The TJPA voluntarily committed $4.75 million to fund the acquisition of artwork for the Program and engaged the San Francisco Arts Commission to manage and oversee the planning and development of the public art program.

The TJPA’s commitment is in the spirit of the City and County of San Francisco’s “Percent for Art Ordinance,” which allocates two percent of construction costs for the inclusion of public art in the civic structures and facilities, and is consistent with policies established by the Federal Transit Administration encouraging the inclusion of art in transportation facilities.

Phase I of the art program consisted of the installation of four large-scale, permanent, commissioned artworks in the Transit Center. These artworks merge seamlessly with the grand and elegant architecture of the facility.

Depending on the availability of funding, Phase II of the art program may include opportunities for artists to create smaller scaled works in the passenger lobbies, corridors, passageways, pedestrian entrances, as treatment of temporary, construction-related chain link fencing, and in a new park planned at Second and Howard Streets.
 

Art at the Center

A space that inspires

Public Art

10,052 square feet of murals

Thirty-eight local ArtSpan Artists were selected to paint temporary murals covering 10,052 square feet of the ground-level retail storefront windows at the new Salesforce Transit Center. The muralists created imagery related to the theme of “Dynamism” to engage passersby and captivate viewers with a true local character and unique aesthetic. See the artwork along Natoma Pedestrian Way between First and Second streets.

TJPA Salesforce Transit Center Art Murals Collage

The Secret Garden

Vibrant Design

“The Secret Garden” is the Grand Hall’s 20,000-square-foot terrazzo floor. In a vibrant design with zinc and bronze insets, the artwork is inspired by a lush, sunlit Victorian garden depicting California poppies, laurel leaves, hummingbirds, and complementary geometrics.

Artist: Julie Chang
Grand Hall Mosaic collage

Bus Fountain

Movement and Surprise

“Bus Fountain,” has 247 water jets along an interactive linear pathway of white and grey granite. The frequency, motion, and height of the fountains are triggered in a sequence by the movement of buses on the level beneath the Park. At 1,200-feet, it is one of the world’s longest water artworks.

Artist: Ned Kahn
TJPA Salesforce Rooftop Park Fountain

White Light

Poetry and Prose

“White Light,” scrolls along a 182-foot-long LED screen that wraps the Grand Hall’s giant Light Column, displaying poetry and prose in 11-foot-high electronic text from writers including San Franciscans Maya Angelou and Harvey Milk.

Artist: Jenny Holzer
Park Fountain

Shaw Alley

James Carpenter

James Carpenter is a New York-based artist who has taught at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. He is well-known for creating works that use natural and artificial light to transform …

Artist: James Carpenter
Shaw Alley Lighting Concept for the Transbay Transit Center