San Francisco’s Transbay Tower Selects Team to Manage $3.3m Public Art Project

San Francisco dealer Wendi Norris and public art advisor Dorka Keehn have teemed up to manage the selection of a $3.3m public art project to adorn Transbay Tower:

Keehn recently worked on The Bay Lights, an $8 million project by artist Leo Villareal, which has lit up the Bay Bridge with 25,000 LED lights. That project in particular attracted Boston Properties, according to Senior Project Manager Michael Tymoff.

“That’s something in our mind that’s a very dynamic installation that celebrates the structure itself,” he said. “We’re looking for something to accent the building rather than just add to the building, if that makes sense.”

Norris said the art installation will likely be near the top of the structure, if not on top of the structure. She and Keehn have winnowed down an initial list of 43 artists to a shortlist of five and will send out a request for proposals soon. They should have an artist selected by mid-summer, she said.

“All of the artists that we’ve talked to have worked with major architects before, and have all done projects of this scale and then some,” Norris said.

The budget for the public art for the building will be around $3.3 million, in accordance with the city’s “1% for Art” program, a part of the Planning Code that requires new buildings of over 25,000 square feet in the downtown area to spend an amount on public art equal to one percent of the construction budget.

Curators selected for Transbay Tower’s $3.3M in public art (San Francisco Business Times)