San Francisco Sites

Miguel Covarrubias painted six murals on the theme "Pageant of the Pacific" for the Golden Gate International Exposition. They were displayed on Treasure Island along with other art objects on the theme of "Pacific Unity" from 1939-1940. The murals have been housed in several locations since the 1940s. The Treasure Island Development Authority now looks after five of the murals, including one currently on display at the de Young museum. The other four are currently in storage. A sixth mural disappeared in the 1940s and its whereabouts are currently unknown. The long term plan for the murals is to reinstall them on...

The WPA worked on Twin Peaks Blvd. between Clayton St. and Palo Alto Ave.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted heavy renovation and repair work at San Francisco's Twin Peaks Reservoir during the Great Depression. Repaired reservoir leaks and water proofed. Cut new expansion joints, painted and thoroughly renovated old reservoir.--Healy, p. 65.

The building is 16 stories and 220 feet or 67 meters high.

This WPA angel fresco sits in the Richardson Hall administration building at the Southwest corner of the campus at Hermann and Laguna. With the recent plans for demolition, parts of the building have been demolished and access to this fresco appears to have been privatized. The fresco may have been painted by Hebe Daum.

San Francisco State University (then, the Normal School) moved here from its original location at Powell and Clay Streets after the 1906 earthquake. In 1936, the Woods Hall Annex science building was completed in the Northwest corner of the campus at the corner of Haight and Buchanan. It had been started under SERA but was completed with WPA funds. The work included the completion of the building from the first floor. The project was submitted under WPA Serial No. 0702-14 for completion of footings to and including the first floor slab. (Mooser) San Francisco State moved its Lake Merced campus in...

The WPA contracted an Italian mosaic setter for this project to teach Albro and other involved artists how to work with marble mosaics. The mosaic was built over the main entrance to Woods Hall. Unfortunately the mosaic appears to have since been removed or covered over, though confirmation is needed.

The Annex contains a 1937 WPA fresco, "A Dissertation on Alchemy", by Reuben Kadish and Urban Neininger. The fresco is 9' x 11' and is located in the stairwell in the northeast corner of the Woods Hall Annex.

This walnut relief "Joy of Life" by Michael von Meyer depicting a mother and child was completed in 1937 with FAP funds.

A ten panel fresco depicting the "History of Medicine in California" was completed by Bernard Zakheim in 1936 with FAP funds. The mural is located in Toland Hall. Zakheim also painted another pair of murals in 1935 for Cole Hall: "Rational Medicine" and "Superstitious Medicine." These frescoes of ground earth pigment on incised plaster were relocated to Health Sciences West in 1967. The program behind these murals is unknown to the Living New Deal.

'The United States Mint at San Francisco occupies an imposing site on the summit of a rocky hill overlooking Market Street, the main thoroughfare of the city. The southern approach consists of a double flight of winding stone steps to a platform from which a single flight extends to the portal in the wall of the building. There is only one approach for vehicles. The structure is built around a central court and is four stories in height. ... The building is fireproof and is constructed of reinforced concrete with the exterior walls faced with granite. The design is simple...

An 840 x 965 ft reservoir that added 82 million gallons of storage to the existing 60 million gallon reservoir that was already on site. The reservoir is lined with 6" of reinforced concrete and the roof has 21/2" slab on concrete joists and girders, supported on circular columns spaced at 25' intervals. It was part of a $12,000,000 improvement program for the SF water supply system (the PWA-funded expansion of the Hetch Hetchy system, which included raising O’Shaughnessy Dam, the Pulgas Water Temple, and more) financed by a bond issue with the aid of a PWA grant in 1933. It...

This 1' x 3.5' cast-concrete sculpture of an owl was produced with the help of the WPA Federal Art Project. The artist is unknown.

From the New Deal Art Registry: "At the Valencia Gardens Housing Project, Beniamino Bufano's glistening statue of a mother bear nursing two cubs, in smooth red granite, is a joy to the eye. Nearby are two granite seals, a granite cat with a mouse, and a granite butterfly."

"At the Valencia Gardens Housing Project, Bufano's glistening statue of a mother bear nursing two cubs, in smooth red granite, is a joy to the eye. Nearby are two granite seals, a granite cat with a mouse, and a granite butterfly." -Nob Hill Gazette

The WPA worked on Valencia St. all the way from Market to Mission.

The WPA worked on Van Ness Ave. between Market and Beach Streets.

Built convenience station and landscaped.--Healy, p. 65.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed San Francisco's old Visitacion Nursery School during the Great Depression. The agency: Built a new community center with facilities for a nursery school.--Healy, p.72.

"In later audits 'school' and 'auditorium' listed separately. Could be separate buildings?" Contributor note: The auditorium is attached to the school. The structure was renovated a few years prior to 2018.

"18 classrooms. Includes auditorium; in later audits 'school' and 'auditorium' listed separately. Same year as Glen Park. Could be separate buildings?"

The WPA worked on the Visitacion Valley Playground.

Concrete,1 story addition, 2 rooms

In 1933, David Park painted the watercolor, “200 Men Making Trails on Cliff Face, Lands End—San Francisco,” for the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). This is among a series that were likely meant as studies for murals depicting Civil Works Association (CWA) projects around San Francisco. The watercolor is currently on view at the Legion of Honor in that city.

The WPA worked on Wawona St. between 19th Ave. and 28th Ave.

"The first West Portal Branch Library was built on a parcel of land which had been transferred from the Board of Education to the San Francisco Public Library in February of 1936. The Branch was opened to the public on May 2, 1936. Just three years later, on May 8, 1939, the Branch was re-opened in a new building designed by architect Frederick H. Meyer and constructed by the Works Progress Administration for a cost of $109,090. West Portal Branch was designed in a Mediterranean style with colorful red, ceramic roof tiles. Inside, delicate paintings grace the ceiling beams." (sfpl.org)

A WPA-FAP stencil from 1939 decorating the children's and main reading rooms.

An 8' x 6' black granite sculpture of "St. Francis on Horseback" by Beniamino Bufano located in the central courtyard of the project. It was made in 1935 but not placed here until 1945.

WPA work involved "Landscaping and planting various cut slopes and excavated areas which have been opened up during the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge"--Mooser, p. 84.