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Detail of mosaic on Commodore Hotel facade

More Mosaic Sites in San Francisco

By Dave Schweisguth (email: dave at schweisguth dot org)

Lillian Sizemore's Guide to Mosaic Sites: San Francisco lists and explains dozens of publicly accessible murals, buildings and other mosaic sites throughout the City. It's a terrific publication; you should go buy a copy right now. But even by the Guide's high standards, there are many more mosaics around San Francisco that are worth a visit. Not only have San Francisco's mosaic artists kept up their output since 2004, when the first edition of the Guide was printed, there are even a few significant works that were missed at the time. We hope this little bare-bones catalog will inspire Lillian to revise and expand her Guide sometime soon.

"We" are Huxley Beagle and I, who found many of the mosaics listed here while walking from our home in the southwest Mission District to two different workplaces South of Market several times a week in 2006. Huxley also hunts closer to home, in the Mission, Bernal Heights and Noe Valley. We've joined Jeanne Halpern on her mosaic hikes for the Sierra Club. A few mosaic works have even been installed practically within view of our home in the last couple of years. Here's what we found.

This article is updated whenever we find something new.

The Mission

Just down the block in our own local park, Juri Commons (between San Jose, Guerrero, 25th and 26th Streets), is artist Jennifer Alexander's temporary mosaic "Sol Flor". Dave and many other Juri Commoners helped execute and install the work. We're hoping to get its stay extended, but no guarantees, so see it while you can!

The renovated entrance hall of the Monteagle Medical Center at St. Luke's Hospital, on Valencia Street near Duncan, features Julia DiBiasi's mosaic mural "Diversity and Chaos".

At the corner of 25th & Valencia are "Map of the World" and "Where Space Meets Earth", done by Synergy School students under the supervision of Sarah Dorrance. (Photos of constructing and installing the works are here and here.) Through the fence behind them can be seen the mosaic columns supervised by Colette Crutcher, which border the courtyard, and, at the back of the courtyard, another mosaic mural.

"Beautiful View", one of the many Kid Serve murals supervised by Josef Norris, is on Buena Vista Elementary School at 25th & Utah.

A year after "Tribute to Dolores Huerta" (Guide p. 35), a second Kid Serve mural, "Native American Creation Stories" joined the fun on Leonard R. Flynn Elementary, on Cesar Chavez Blvd. between Folsom & Harrison.

The mosaic decoration still remains around the entrance of the former Gallery Luscombe at 3040 24th St. (near Treat).

The centerpiece of the 24th and York Mini Park, reopened in late 2006, is a mosaic sculpture of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, by Mark Roller, Colette Crutcher and Aileen Barr.

Rigo's "Mission 23", at Mission and 23rd, is a sidewalk mosaic of green and white tiles enhanced by painted tiles.

Tucked away in the S.F. General Hospital campus, next to the Volunteer Center just off 22nd St., is Beniamino Bufano's "Madonna". The anatomical theme fits its setting perfectly.

On the third floor of the S.F. General Hospital's main building, opposite the eastern bank of elevators, is a roof garden where are, apparently, no less than four mosaic works by Mission District muralists Michael Rios, Carlos Loarca, Manuel Villamor and Jerry Concha. Unfortunately the area is kept locked and only the Rios and part of the Loarca works are visible from inside. Slivers of the Villamor work and the Loarca work are visible from Vermont Street.

Hilda Shum's "Fish Tale" breaches a mosaic sea next to the parking lot of the Dept. of Public Health Mental Rehabilitation Facility, at 887 Potrero Street next to S.F. General.

Mosaics cover the interior columns at Boogaloo's, on Valencia at 22nd Street.

A broken-tile bench by Sarah Dorrance is in front of 2956 22nd Street near Treat.

"Healthy Happy Heart" is a Kid Serve mural by second graders at George Moscone Elementary, on the school on Harrison St. between 21st and 22nd.

The entrance to Bethany Senior Center, on Capp Street at 21st Street, boasts "Growth", an unsigned mosaic mural by none other than the well-known San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa.

Judy Hiramoto's "Animal Hopscotch" is a mosaic in the courtyard playground of the Mission Recreation Center, on Harrison Street between 20th and 21st.

