Helen Bruton installing her mosaic mural at Starr King Elementary School. Matson Photograph from Sisters in Art by Wendy Van Wyck Good
San Francisco is blessed with numerous publicly accessible, vibrant mosaics, several of which can be seen in Potrero Hill.
This scene of Bay Area native animals was made by Helen Bruton in 1955. She was prolific, often collaborating with sisters Margaret and Esther on innovative mosaic murals and terrazzo artworks, some of which are installed at the San Francisco Zoo, University of California, Berkeley campus, and Hotel Union Square. The Bruton sisters, known as mosaic mavericks, appear in a Coit Tower mural. This mosaic is best seen lit by late afternoon sun through a gate at the Carolina Street entrance to Starr King Elementary School, on Carolina Street south of Coral Road. A video interview with Bruton can be found at California Revealed.
This mosaic covered bench dedicated to the memory of Enola Maxwell was made by Sharon Virtue in 1998. It stands under a tree on Southern Heights Avenue east of De Haro next to the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, where Maxwell was director from 1971 to 2003. It first stood on a lot across the street, was moved to a spot near Maxwells Jerrold Avenue home before finding its present place.
This mosaic is part of a red granite Madonna made by Benjamin (Benny) Bufano in 1974, which stands in the comfort garden of San Francisco General Hospital on 20th Street east of Potrero Avenue. The garden was established in 1990 as a living memorial to hospital employees. Bufano’s monumental sculptures, often embellished with mosaics, can be seen in many public spaces in San Francisco.
Brotherhood of Man, by Anthony Stellon, was gifted to the City and County of San Francisco by then Mayor Joseph Alioto. The mural shows two figures, one black, one white, uniting above the Earth, Sun and cosmos, conjoined by the infinity symbol. The artist was moved by Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination to create an artwork symbolizing universal peace and unity. First installed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center in Bayview, it was removed when a new pool was built. The mosaic was discovered at Franklin Square Park in 2006, restored, and installed near the park’s 17th and Bryant streets entrance.
Tamala Motta 
Danny Pham 
Alina Ferguson