Unsurprising Development

The water has been shut off over a year (SFGate)

In August we commented on the City's decision to remove the Vaillancourt Fountain as part of a 5-acre development plan. As is true of every highly visible construction project in Northern California, legal methods have been employed to halt the fountain's removal.

Armand Vaillancourt, the 96-year-old artist behind the brutalist fountain in Embarcadero Plaza, tapped a lawyer to write the letter, asking the city on August 29 to “immediately cease and desist from taking any steps whatsoever that may endanger or damage the Vaillancourt Fountain.”

...If the city ignores Vaillancourt’s warning and request for the city to hand over all documents related to the fountain’s future and keep the artist in the loop on ongoing conversations, Vaillancourt and six “long-standing” architectural and cultural organizations are prepared to take legal action, according to the letter.

We have seen this play before: opposition to the removal of an old building or public work of art has not furnished a plan to pay for the repair and upkeep of the object being eliminated. In Vaillancourt's case the repair is estimated to cost $29 million. One easily foreseeable result is that nothing happens while the property deteriorates. If San Francisco avoids this outcome, it will be a good sign that it's back.

No Fountain in its Future

Armand Vaillancourt, 95, stands in the midst
of his water sculpture (Suzuki/Chronicle)

Last month all signs pointed to its demise. This week San Francisco filed the paperwork that will lead to the removal of the Vaillancourt Fountain. [bold added]

San Francisco parks officials this week requested the removal of the massive Vaillancourt Fountain from Embarcadero Plaza, the first written acknowledgement that they do not intend to include the controversial 710-ton sculpture in the plaza’s planned redesign...

The letter, a copy of which was provided to the Chronicle by park department officials, notes that it would cost an estimated $29 million to restore the broken-down fountain to working order. That sum almost equals the entire $32.5 million budget for the ambitious park makeover to combine the area formerly known as Justin Herman Plaza with Sue Bierman Park, creating a seamless 5-acre multiuse destination across from the Ferry Building.

The concrete Brutalist fountain, which has been a lightning rod for public opinion since its debut a half-century ago, sits in the middle of the planned multiuse area. A park department report estimates that it would cost $2.5 million to remove it.

Your humble blogger does like the fountain but he does not love it. I have no way of judging whether it's worth $29 million to the City to restore it, plus committing $millions to maintain it annually. I do hope its replacement--the "seamless 5-acre multiuse destination"--does not turn out to be an overhyped, underpriced monstrosity like most of the City's other projects, thereby making everyone regret that they were stampeded into destroying a unique work of art.

Vaillancourt Vigil

The fountain is fenced off and "closed"
per the green sign (Chron photo)

The future is bleak for San Francisco's 54-year-old Vaillancourt Fountain.

a San Francisco city official said publicly for the first time that the controversial concrete sculpture is not part of the renovation plan for Embarcadero Plaza.

“We did look into keeping the fountain on-site,” Recreation and Park Department Project Manager Eoanna Harrison Goodwin told a decidedly pro-fountain audience, “but once we got the cost estimate, it is beyond our project budget.”

The revelation, while not the final word on the 710-ton sculpture, was perhaps the most discouraging sign yet for its ardent supporters that its days on Embarcadero Plaza may be numbered.

Your humble blogger will be sad to see it go. Although Vaillancourt Fountain is not classically beautiful, watching it when the water is flowing is a unique experience. From 2004:

The Vaillancourt fountain in Justin Herman Plaza is hard to love. After the 1989 earthquake destroyed the freeway off-ramp, the fountain’s complementary big brother, some said it lost its raison d’etre.

Because it was expensive to power the pumps, the water had been turned off since 2000. Vaillancourt fountain became a silent, concrete jumble in the midst of a waterfront that is growing greener and softer.

Depending on the way one is facing, the harsh angles overwhelm the view of the renovated Ferry Building, the nearby park, or the beauteous Bay beyond. The fountain became a grimy sculpture, a favorite resting spot for the ubiquitous pigeons, who further despoiled its surface and walkways. It became such an eyesore that some called for its demolition.

Last month the pumps were turned on, and the area was transformed. The sight and sounds of the rushing water bring life to a dead corner of Justin Herman plaza. Children skip along the walkway beneath the waterfalls, the tourists take their pictures, and the pale tower denizens leave their cubicles to munch on their sandwiches in the sun.

Objects of Worship

(Lehman/SFGate)

Privately owned Mt. Shasta Ski Park has installed a 20-ft. statue of the Virgin Mary at its base:

Standing at about 6,600 feet on Shasta’s slope, the statue has become a focal point for discussions on the intersection of faith, culture and the natural landscape. While some view it as a meaningful tribute, others see it as an unwelcome addition to one of the region’s most revered mountains.

Opposition arose from the usual suspects: those with a beef against Christianity and those who view the culture as oppressive colonizers of Indian lands.

Ann from Chico, California, declared, “Keep religion out of skiing!!!! We ski to enjoy the beauty of nature — not to be preached at by religious NUTS.” Donny from Redding called the statue “an annoyance and waste of resources.”

Shawnee Kasanke, a critic of the statue who was raised near the mountain, told SFGATE the statue symbolizes a painful history. “These types of statues erected on sacred land represent the devastation caused by missionary colonizers and their disrespect for and attempted erasure of Native traditions, sacred spaces, and ways of life to many of us,” she said.

The statue could have been ugly and harder to defend, but by conventional standards it's beautiful. Pitted against the mountain, a statue is easy to ignore; to the critics I say go in peace to look at the thousands of trees, of which there are dozens of species.

(pinterest image)

Your humble blogger sees Mt. Shasta occasionally when driving to Oregon along Interstate 5. Yes, the mountain is an outstanding example of the magnificence of God's creation.

But it's hard to feel religious when one's first memory of the mountain's image was a drawing on a soda can.

A Roman Tradition

Mark Zuckerberg commissioned a seven-foot sculpture of Priscilla Chan, 39, his wife of 12 years:

The statue, commissioned by Zuckerberg, was created by New York-based artist Daniel Arsham and placed next to a tree in what appears to be a lush garden.

...The statue’s design, with its flowing silver garment, looks like a mashup of ancient Roman Sculpture and the T-1000 from Terminator 2. According to Zuckerberg, the inspiration came from the former: he captioned the photo “bringing back the Roman tradition of making sculptures of your wife.”

Priscilla Chan

Having been married nearly half a century, I've run out of ideas for gifts (that I can afford) for my wife.

Mark Zuckerberg, currently worth about $185 billion, doesn't have my problem.

Cold-Blooded (Un) Realism

The statues of Beniamino Bufano (1890-1970) are scattered around Hillsdale mall.

I can usually identify the animals they represent, but I had trouble with this one.

Care to try your luck, dear reader?

(Answer after the break).

Yak-yak

(Chronicle photo)

President Trump's sculpture is on tour at the San Francisco wax museum. Constructing his waxwork posed unique challenges:

Every other wax figure at Madame Tussauds has human hair, but Trump’s orange mane could not be realistically duplicated with anything human. The sculptor settled on yak hair.

An electric bullhorn offers visitors the chance to "sing your praises" or "shout your grievances."

Someday historians will look at the sturm and drang surrounding this President as funny. Yak-yak.

Beniamino Bufano Sculptures (1956), Hillsdale Mall

Top: Golden Bear
Right: Penguin and Two Babies