The entrance to Dog-Eared Books, on Valencia Street at 20th, is decorated with mosaic. Be sure to look both up and down. And the doorway of their old location, on the east side of Valencia between 22nd and 23rd, now Scarlet Sage, still bears their name.

On the east side of Valencia near 19th Street is Vertical Clearance, a hair salon. On its window sill is a charming little bit of mosaic by Emily Kiesel which makes remarkably effective use of a very few chips of broken tile.

Laurel True and Lillian Sizemore's "Bounte Bouday War" (Mysterious Door), a curvilinear stage backdrop, is inside the Bollywood Cafe, on 19th Street just east of Mission.

The owner of the new branch of Frjtz, on Valencia between 16th and 17th, has hung some of his mosaic skateboards and other artworks in his new establishment.

El Pollo Supremo, 3036 16th Street, on the north side near Mission, has been replaced by Taqueria Los Coyotes, but the mosaic facade (Guide p. 11) remains.

"Our Children", another Kid Serve mural, overlooks Kid Power Park, on Hoff St. near 16th.

A mosaic work about which Huxley and I are very excited is Anthony Stellon's "Brotherhood of Man" (here's a full-on view at the Civic Art Collection), which we found under potted plants in a Rec & Parks work area in the northeast corner of Franklin Square Park while walking to work in early April 2006. "Brotherhood of Man" was originally installed at the Martin Luther King Jr. pool at Third and Carroll Streets in the Bayview. It was taken down when renovation of the pool began in 1996 and moved to Franklin Square for safe keeping. The Friends of Franklin Square are currently trying to resite the work as part of a playground renovation.

Bernal Heights, Holly Park, St. Mary's

Peter Almeida's 1988 "Colloidal Pool" is in the Coleridge Street Mini-Park at the bottom of the Esmeralda steps.

This mysterious mosaic is below the edge of the topmost large landing of the Esmeralda steps (above Elsie), across from the live oak and plaque which honor Margaret Randolph for her contributions to the community.

Colette Crutcher's Peringer/Rodriguez entry graces 183 Ellsworth Street, near Eugenia.

The Junipero Serra Child Learning Annex on Appleton Street west of Holly Hill boasts an impressive constellation of mosaic pieces on several buildings and along the wall facing the sidewalk. At least one of them was supervised by Kid Serve.

East of "Wise and Furry" (page 35 of the Guide), on the opposite side of Highland Street, a mosaic mural is in progress on a low concrete wall.

The south end of Moultrie Street, south of Crescent, is unexpectedly brightened by a low mosaic-covered wall.

Potrero Hill

Starr King Elementary, high on Potrero Hill at the south end of Carolina Street, is a mosaic hunter's jackpot. Not only are there two Kid Serve works, a panel depicting California civil rights heroes near the entrance on Carolina St. and a monumental mural of neighborhood oral histories around the block along Wisconsin St., but a woodland scene by Helen Bruton, dated 1955, also lies in wait by the Carolina St. entrance. Well worth the trek!

Hidden behind the tennis courts at Potrero Hill Recreation Center, near 22nd & Arkansas, enjoying a superb view of downtown and the East Bay, is a new bench by Laurel True and Sharon Virtue.

Sharon Virtue's mosaic bench in memory of Enola Maxwell, community activist and director of the nearby Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, stands in a garden on the north side of Southern Heights Boulevard.

A pebble mosaic decorates "The Benches", a micro-park at San Bruno and 18th Street.

In early 2007 the small mosaic on the Mariposa Street side of St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, which depicted the church, had been removed.

"California Oral Histories" is the labor-themed Kid Serve mural on Enola Maxwell Middle School.

A low wall in Jackson Playground's children's playground is covered with an unusual combination of mosaics, handmade tiles and decorative tile in Joshua Sarantitis' "Big Snail Fish".

Judy West and Vanessa Workman's mural of marine life adorns the public boat launch at Pier 52.

South of Market

In the entryway of the Apostleship of the Sea building at Harrison and Fremont is a hard-used mosaic of Mary and Jesus by an unknown artist. Appropriate to the setting, Mary holds a sailing ship and stands on an island amidst waves. According to a recent article in the S.F. Chronicle, the building is slated for demolition.

A mosaic ILWU logo hangs over the south door of Local 34 at 4 Berry Street (on the east side of AT&T Park).

