UCSF BAYFRONT MEDICAL BUILDING, MISSION BAY, San Francisco

Chandra Cerrito / Art Advisors was greatly honored to facilitate a significant interior and public art project at the UCSF Bayfront Medical Building, the newest addition to UCSF’s Mission Bay campus in San Francisco, CA. This state-of-the art medical facility is devoted to adult outpatient and urgent care and includes specialized areas such as allergy and immunology, cardiology, dermatology, outpatient surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, a pain clinic, pharmacy, and more. The art program’s goal was to help create an uplifting space that fosters healing, celebrates community, and welcomes all who visit and occupy the building – patients, family members, and health care workers.

Over a period of more than three years, CC/AA was humbled to spearhead a comprehensive art program at the Bayfront Medical Building. Our team led the development of an expansive collection of over 300 artworks by 93 artists installed throughout the four-story clinic building as well as exterior public art on the project site and adjacent parking garage. Involving all members of CC/AA staff, we created an art plan, schedule, and budget allocation, led artist selection, managed art procurement and commissions, directed framing, oversaw the installation, catalogued artworks, and conducted a diversity, equity, and inclusion survey of collection artists.

A particularly rewarding aspect of this project was the highly collaborative process, engaging many diverse stakeholders who brought unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Our team worked closely with a talented core group comprised of a UCSF architect, contracted architects, project manager, and UCSF Art for Recovery founder, as well as the UCSF Art Committee and Project Art Committee, which included patient advocates and numerous medical and administrative staff.

Two major outdoor art commissions were completed as part of the project’s public art program. Peace Piece by acclaimed local artist Kota Ezawa is a monumental public artwork printed on architectural mesh that is mounted to the exterior façade of the parking garage. This uplifting image of a boy celebrating international peace offers a hopeful expression to the community and passersby on heavily trafficked 3rd Street.

Skyhorn, a 12-foot-high bronze sculpture by San Francisco Bay Area artist team Wowhaus (Scott Constable and Ene Osteraas-Constable) installed outside the clinic building, draws attention to the sky and the infinity of space beyond. Responding to the client’s interest in multisensory artworks that increase accessibility, chimes at the top of Skyhorn sound in the breeze while an interactive “listening horn” invites participants to hear ambient sounds transformed though the sculpture’s hollow form.

Inside the UCSF Bayfront Medical Building, artists were commissioned to create site-specific works for two key areas. Local artist Adia Millett transformed a major entry corridor with her vibrant mural and soundscape Sunset/Sunrise, which celebrates resilience in the face of life’s constant change. A faceted landscape at the water’s edge references the nearby San Francisco Bay shoreline of the distant past and future, while a large orange disc transitions in height from wall to wall, recalling the sun’s cyclical passage. Millett collaborated with sound artist Michael DuCott to create beautiful Koshi chime scores for three overhead speakers, creating an intermittent soundscape through which one passes when traversing the hallway.

Occupying much of the second floor, the pre-operation and post-operation areas feature specially- commissioned supergraphic artworks by San Francisco artist Ellen Little. Little’s beautiful watercolors of flowers and plants visited by birds and moths were translated onto wall coverings and glass room dividers, resulting in an immersive environment of healing and vitality for patients preparing for and recovering from surgery.

The art collection at the UCSF Bayfront Medical Building showcases a vast range of artworks and makers. Celebrating the uniqueness of our local community, 80% of artists are from the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to engaging artists, galleries, publishers, and dealers, CC/AA was honored to work with NIAD Art Center and Artist Within, A Cedars Gallery, two wonderful local organizations that support adult artists with developmental disabilities, to source a wide variety of work representing diverse voices.

This unique collection offers an exciting range of media such as collage, painting, photography, prints, quilts, weavings, works on paper, wall sculpture, and more. Artwork imagery spans intricate designs and patterns, soothing shapes and colors, portraits of families and loved ones, and images of nature. Artworks were thoughtfully selected and placed to offer viewers a sense of calm, comfort, hope, or even distraction.

Art supergraphics significantly enhance dozens of patient exam and treatment rooms. Original artwork images by several local artists were translated as monumental prints on wall coverings in exam rooms. Original works included cotton fiber quilts by Ora Clay, watercolors by Kathryn St. Clair, chalk pastel drawings by Jean Sanchirico, and digital paintings by Andrew Faulkner. Specialty procedure rooms feature supergraphics by local photographers Thea Schrack and artist team Nita Winter and Rob Badger. Within areas where patients may feel anxious, these enveloping artworks with nature imagery promote a calming environment.

Another delightful aspect of the UCSF Bayfront Medical Building art program is its wide-ranging community engagement project. Over several months, the founder of UCSF’s Art for Recovery program led workshops at a variety of local venues including at UCSF, elementary and high schools, a senior living community, and an artist studio complex in which UCSF patients, staff, and community members created original paintings on six-by-six-inch canvases. CC/AA worked with the project team to curate hundreds of these artworks into large grid arrangements that were installed in waiting areas on two floors. For another part of the project, CC/AA had several small paintings scanned, enlarged, and printed onto canvases that were framed and installed in patient rooms, bringing community voices into multiple spaces throughout the building.

All of us at CC/AA are grateful to the UCSF project team for envisioning and supporting this remarkable project. We would also like to acknowledge and extend our sincere appreciation to the many artists who contributed their talent and steadfast dedication to help realize this outstanding art program at the UCSF Bayfront Medical Building.