Hayes Valley’s New Giant Burning Man Temple
The San Francisco Arts Commission in partnership with Burning Man has commissioned artist David Best to reprise his popular Hayes Valley Temple, which in 2005 was the first public art installation in SF Recreation and Park Department’s Patricia’s Green.
There will be a free dedication event at 11 am on Friday, June 26, 2015.
> Read more at sfartscommission.org
Made from wood, the new The Temple at Patricia’s Green is 37-feet high and approximately 15-feet wide. The sculpture is designed, engineered and weatherproofed to be in place for one year.
Like his other iconic temples, eight of which have appeared on the playa at the annual Burning Man festival, this sculpture is intended to be a place of remembrance where people can write personal notes to loved ones on the artwork itself. As David Best says, “When we finish the temple and turn it over to the community, it is an empty building. They bring their mothers, they bring their brothers, they bring their best friends, their weddings and their celebrations to it. And then it becomes something. It has no life until the community brings that life to it.”
About David Best: Born in San Francisco in 1945, David Best attended the College of Marin, receiving a BFA, followed by the San Francisco Art Institute where he was awarded an MFA. He received a SECA Art Award in 1977. Best is known for his massive, exquisitely decorative temples built and burned at Burning Man in the Nevada desert. His work can be found in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Oakland Museum, the San Jose Museum of Art, and at the diRosa Preserve.
Hayes Valley Temple History: In 2005, Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Arts Commission encouraged the Black Rock Arts Foundation (now a subsidiary of Burning Man) to collaborate with the San Francisco’s Hayes Valley community and David Best to create an interactive “Temple.” The Hayes Valley Temple quickly became a cherished focal point for the community, providing a beautiful space that inspired connection, dialog and civic pride. It demonstrated how artists, city officials and community members can collaborate to create meaningful work specific to the needs of their community, and became the model for Burning Man’s Civic Arts Program.