Atlas holds up the globe in the lobby of the Atlas building (604 Mission Street, at 2nd) in a work by an owner of the building.

San Francisco's largest mosaic may be the tile decoration on the Channel Pump Station at the head of Mission Creek.

Johanna Poethig's "Life Mosaics", which despite its title relies as much on decorated tiles as on mosaic, is a four-paneled work on TODCO's Woolf House, at the south corner of 4th and Howard.

Johanna Poethig and Ursula McGuire's "Sun Mosaic" can be seen through the front door of the Creatice Polite
Apartments, 321 Clementina between 4th and 5th Streets.

"Arrow", an Artspan work led by Johanna Poethig, wraps around the entrance to SoMa Artists' Studios at 689 Bryant, between 4th and 5th Streets.

"I Dream as I Walk Through the Moon", another Artspan/Poethig work on Mission Street between 5th and 6th, is entirely decorated tile, not mosaic, but fits in nicely here with the artist's other works anyway.

Martha Heavenston's "A World View" is on the back of the Eugene Friend Rec Center, on 6th Street at Folsom.

"Respect and Responsibility", another Kid Serve mural, is inside the gate of the new Bessie Carmichael School at 7th & Harrison.

The Kid Serve mural on the Children's Village Child Development Center, on 10th between Folsom and Harrison, has no title but an especially charming caption.

North of Market

A Great Seal of the State of California, designed by Major Robert Seldon Garnett, executed by Giovanni B. Alforno in 1898 and restored by Page and Turnbull in 2003, is the centerpiece of the restored marble mosaic floor on the second level of the Ferry Building. Small mosaics of California food products by Mauricio Arias (also 2003) decorate the walls on the first level.

212 Sutter (just west of Kearny) has an interesting mosaic-tiled entryway.

In the apse of Notre Dame des Victoires, on Bush between Stockton and Grant, is a mosaic of the Virgin Mary.

The floor of the Bush Street entrance to the WorldMark by Wyndham, formerly the Hotel Juliana, at 590 Bush (at Stockton) is covered with mosaic.

Not only are the upper floors of the Clayton Hotel (657 Clay, between Kearny and Montgomery) decorated with an interesting mosaic border, the new tenant on the ground floor has installed several kinds of decorative tile.

A mosaic of one of the magnificent espresso makers that are Thomas E. Cara's stock in trade adorns that business's entryway at 517 Pacific (near Montgomery).

The facade of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe), at 906 Broadway between Mason and Tayor, is decorated with a mosaic of the church's patron saint.

The column in front of the entrance to the Pasta Pomodoro at 655 Union Street, between Columbus and Powell across from Washington Square, is mosaiced with a striking sun-and-moon design by Bryan Mosé.

A mosaic of three doves graces the entry to 350 Union Street (between Kearny and Montgomery).

The facade of 733 Chestnut Street (between Jones and Taylor) is tiled with the stylized Chinese character shòu (longevity) and, over the doorway, a fú (good fortune).

On the second floor facade of 298 Chestnut Street (at Grant) is a mosaic of a human figure.

In the entryway of the Bay Stockton West apartments at 2133 Stockton (at Bay) is a column holding mailboxes and covered on all four sides with bright abstract mosaic decoration. The legend "Built by Angelo Sangiacomo" refers to the developer of the property; the artist is unknown.

A sewer hatch on the Greenwich Steps is covered with a floral design in broken tile.

Just inside the front door of the Union Square Hotel, on the east side of Powell Street just above Ellis, are a pair of floor-to-ceiling mosaics by none other than Helen Bruton. One depicts a man with a basket of grapes, the other a woman with a basket of flowers. The latter is signed and dated 1937.

The Owl Tree, at Post and Taylor, has lost the owl bric-a-brac with which it was once stuffed but gained a striking mosaic facade.

Piraat pizzeria, at 696 Sutter (at Taylor), has a mosaic medallion on the floor inside its front door.

Mosaic waves roll along the lower part of the facade of the former Commodore Hotel on Sutter Street.

Not yet investigated: Laurel True's mosaics in the Tenderloin, for St. Boniface Church on Golden Gate Avenue and in the dining room of Marlton Manor, 240 Jones at Eddy.

