August, 2014 | Beverly Shipko, Artist

Facebook Murals

August 10, 2014 by Beverly

As artists, don’t we all have dreams of striking it rich by painting masterpieces that become famous and are auctioned off at astronomical prices? Artist David Choe actually lived this rags to riches story when Facebook went public in 2012. In 2005, David painted graffifi-style murals at Facebook’s first headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, although he is infamously quoted as saying the idea of FB is “ridiculous and pointless.” Rather than taking cash, he took payment in shares which are reportedly worth $200 million. Smart guy!

Our recent tour of San Francisco’s treasure trove of murals set the stage for our private tour of the current Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, where I got to see David Choe’s past and present murals first hand. While the complex includes over 20 buildings, we went into just a fraction of them in two hours. I was told that an art tour of just FB murals would take more than a day. When you walk into the main lobby, this huge, imaginative, quirky, celebratory and just plain fun David Choe mural greets you.

Here’s another view since my camera lacks a wide angle lens to capture the entire wall in one shot.

On the back wall, we found this one which inspired my fish bump with a friend.

I found David’s signature in the corner near this creature reminiscent of something out of Monsters, Inc.

The tour guide reported that this more conservative creature wearing a tie was started by Mark Zuckerberg himself, beginning with the head, and was finished by David.

Of course, a Facebook mural tour wouldn’t be complete without an official Facebook Wall. Here we are with our host for the day, Jay’s bridge partner, Ed.

While everyone else was eating ice cream at the Sweet Stop (one of many retail restaurants on the fb campus), the tour guide took Jay and I to see the original David Choe murals I had asked about earlier. I was surprised to find two relatively small, vertical panels depicting a face that had been removed from its original FB walls. According to Choe, “They cut the walls out of all my paintings and sent them to Facebook offices around the world.” He called himself the “most highest-paid decorator alive.” These two works were completely different from anything I expected after experiencing the lobby murals, but then these panels were executed in 2005 and taken from their original site. As you all know, artists evolve and their style changes – a fact that somehow escaped me that day.

After seeing the second set of Choe panels, I wondered what would come next, and FB did not disappoint. It was this mural, known as the Facebook Zipper, which certainly popped from a distance as we entered another gigantic warehouse-like space. It is really a terrific illusion, isn’t it?

FB didn’t stop with painted murals. Say hello to this Lego mural and go back in time to your childhood.

Following our trip to Legoland, we came across something quite different and peaceful. I got a kick out of this mural for a number of reasons: the whimsical subject of two painters plying their craft on each other, the soft drip technique that made me want to try it, and the dramatically contrasting colors.

Then I found this mural near the office of Sheryl Sandberg (FB Chief Operating Officer since 2008), whose 2012 book “Lean In” was intended to help professional women advance their careers. I wonder whether her kids had anything to do with this one, and what this will be worth someday….

Just a random mural at least partially painted with a spray can.

I was gratified to see that Facebook is making a commitment to supporting and mentoring young artists – as well as geeks. We toured the print shop, which is home to a group of upcoming residential artists.

Here is some of their handiwork.

Thankfully these souvenir posters from the shop made the trip home safely.

Finally we returned to where we started, with Facebook goody bags in hand, feeling a bit like celebrities receiving their gift bags at the Oscars. Well, not quite since they included shirts, caps, and flash drives instead of luxury items.

Words can’t describe the rush we experienced on the FB tour of a facility packed with creative, dynamic murals and permeated by a mindset of endless possibilities. But I think this sign does the trick!

The FB motto on this mirror in the Sweet Stop Cafe sums it up more eloquently than I ever could.

Just in case you are struggling to read this – it says Livin’ the Dream.

San Francisco 16st Avenue Tiled Steps Project

August 4, 2014 by Beverly

After spending a successful afternoon looking at San Francisco murals, our public art tour continued the next day with a visit to the San Francisco 16^th Avenue Tiled Steps Project (at Moraga and 16^th Street). My husband, Jay, and I wandered around numerous winding roads looking for vibrant mosaics when we arrived at this bland-looking set of stairs on an overcast day, and began to wonder why this was even on our sightseeing list.

Since we were there, we decided to drive around to the bottom of the steps, and found a plaque commemorating the completion of this project – and got our first glimpse of what was to come.

We learned the 163 step mosaic project was initiated as a community effort by the Golden Gate Heights Neighborhood Association in 2003, and supported by a number of private and public groups and contractors, from the Mayor’s Beautification Fund to the Union Bank of California. With the help of KZ Tile, who generously agreed to set the finished tiles into the steps, this group project was completed by the team in 2005.

Over 300 neighbors worked on this project in some capacity, with 220 neighbors sponsoring hand-made tiles of fish, animals, and birds imprinted with their names. The swirling patterns of vibrant blue strewn with aquatic life were an exciting surprise – so different from anything else I had ever seen. The way the individual steps fit together with such precision when seen from the bottom was nothing less than spectacular craftsmanship!

In this series of steps, patron names are inscribed in many of the fish.

As you walk up the steps, the energy shifts into a quieter design which made me think of a distant shoreline.

The colors became more intense and brilliant as we passed through a flower garden of custom shaped tiles. You can see more names, like those inscribed in the flower petals on the left of the bottom step.

Here’s a closeup of a tile with two squirrels munching away, sponsored by a couple.

I was mesmerized by the grand scope and vision of the project, the strong visual impact of the shifting perspectives as you make your way up the steps, and the surprisingly personal nature of this piece of public art. I found myself reading the inscriptions and hypothesizing what the patrons were like, based on their choice of tiles. Here names appear on the plants (maybe vegetarians with luscious gardens), animals (families with pets like the turtle), and birds (people with birdhouses in their backyard)

As we made our way up higher, the viewpoint shifted again so we were walking into a flowing stream of blue water cascading down the steps.

The variety of flowing blue colors and a myriad of marine life transported us to a delightful aquatic world.

Walking up the 16^th Avenue Tiled Step Project – obviously a labor of love – is a unique outdoor experience that fits in with the quirky character of SF Bay Area. It felt monumental, like a modern day version of ancient Roman mosaics from Pompeii.

Good thing we stuck around and explored!