Volume 136, Issue 2
Art
on campus
The
legacy of the past and plans for the future
By
Abbey Hayward
Guardsman Staff Writer
The sculptures and murals that adorn City College's Phelan campus lie in close proximity to nearly every building and facility, but nearly all the works remain nameless. Without plaques or any other form of identification, it leaves one to wonder, where did all this art come from and who is taking care of it?
Though the statuary around campus may at times seem lonely and forgotten, there is a wheel in motion to take care of and fully document the works.
"Mechanisms are being set up, so these things will be taken care of in perpetuity," Will Maynez of the Physics department and member of City College's Works of Art Committee said.
Some of the campus' art from the 1940's is first in line for repairs.
In the 1940's, architect Timothy Pflueger, brought orignal art to City College. Pflueger was a prominent figure in the 1939-40 administration for the "Golden Gate International Exhibition" (GGIE), and concurrently was in charge of building the Science Building and the North and South Gymnasiums. He is the one to thank for the bas reliefs on the gymnasiums' walls that face the tennis courts. These concrete sculptures will be incorporated into the new gymnasiums, slated for construction within the next couple of years.
Pflueger was the catalyst for City College's receipt of "Pan American Unity", Diego Rivera's largest free standing fresco mural. The mural, considered an international treasure, is located in the lobby of The Diego Rivera Theater.
Recently a woman named Francesca Pique of The Getty Conservation Institute, gave a free inspection and initial assessment of damage done to and repairs needed for the mural. A follow-up inspection is being planned to decide whether or not The Getty Institute might be able to make the necessary repairs for free.
Other works on campus from the 1940's GGIE era were partially funded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. They include Dudley Carter's works "Mountain Ram" and "The Goddess of the Forest" and "Science and Mechanics" by Hermann Volz.
The Volz mosaics were administered by the artist in 1968 for a sum of $1076.00. He and a chemist concocted and utilized a sealant, which has since fogged. The mosaics are next in line to be stripped and resealed.
Both "Mountain Ram" and "The Goddess of the Forest" have undergone previous restorations. "Mountain Ram" was restored by the artist at age 90, after rampant vandalism had defaced it.
"The Goddess of the Forest", was brought to City College from Golden Gate Park. It had thoroughly weathered to a third of its original size. Roger Baird, Chair of the Art Department at City College worked on the restoration for years without renumeration.
Another prestigious work on campus is the tufa stone head of Leonardo da Vinci, created by Frederick Olmsted, the grandson of the landscape artist responsible for designing New York City's Central Park.
In 1941, Olmsted rendered two murals on campus, which flank the main entrance of the Science building lobby, and a tufa stone head of Thomas Alva Edison.
In 2002,the murals were restored by City College students, faculty and staff, in concert with an independent conservator. An allotment from Proposition "A" (a 1997 bond designated for repairs to the Science building) funded the project.
In
the late 60's and early 70's, The San Francisco Art Commission donated
art to City College.
The question remains whether or not they have a responsibility to help
with the maintenance,even though they too are under-funded.
One of the works donated by the San Francisco Art Commission is "St. Francis of the Guns", which stands on the west lawn of the Science Building. It is made from 2,000 melted-down guns obtained through a voluntary gun drive in San Francisco in 1968. Beniamino Bufano created the sculpture to promote gun control. A tile mosaic lists famous political and civil rights leaders who had been assassinated.
Other San Francisco Art Commission bequests include: "Wyoming Coup", a welded aluminum work by William Warehem, the 10-foot tall, 1,800-pound "Worldscape III" by Armand Trehan, and a 10-foot steel "Sentinels" sculpture by Aristides Demetrios.
Outside Batmale Hall stands "Sculpture Deck and Bicentennial Wings" and on the sidewalk in front of the Visual Arts building, "Uptight no.1". Both were crafted by French artist Jacques Overhoff and were funded by a City of San Francisco proposal
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1.
"Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and the South
on This Continent (Pan American Unity)", 1940 fresco mural
by Diego Rivera, Diego Rivera Theater. |
 |
2.
"Goddess of the Forest", 1940 carved wood sculpture by Dudley
Carter, Diego Rivera Theater. |
 |
3.
"Up-Tight No.1", 1977 concrete sculpture by Jacques Overhoff,
on the Visual Arts front walkway. |
 |
4.
"Sculptural Deck and Bicentennial Wings", 1979 cast concrete
and ceramic tile sculpture by Jacques Overhoff, in front of Batmale
Hall. |
 |
5.
"Mural of Faces", 1974-1977 concrete mural by faculty and
students of Art 2B, Batmale Hall Architectural Court.
|
 |
6.
"Sports Figures", 1940-41 concrete bas relief sculptures by
Sargent Johnson, North and South Gymnasium east-facing walls. |
 |
7.
"Science and Mechanics", 1940 marble tile mosaics by Hermann
Volz, on either end of Science Hall. |
 |
9.
