San Francisco is art. That's all there is to it.

Of course there are the public art pieces, like these beautiful sculptures:





But everywhere you go, you stumble all over the little things ... sometimes literally:



And around every corner is something beautiful and unexpected. I found this mural down an alley in Chinatown. I actually thought the silly string made it more striking:



The street art makes rainbows in otherwise gritty neighborhoods:



By far the most stunning neighborhood was the Mission District, a quirky place full of taquerias, bookstores, a pirate shop and strong coffee (At one little cafe, I had the "Heart Attack," which was shots of espresso combined with heavy-duty brewed coffee).

Maybe it's the coffee that inspired lovely pieces like these.









Phenomenal, right? Or maybe I'm just starved for authentic street art, since I live in an area where public art is commissioned by the city for hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Not that the expensive pieces are any less beautiful. But some of them lack heart.)

These works in the Mission particularly moved me:





Even the city buildings are covered in paint. Here's the community pool, first from the front, then around the corner and down 20th Street:





The Women's Building was every bit as FANTASTIC as I had heard. From every side, every angle, every inch of it was magical. I couldn't shoot it all:















But my favorite piece in the whole neighborhood was this, a random treasure that was found as we were parking the car:



So much loveliness.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 at 2:12 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.