Check Out SF’s Wild New “Banana” Bench at Union Square
Union Square’s cable car turnaround just got a little more… a-peeling. The second of four rotating public art installations has landed, and it’s a bright yellow banana sculpture that doubles as a bench. Curb-A-Peel officially debuted Friday, August 29, 2025 at the Cable Car Turnaround Arts, right at Powell & Market.
It’s part of a bigger push to bring more color and creativity downtown. The Cable Car Turnaround Arts program will feature four interactive installations in total, along with free weekend activities running through January 2026.
For the next month, the banana isn’t just sitting pretty. It comes with some fun weekend sidekicks:
- Fridays (12–4pm): DIY embroidery kits from Sew Frisco
- Saturdays (3–5pm): Live music and salsa dance lessons with Elisa Soleil
- Sundays (1–5pm): Balloon animals with Pacific Face Painters
It’s a playful, family-friendly lineup that might just get more people to pause, play, and hang around Union Square a little longer.
The installation comes from Austin-based LeMonde Studio, known for interactive public art in Montreal, Singapore, and New York. It’s funded by the Office of Economic & Workforce Development and run by the Union Square Alliance.
Curb-A-Peel is the second piece in the series. The first, Strum & Slide, was a larger-than-life guitar that doubled as a slide for kids (and kids at heart). More surprises are set to roll out through 2026, with a few short breaks between installations.
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