"Education", 1941 tempura on plaster murals by Frederick Law
Olmstead, Science Hall main entrance lobby. |
 |
10.
"Wyoming Coup", 1969 welded aluminum sculpture by William
Wareham, Science Building west lawn. |
 |
11.
"Saint Francis of the Guns", 1969 metal sculpture with tile
mosaic by Beniamino Bufano, Science Building west lawn. |
 |
12.
"Worldscape III", 1972 steel sculpture by Armand J. Trehan,
Science Building west lawn. |
 |
13.
"Copper Sundial", 1972 sculpture created by August Tiesselink,
south of Cloud Hall at the top of the stairs. |
 |
14.
"Sentinels", 1973 concrete and steel sculpture by Aristides
Demetrios, in front of the bookstore. |
 |
15.
"Mountain Ram", 1940 redwood sculpture by Dudley Carter, Conlan
Hall lobby. |
Breaking
a leg on the Fringe
Performing Artists Group feeds the animal of independant theater
By
Asiana Ponciano
Guardsman Staff Writer
Being on the outside fringe is not usually a favorable position. You might feel you are missing what is most important; while others are being included, you are out in the cold.
But for the Performing Artists Group at City College, a club comprised of performers, writers, musicians, and technicians, being out on the fringe is something to enjoy, rather than dread.
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Photo
By Marlon Lumang The Performing Artists Group at City College participates in the Fringe Festival, an event that celebrates national and international performances at local independent theaters.
Ann Shay formed the group on the City College campus in 1997 after traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland with former City College Theater Chair, Don Cate, and California State University at Hayward's theater department, to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Edinburgh festival is the only one where performances are officially judged.
At the festival, Shay's group performed "Mere Mortals", by New York playwright, David Ives. Shay directed the play and won the 1997 American College Theater Festival directorial award. She was a City College student at the time, but not a theater major.
"I worked in medicine and law before and only started taking theater classes at CCSF when I needed a humanities credit to transfer to SF State," Shay admits.
But Shay remains deeply involved with the theater arts after taking classes and acting in several productions at City College.
"There's something about someone wanting to cast you that's irresistible," Shay said.
Honest Performance
The Performing Artists Group at City College, who tour under the name The California Travel Troupe of San Francisco, is based on two bare essentials: the performers and the audience.
There are no complex sets, costumes, lighting or sound, "Just simple, honest theater," Shay said.
The simple theater Shay describes aims to educate and reach out to children, elders and the developmentally challenged.
Through simplicity, the Performing Artists Group has gained a reputation for creating and producing original work, adaptations of classics, solo performances, and edgy comedies.
This year the group will perform "Animal Farm", an adaptation of the George Orwell classic by City College English instructor, Daniel Curzon Brown. Shay will direct.
Kelly Torrans, who plays the role of Snowball in "Animal Farm", is excited about performing at the Fringe Festival in San Francisco because of the opportunity to be a part of an event with limited space. And Torrans is looking forward to presenting the play, because it is different from the group's previous work.
"Typically we do adaptations of children's fairy tales; more family oriented faire versus political satire. It's also different from other adaptations of "Animal Farm" in that its pace is more like a dark comedy," Torrans said.
Award-winning Theater
Although this is the first time Shay will direct the Performing Artists Group in the San Francisco Fringe Festival, they already have a winning track record.
In 1998 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the group took top awards for their rendition of "The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe". The group received five stars, considered "Top of the Fringe" and Shay was awarded four stars for directing.
Local Reward
Shay feels that the Fringe Festival in San Francisco has less pressure then the juried festival in Edinburgh, but there is the pressure of performing in front of colleagues that is just as unnerving. She also feels that being in a festival with local performers has its benefits.
"(Local performance) brings people together who haven't met and sometimes they decide to start theater companies, or direct, or perform with each other. A couple of our directors came to work at City College," Shay said.
The Performing Artists Group at City College has no problem with being on the fringe. In fact, by being part of it, they bring a diverse community closer together by stripping theater down to two components.
When things are that simple, how can anyone be left out in the cold?
History of the Fringe Festival
By
Asiana Ponciano
Guardsman Staff Writer
Celebrating the independent quality of performance art, Fringe Festivals turn cities worldwide into a theatrical patchwork quilt.
Each festival has venues that bring unique performances by theater groups from around the world to local audiences.
Fifty-six years after the first Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fringe Festivals can be found in New York, Toronto, Tokyo and almost every other major city in the world.
The first Fringe Festival took form at the 1947 Edinburgh International Festival, when eight theater groups arrived uninvited. When there was no room for the uninvited, the eight groups decided to perform at venues away from the Festival's major stages. A year later, a reporter named Robert Kemp used the term "fringe" to describe the location of groups performing outside the official festival.
The Fringe Festival in San Francisco began in 1991. It is executively produced by Christina Augello.