San Francisco General hospital foundation
Since 2004, the San Francisco General Hospital has raised nearly 3 million dollars by commissioning and auctioning off heart sculptures with their Hearts in SF foundation. The money they raise goes towards their promise to provide accessible and affordable healthcare. As a visual reminder of all SF General does to give back, there are now approximately 130 large heart sculptures around the Bay Area for the public to view.
In 2019, a friend of mine emailed me an article announcing an open call to all local Bay Area artists by SF General to submit a design proposal for their 2020 Hearts in SF Fundraiser. Applicants were invited to submit their designs to be considered for all three of their sculpture sizes (small, medium, and large). Despite my lack of sculpture painting experience, I was intrigued by this potential opportunity and extremely flattered that a friend thought enough of my artistic abilities to forward it along. So, I put together a proposal to be considered for all three sculpture sizes, crossed my fingers, and submitted my design. Months went by and life went on and I completely forgot about it until one night lying in bed while routinely checking my email...
There was a message and it was from the Hearts in SF Foundation! It said that not only had my design been selected but it was chosen as one of the 10 large heart sculptures. I had my hopes set for a small sculpture and was blown away to find out I was going to be painting one of the large ones! After reading the dimensions (5 feet, 800 pounds) I ran to our garage and took some quick measurements to make sure the sculpture would fit. I was relieved to find out it did with only a couple inches to spare. I bought a dolly the next day and we were ready to paint!
My garage quickly became my second office and my laser leveler and painter's tape became my new best friends. I spent the majority of my free time for the next few weeks rocking out to music and painting away one line at a time.
The finished design, Alive With Color, is an abstract lifted rendering of the San Francisco silhouette. I grew up going to the city, graduated, and worked in the city. This painting represents all of my colorful memories - the personalities, the views, the food, the culture, and the energy. My hope was to capture the joy I feel every time I explore San Francisco.
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And then the heart was off, on its way back to the Hearts in SF Foundation to be photographed and submitted for auction.
And the next time I saw my heart...
It was at the Hearts in SF fundraising gala sitting on the outfield under the bright glow of the teleprompter in the Giants Stadium! This is truly a night I will never forget.
My heart was purchased by the Stanley S. Langendorf Foundation and gifted by them to the Flood family. The Alive With Color sculpture now resides in the lobby of the Flood building which can be easily found right off Market Street near the Powell BART Station. Check out the map below if you happen to find yourself in the area and would like to see it for yourself.