San Francisco Arts Commission Approves Final Designs for New Art Corridor on Minna and Natoma Streets

(Image: Rendering of street surface paving artwork design by Barbara Stauffacher Soloman on Minna Street, between 3rd and New Montgomery. Courtesy of the Artist and San Francisco Arts Commission.)

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SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) at its Monday August 3 full commission meeting approved final art designs for the Minna Natoma Streetscape Project to create a vibrant pedestrian destination and connection from Yerba Buena Gardens to the Transbay Terminal in the downtown Yerba Buena and East Cut neighborhoods. 

The project integrates designs and stand-alone art pieces by five local artists into the Minna and Natoma streets and sidewalks redesign, including colorful asphalt art inlaid into 800-feet of streets, and unique bike racks, bollards, seating and sculptures. Artwork is scheduled for installation in spring 2027 with full project completion that summer.

“Our local artists bring life and energy to San Francisco’s streets by welcoming people to our galleries and museums, and now they’re literally bringing art to our streets,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “Public art like this turns an everyday commute into something joyful and encourages people to discover new corners of their community. This new art corridor will do that by connecting people to Yerba Buena’s expansive arts offerings and the East Cut, giving people even more reasons to get out and walk through this incredible area of downtown.”

"Public art has the power to transform ordinary streets into places of discovery, connection, and community. The Minna Natoma Art Corridor demonstrates how artists can help shape public spaces that are not only more beautiful, but also more welcoming, walkable, and vibrant," said Matthew Goudeau, Executive Director of Arts and Culture for the City. "Projects like the Minna Natoma Streetscape Project build on the Yerba Buena neighborhood's reputation as one of San Francisco's premier arts and cultural destinations. I'm incredibly proud of our agency’s Public Art team for the vision and dedication they brought to this collaborative effort." 

The project is a collaboration among the City, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Yerba Buena Partnership and The East Cut Community Benefit District. City departments include San Francisco Public Works, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the San Francisco Planning Department. 

“San Francisco's Yerba Buena neighborhood is a hub of cultural and artistic energy. SFMOMA is thrilled to be collaborating on this project that will enhance public art in the area and enliven our streets for all who choose to visit," said Christopher Bedford, SFMOMA's Helen and Charles Schwab Director. “The local artists featured in this initiative demonstrate the exceptional talent and creativity for which the Bay Area is celebrated.”

Five artists were selected in 2021 by a SFAC-organized panel of local arts professionals and project stakeholders. 

Streetscape Art Designs

The work of artists Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Mel Vera Cruz and Muzae Sesay focuses on the project’s asphalt streetscapes. 

The design by Stauffacher Solomon, who pioneered a colorful style of graphics known as “Supergraphics,” will run the length of Minna Street between Third and New Montgomery streets. The design is inspired by Minnie Rae Simpson, a legendary resident of San Francisco during the rambunctious 1870s. It features angled red-booted legs in reference to what Solomon called the “post-war party” culture of the late 1940s, where she spent her young adult years as a nightclub dancer at San Francisco’s Copacabana.

Mel Vera Cruz’s artwork involves two stretches of Minna Street between New Montgomery and Second streets and Second Street and Transbay. His designs are an homage to Filipino culture and the diaspora in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena neighborhood and SoMa District. The paving designs reference textile weavings and cross-cultural symbolism, such as the sun.

The design of Oakland painter Muzae Sesay will appear on two segments of Natoma Street from SFMOMA to Second Street. Sesay’s 19-color design motif expresses the artist’s belief that the coming together of differences—whether through ideology, culture, expression, skin color, or otherwise—provides a form of tolerance and understanding that can positively impact a community’s quality of life.

Street Furniture Designs

Berkeley multimedia artist Masako Miki and San Francisco sculptor Jesse Schlesinger designed different works of street furniture. 

Miki’s designs for Minna Street seating, bike racks, and bollards are inspired by the sea, sun, moon, and stars, and draw inspiration from Philippine mythology. Bollards—short vertical posts used for pedestrian safety— will be made with three bronze patinas resembling cairns. The curving arm of bronze bike racks end in the shape of an upright hand. A dramatic 9-foot-long concrete sculpture resembles a form based on boulders carved from sea waves with terrazzo finishes, and is intended for seating.