A mosaic of a double-headed eagle and the motto "Spes mea in Deo est" guard the door to the former Scottish Rite Masonic temple at 1290 Sutter Street, at Van Ness.

1-3 Leroy Street is decorated with a mosaic of a shell and fish.

High on the outside wall of the fish receiving station of Scoma's Restaurant on Pier 47 is a mosaic of San Francisco landmarks by John O'Shanna.

The Ghirardelli eagle logo is set into the floor inside the entrance of the Ghirardelli Chocolaterie and Cafe, at North Point and Larkin.

Noe Valley and Twin Peaks

Not investigated yet: A photograph in the San Francisco public library's historical photograph collection shows a mosaic mural that is or was at the Edison Elementary School.

A growing collection of mosaic works are beginning to brighten up the severe exterior of James Lick Middle School, on Noe St. between 25th & Clipper:
In addition to the 2000 work by Paul Lanier listed in the Guide (p. 44), there is a second mosaic mural at Alvarado Elementary School (at Alvarado and Douglass Streets). It was supervised by Nancy Thompson in 1972, and, according to the Noe Valley Voice, Paul Lanier worked on it as a student. The mural is in the southwest corner of the schoolyard on the south wall and is hard to see from outside. Try looking down the driveway along the south side of the school from Douglass Street.

A pebble mosaic of a whale's tail is the first of three mysterious symbols in the driveway to 70 Grandview. (The driveway is around the corner on Romain.)

In front of 1913 Castro, hidden in the Duncan-Castro Natural Area, is a mosaic planter box.

The wall in front of 21 Fountain St. is covered with an impressive combination of tiles and broken-tile mosaic. In September 2008 21 Fountain St. was under construction, but it appeared that the wall would be preserved.

Rooftop School has no less than four Kidserve murals: "Peaceable Kingdom" (off Corbett on Dixie Alley), "The Caterpillar" (at the bottom of the stairway at Corbett and Romain), a mosaic in the school's yard which can be seen through the fence at the top of the same stairway (thanks to tipster Judy and mosaic designer and photographer Andi Wong for the photo), and "In the Time of Silver Rain", at the Mayeda campus at Corbett and Iron Alley.

Glen Park

136 Mateo Street has a mosaic mermaid street number.

Bird and Beckett's new location at 653 Chenery has a new mosaic sign by Colette Crutcher and Mark Roller.

Next to the entrance to St. John's Elementary School at 925 Chenery is a semi-abstract mosaic inscribed with a quotation from St. John the Evangelist. Above the entrance around the corner at Burnside and Paradise is another inscribed with a quotation from John F. Kennedy Jr.

Western Addition

The stairway to 2813 Buchanan Street, between Green and Vallejo, is by Colette Crutcher.

Not yet investigated: Two mosaic police badges are in the lobby of the Northern Police Station at 1125 Fillmore, near Golden Gate.

The Scott Street Labyrinth, at the west end of Duboce Park, includes mosaic and tile elements.

Three mosaic sculptures by Kid Serve stand outside the Creative Arts Charter School, at 1601 Turk (at Pierce).

A striking mosaic and tile mural covers the wall to the left and right of the door to the Boys and Girls Club at 1950-1970 Page (between Stanyan & Shrader).

A mosaic of the Madonna and Child crowns an entrance to St. Gregory's Armenian Church, at 51 Commonwealth (between Euclid and California).

Richmond

Sarah Dorrance and Luis Hernandez' 2007 mosaic bench, "In Memory of Julia", is in the just-renovated Rossi Playground at Arguello and Anza.

The fence around Argonne Elementary, on Cabrillo between 17th and 18th Avenues, is decorated with many small mosaics of sea life. Here are views of the west and east ends of the fence.

To the left and right of the entrance to the Alamo School (on 23rd Avenue between California and Clement) are mosaic scenes of butterflies.

At the center of the Rochambeau Playground, on 24th Avenue between California and Lake, is Johanna Poethig's "Play Ball!".

Monumental mosaic images of saints adorn the facade of the Russian Orthodox Holy Virgin Cathedral, on Geary Boulevard between 26th and 27th Avenues.

Sunset and southwest

The Hospice Garden between the south wings of Laguna Honda Hospital is home to many artworks done by the residents, including a mosaic featuring a butterfly, set into the ground.

