The City of Emeryville’s Art in Public Places program, instituted in 1990, helped establish this one-square-mile City as a place known for public art. The program formalized a growing practice by Emeryville and its many corporate residents who included significant pieces of art in their public spaces.
As a result of the program, there are:
- Over 40 publicly-owned art works in the City and
- Over 70 art installations available to the public in private developments.
While the scope and stature of the City’s public installations are worth numerous visits, it can be overwhelming. We’ve pared down a list of five iconic public art pieces to put on your list – for starters.
And, of course, if you haven’t already viewed the delightful public art in Public Market’s Food Hall, we invite you to read here to learn more >
NEIGHBORHOOD CONVERGENCE: A collaboration to energize the Powell Street freeway undercrossing, a trio of artists – M. Louise Stanley, Vickie Jo Sowell, Jeremy Hamm – created these figures. You will see tourists looking at a map, an artist (Stanley), a jogger with his dog, a policeman and other Emeryville personalities.
I-80 underpass at Powell Street
PENINSULA TELL-TAIL AND OVERLOOK by Anita Margrill is a 40-ft high weather vane/solar beacon sited on San Francisco Bay, adjacent to a well-used jogging path and visible from the Bay Bridge. Near the top of the pole, a chubby turquoise, polyurethane hand reaches out to seize the horizon in whatever direction the wind is blowing.
3271 Powell Street (north and west of the restaurant on the Marina Pathway)
COMMUTING by Gregory Hawthorne. “Commuting” presents a dramatic, if tongue-in-cheek perspective of commuting: a mounted horseman who faces the Amtrak train station and the I-80 freeway, two more modern ways of commuting.
5980 Horton at 59th Street
PUMPERS AND SPARKY by Vickie Jo Sowell. The artist worked with the staff of Emeryville Fire Station #2 and city officials in this remodel to create an exciting new look for the building. The decorative and painted elements of the building were modernized so they would coincide with the acquajet panels and metal gating of the structure.
6303 Hollis Street
LOOK CLOSELY by the husband and wife team of WowHaus. This artwork is a series of 13 functional sculptural elements integrated with the plantings along Emeryville Greenway. Look for simple seating sculptures made of concrete with etched granite insets, curved benches, seats made of boulders and a seat-table.
Doyle Street, between Ocean and 59th Streets