Sculpture Garden

The Sculpture Garden at Recology San Francisco is -- as far as we know -- the only art park located at a garbage company. The garden is home to some of the larger pieces of art created by many of the artists who have participated in the Artist In Residence (AIR) Program over the years. All tours of the company include a visit to the garden. See tour information below.

Under the direction and design of Susan Steinman, Recology San Francisco built the 3-acre private sculpture garden on top of a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay in 1992. The land functions as a buffer between the transfer station and the adjacent residential neighborhood called Little Hollywood. It was previously a field of ivy and ice plant. In 1994, the garden was dedicated to the memory of Joseph Johnson, previous director of the Solid Waste Management Program of the City & County of San Francisco. Joe was an artist himself and very supportive of establishing the AIR Program.

Occasionally the program rescues plants from the public dump and gives them a second chance in the garden. Many of the plants in the garden were rescued from the trash. The real recycling effort made by the company when constructing the garden was to use some concrete from the old Embarcadero Freeway damaged in the 1989 earthquake. The freeway was being torn down during the construction of the garden in 1992. The concrete was ground up and used for the construction of the walkways.

Art In the Garden
The garden contains 30 sculptures. For a larger view of each sculpture, please click on any of these photos:

An experiment in biodiversity, Wild Apples for Jo, is a bed of ten apple trees grown from seed and sheltered by five French doors from the 1920s, rescued from a South San Francisco hotel. Five of the trees are planted in a star shape, like seeds inside of an apple, in large oval troughs surrounded with pink quartz and native grasses. Wild Apples for Jo grew out of Sweet Survival-- Urban Apple Orchard II, at the Sonoma County Museum 2006-2008. Urban Apple Orchard I, commissioned by the SF Art Commission in 1994-95, was on Market Street, a few blocks from Jo's house. It was a favorite of hers that she often visited. This is our dedication to Jo, to her life, her work and her spirit.

Sculpture Garden Tours (Saturday)
To visit the garden, please join one of our AIR Program tours which are held for adults on the third Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. The tours are geared to those interested in knowing more about the AIR Program, and especially for those interested in applying to be one of our artists. Tours also include an overview of the company and the garbage and recycling operations in San Francisco. Tours are not held if it is raining. For safety reasons, the tour is not appropriate for children under 8 years of age. To make a reservation for a Saturday tour, please call Deborah Munk at (415) 330-1415.

Tours take about two hours and involve stairs, hills and walking on uneven surfaces. Please let us know ahead of time to make arrangements for someone in a wheelchair or someone who cannot walk up stairs and hills. All tours are cancelled if it is raining and require closed toe comfortable walking shoes (no sandals). If you can't join our tour, or want to get a idea of what a tour is like, watch this video on YouTube made by Scott Handhew in the Spring of 2007.

School Tours (Weekdays)
A limited number of school tours of the recycling and garbage facilities are available to grades 3-8. To apply for a school tour, (including a free bus), contact the San Francisco Department of the Environment, School Education Program, at (415) 355-3700 for an application form which is due in early September. These tours include a short presentation of "how to recycle" in San Francisco. All school tours visit the artist working in the studio, the transfer station garbage pit, and the Art Garden. Most school groups re-board the bus and go three miles away to Pier 96 to see where paper, bottles and cans are sorted for recycling. These tours are scheduled in September using a lottery system for the entire school year.