Jesse Schlesinger’s sculptures for Natoma Street are inspired by the San Francisco skyline and natural surroundings of Mt. Tamalpais, the Bay shoreline, and City hills. His pieces include a vertical granite and bronze sculpture, while another horizontal pedestal sculpture uses repurposed granite curbstone. Other works use repurposed granite blocks from 140 New Montgomery with and without a bronze element painted blue. 

“This compelling artwork adds to Yerba Buena’s incredible collection of public art and shines a light on the neighborhood as downtown’s arts and cultural destination,” said Yerba Buena Partnership Executive Director Scott Rowitz. “It’s exciting that this project and the artwork will create a beautiful, clean and safe route to parks and cultural institutions.”

Yerba Buena Partnership and The East Cut, the area’s two community benefit districts, will maintain the artworks after installation and provide supplemental sidewalk power-washing and cleaning services.

“We are thrilled to have yet another compelling piece of public art added to the robust assortment of thirty-two public art pieces in The East Cut neighborhood,” said Andrew Robinson, Executive Director of The East Cut Community Benefit District. “This new asphalt art, running from New Montgomery to the Transit Center, will strengthen the connection between Yerba Buena and East Cut, cementing Minna Street's identity as one of San Francisco's most vibrant pedestrian corridors.”

The Minna Natoma Streetscape Project is at the intersection of the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District and the Yerba Buena and East Cut neighborhoods, where Natoma and Minna Streets act as thruways connecting the Transbay Terminal to Yerba Buena Gardens, SFMOMA, and many more cultural destinations.  

The streetscape project is a major initiative of San Francisco Public Works that aims to activate underutilized civic space, update necessary infrastructure and improve public safety while enhancing the neighborhood's visual identity. The project also supports various plans that guide area public realm improvements, such as the South Downtown Design and Activation, Transit Center District Plan, and Yerba Buena Partnership Street Life Plan.

“The reimagination of the Minna and Natoma corridors amplifies and uplifts the spirit of this vibrant San Francisco arts district with an incredible addition of public art reflecting the neighborhood’s culture and history,” said Public Works Director Carla Short. “Together with the accompanying infrastructure upgrades now underway, the improvements will create a safer, more inviting and visually engaging streetscape.” 

Construction progress incorporating improvements continues. In addition to art, lighting and landscaping, major project improvements include: widened sidewalks to improve pedestrian comfort and accessibility; raised crosswalks to enhance pedestrian safety; new traffic signals and pedestrian crossings to improve mobility and visibility; and, roadway reconstruction for a smoother, more reliable travel surface.

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About the San Francisco Arts Commission

The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy. Our programs include: Civic Art Collection, Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Film SF, Grants for the Arts, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, and Art Vendor Licensing. To learn more, visit sf.gov/artscommission.

About SFMOMA

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the United States and a thriving cultural center for the Bay Area. Our remarkable collection of painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, design and media arts is housed in a LEED Gold-certified building designed by the global architects Snøhetta and Mario Botta. In addition to our seven gallery floors, SFMOMA now offers over 45,000 square feet of free, art-filled public space open to all.

About Yerba Buena Partnership

Yerba Buena Partnership is a community-based nonprofit organization providing services to enhance the overall experience in the downtown San Francisco Yerba Buena neighborhood — the city’s renowned arts and entertainment destination — for all who live, work and visit. Since 2008, the Partnership has implemented programs involving cleaning, safety and hospitality, marketing, economic development, public art and public space improvements around Yerba Buena Gardens, from Second to Fifth and Market to Perry streets. The neighborhood boasts iconic destinations such as SFMOMA, YBCA, MoAD, Children’s Creativity Museum and Moscone Center, along with premier hotels, Academy of Art University and dining and entertainment venues. Yerba Buena is also located within the larger Filipino Cultural Heritage District. Learn more at YerbaBuena.org.

About San Francisco Public Works

San Francisco Public Works is one of the City’s largest and most complex municipal operations, with a workforce of about 1,800 employees and an annual operating budget of $428.5 million. The department also manages a capital project portfolio valued at over $3 billion. 

Operating 24/7 with a broad and diverse scope of responsibilities, Public Works serves every neighborhood in San Francisco. Staff design and manage the construction of civic buildings and streets, maintain and green the public right of way and ensure civic buildings are clean and functional. The department also provides job training, removes hazards, paves streets, repairs bridges and public stairways, improves accessibility, and plays a key role in addressing some of the City’s most pressing challenges.