Title
Public Art Collection Monthly Spotlight: Sign Hill Letters (Erin O'Brien, Business Program Manager)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Cultural Arts Commission receive information about the City's existing public art collection through a monthly highlight.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In response to the Commission's interest in learning more about the City's public art collection, staff have been providing a monthly spotlight featuring selected works from the collection. This month's feature is the Sign Hill Letters, located on Sign Hill Park.
The graphic monument commonly referred to as "Sign Hill" is South San Francisco's most noticeable and beloved art installation. The historical artifact was created by City leaders in the early 20th century to advertise, attract and invite heavy industry to relocate into the hospitable and budding community.
Although the wording, composed of three lines that read: "South | San Francisco | The Industrial City," has remained, two versions of the sign evolved over time. Located on Sign Hill Park, the original 1923 whitewashed lettering was created by using a mixture of powdered lime, white cement, and water. The lettering was set on the southern side of a steep, 581-foot-high hill, that forms part of the San Bruno Mountains.
Years later, to reduce the maintenance of the impermanent lettering, the South San Francisco Chamber of Commerce advocated for the creation of a concrete sign. In 1929, the goal of a prominent and permanent hillside sign that attracted industry and invited new residents was realized. The individual letters ranged in height from 48 to 65 feet, in an anamorphic arrangement on the contoured hill to create the illusion, from a distance, of straight, regularly sized and spaced text against the uneven surface of the natural landscape.
By the mid 1980's, the area had been moving away from heavy industry and towards biotech technologies, light industry, transportation and...
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