be observed from a distance, the installation is designed as an inhabitable structure that supports movement, sitting, and tactile engagement. The spatial configuration allows passers-by to move through and within the form, integrating everyday use into the experience of the artwork and positioning it as part of the public realm rather than a detached sculptural object.

Join the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation to celebrate the 2026 Hearts in San Francisco that support excellence in patient care and innovation at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Each year, the Foundation commissions one-of-a-kind heart sculptures created by local artists. After the sculptures are displayed in San Francisco for the public to enjoy, each is auctioned in support of ZSFG.

When Cjay Roughgarden was crafting what would become the largest public art installation in Golden Gate Park's history, she sought inspiration from her favorite children's book. The Richmond-based artist and fabricator has long been captivated by the story of "Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent," a 1975 tale of an enormous maritime monster who is urged by a shark to sink a boat of civilians, but overcomes the peer pressure to save them from the dangers at sea.

They are credited with bringing creative inspiration to millions every day - a simple idea that has been copied in cities across the world. In 1986 the first Poems on the Underground appeared in Tube carriages, and both commuters and visitors to London have been pondering their meaning ever since. Transport for London will be marking the 40th anniversary of this "art for all" project with new works, poetry readings and displays of poems at London Underground stations.

It's a free, walkable outdoor event that blends sculpture, projection art, interactive exhibits and even giant Roaming Gnomes (more about them later) and takes place Jan. 17-Feb. 15. It's the eighth time around for an event patterned after light festivals in Europe and elsewhere (see Fete des Lumieres in Lyon, France; Berlin Festival of Lights in Germany; and Vivid Sydney in Australia), and it draws both artists and spectators from around the globe.

Become a paid member to listen to this article As 2025 comes to a close, we take a look back at our top 10 stories that got the most attention this past year. Our most popular articles span the topics you care about most-from transit and art to historic preservation, film locations, and the hidden secrets of NYC. Enjoy our countdown and let us know what your favorite story was this year!

The small artworks are the calling cards of San Francisco artist DraINvader, who's on a mission to cover sewer drain holes with something worth noticing. "The idea is, every piece solves a real problem while adding something beautiful," he said. For the past several months, DraINvader has been steadily installing his pieces on city sidewalks. Each customized square plate features a 3-D printed image, such as a butterfly, a Day of the Dead skull or Star Wars' R2-D2.