The sign for Clarendon Elementary, on Clarendon Avenue at Panorama, is done in mosaic.

A mosaic of undersea life is in progress at 2253 9th Avenue (between 12th & Mesa Avenues) in Forest Hill.

The home of Betty Mosias (not generally open to the public) at 2375 12th Avenue (at Magellan) features two bathrooms with mosaic and art tile work as well as a mosaic birdbath and other pieces by Ms. Mosais, and rooms full of fascinating objects collected over a lifetime.

The two-part Kid Serve mural on 19th Avenue at Irving is impossible to miss. Not investigated yet: another Kid Serve work nearby at Jefferson Elementary.

Not investigated yet: the mural over the altar of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church at Ulloa & 33rd.

Weathered mosaic doorways, "Ocean Door" by Laurel True and a second, temporarily unidentified work from 2003, flank stairway 16 at Ocean Beach.

Two mosaic murals by the Bruton sisters, of children and of St. Francis with animals, flank the entrance to the San Francisco Zoo's Mother's Building.

The eyes of the animals in Mary Fuller's "Earth, Air, Sea", which guards the entrance to Sloat Boulevard from the Great Highway, are mosaic sunbursts.

Several more Kid Serve murals murals are located throughout western San Francisco.

South Side

On the facade of Hillcrest Elementary School at 810 Silver Avenue is a c. 2005 mosaic of a tree full of butterflies (not, apparently, a Kid Serve work), and another mosaic decorates the door from the schoolyard. Drescher's San Francisco Bay Area Murals lists a seven-paneled work (#430) in the school's library; if still present, it isn't visible from the outside.

Monroe Elementary now boasts not just the single mosaic listed in the Guide (p. 33), but an astonishing collection of works in several different styles (for example these, these, these, this and this) all around its exterior, as well as a map of the world visible in a second-floor window.

The mosaic decoration at Crocker-Amazon Playground is almost complete.

Over the front doors of Church of the Epiphany, on Vienna at Amazon, are mosaic scenes of the annunciation, death and resurrection of Christ.

A Byzantine Mosaic Company facade survives on the Bank of America branch at 5150 Mission Street, just south of Ocean Avenue.

As well as "Suncatchers" (Guide p. 33), Denman Middle School is home to another Kid Serve mural, "A Living Library", as well as a painted-tile walkway.

Bufano's "St. Francis of the Guns", cast from melted firearms, stands in front of City College's Science Building.

"Organic and Inorganic Science", (also called "Education"), two monumental marble mosaics by Herman Volz, fill the north and south porticos of City College's Science Building.

Red and blue mosaic patches decorate Jacques Overhoff's "Sculpture Deck" and "Bicentennial Wings", next to City College's Batmale Hall.

Laurel True's "Sun Sculpture Series" planned for Ocean Avenue (at Granada, Guide p. 33) was scheduled to be installed in late March 2008.

Bufano's "Peace" stands on Brotherhood Way between Lake Merced and Junipero Serra Boulevards.

Colette Crutcher's "Mother and Child Arch" is one of the showpieces of the San Francisco dump's amazing sculpture garden. The monthly tour of the dump, which includes a presentation on recycling in SF, a visit with the artists in residence and tours of the waste transfer facility and the sculpture garden, is about the coolest thing you've probably never done. No dogs allowed, though.

There are several more Kid Serve murals in the Bayview, Visitacion Valley and other places in southern San Francisco.

San Francisco International Airport

Huxley always greets guests at the airport, although he's never been past security.

Rigo '99's monumental Thinking of Balmy Alley towers over gate G98 in the International Terminal's Boarding Area G. This work repeats the subject of Rigo's 1993 Balmy Alley spraycan mural, "Colors".

Joyce Kozloff's very decorative three-part work, "Bay Area Deco/Bay Area Victorian/Bay Area Funk" is in the hallway between the International Terminal and domestic Terminal 1.

Not yet investigated: "Waiting", an unusual photorealistic mosaic by Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan, is at gate A7 in International Terminal Boarding Area A.

Colma

Though outside the City and County of San Francisco, Colma occupies a special place in the lives of San Franciscans -- that is, the ends of their lives -- and deserves a mention here. Among the sculpture and stained glass that dominate cemetery art are several notable mosaics.

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