tv [untitled] August 13, 2010 7:30am-8:00am PST
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this is the fly casting pools. here was a fly casting champion ship. here it is today. it's still in use. the stables out there. they are meant so the public would have the opportunity previously only available to the elite, as it so often the case, as is with golf. like lincoln park built by the wpa. think of the experiences that people have had and the history which is embodied in them. there is daves tennis stadium. here it is, this was a tournament for inner-city youth.
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archery at golden gate park. our play grounds. here it is in use today. this is bernal heights park. you can still see the gutters they put in there. this is buena vista parks. this is quezar park. this is mount davidson. look out for the rock. this is on telegraph park. this is stern grove. this is a little known park above candle stick. here's my friend jake, standing by a wall.
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this was rosy play ground. they turned it into a park and it was also restored by wpa. i believe they torn down the house, which was unforgivable and the zoo is wpa. and here's the murals inside the mother's building. the marina sea walls and great aquatic park. the palace of fine arts. we wouldn't have and a little further in, lake merit, this pier. alva rado park and then, some of you my recognize this.
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the berkeley rose garden. did it have to be this beautiful. finally, i'm going to wrap up. san francisco is rich in the various kinds of arts projects. we have a fabulous collection of stuff here. there were four components. there was visual arts, federal theater, federal musics and federal writers. they employed many people. this is excellent to show the work. the visual arts project. it was especially important in san francisco because of dieggo rivera and radicalizing it.
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this is the coit towers. this was done under cw a. 1934. the wpa wasn't in existence. this is the very first of the relieve projects. harry hopkins said, they have to eat too. the artists should dig ditches like everybody else. this is antonio brinko. millions of americans got to hear live music for the first time. this is the federal theater project. this is maxine albroro. it's been destroyed and one of my favorites done by helen
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bruten. it's to remind us, while i was looking at these projects, they employed 42 percent women. it's very unusual in the art world. and then of course, in san francisco, benny lafono. we had the first and the last of the new deal. coit tower is the first. it is i think, one of the best in the country. it shows san francisco's history and that of human civilization shown through the eyes of labor. these are things that happened in san francisco's history.
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lynchings. again, coit tower, shows you the stock market dropping. something people weren't used to seeing. and a business many being held up. and in george washington high school, the farther of our country pointing the pioneers west as they walk over a dead indian. most of the art is not controversial. most of the artists celebrates local produce. this is one of the most extraordinary murals i have seen. at a tuberculosis cemetery. they also painted a mural in san francisco.
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finally, it's on the outside of the berkeley community theater. all people brought together through the arts. unfortunately, it was not the last. the war came along. and anton refurgie. there were controversial. there were tried in washington in 1953. he had a panel showing the arts and sciences. there is luther burbank and
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jack london. there was a thing on the side. it says federal art project and has beginning and ending date. that is a wall which becomes a tomb stone. the artists themselves are becoming ghosts. that's what he's doing there. joseph danish. head of the projects, it is it was a wonderful time that he woke up every morning wondering how long it would last. they were being paid to produce public art. well, what happened of course is the war. the war came along. and roosevelt could see it coming. so, very few people understand the new deal segways into war.
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they beefed up the military bases like fort mason. my 1943, they are all killed. the war did what the new deal couldn't do, full employment. there were reports, it's still with mind numbing statistic. we have to rely on other people to do it. the these projects enriched the lives of millions of people and does so today all the time. i have become aware of it, but very few people are. i have also become aware
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extraordinary people. here's a dedication of roosevelt. on the left, who painted the murals in the social security building with her husband and steph an kennedy. it's been a privilege to meet these people. just recently, i found this statue of roosevelt. is over looks oslow harbor. they revere roosevelt, because of what they learned from the new deal about how to build a civil society. they didn't get rid of it, they
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>> this is a dpw corporation yard. i work for the bureau of street environmental services used to be street cleaning. we are a new age. >> here we are. >> here we are. >> clean. >> these are our communications dispatchers. hi. okay, no problem. you are welcome. bye-bye. >> all the information about the location, the nature of the complaint and we dispatch it. >> near the steps. >> by new they have started a hundred calls for dispatchers. >> once a get a request if they are not on the air i will page that unit. these are the radio channels.
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we have 14 channels. i will give a service request. >> there is a lot of expertise that goes into a call. i think we can have you dispatch and track. >> 448. >> 448. >> 19th at california. >> can you give us a little bit of a view. >> we have the city broken up to different districts. we will go to zone e. we will go to iowa street. put me to work. >> okay. >> bend it over like that. we chop it.
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>> while you do this if you come across something that looks hazardous, material wise, >> like this paint? >> you can't take paint. >> that gets dealt with by? >> we have a patrol truck thal pick up the paint. >> we have tv monitors and tires. you want to look for needles we don't mix needles with the garbage. >> you have to be a positive person in a way to deal with this job. you are dealing with areas you know it's been cleaned. >> basically it happens a lot where you clean up an area.
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you come back a couple of days later and it's back to that again. we more or less are used to it. that's -- it's our job. you have to get used to it. it's a fact. that's the way it is. >> sure. yeah. >> okay. >> what do you think, are you ready to sign up? >> totally. i'm over dressed. >> a little warm? must be the sweat. >> part of the daily routine is george our steamer. you see the wall people urinate on the and the sidewalk.
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a trick. i get it up like this. somebody got to do it. the bigger they -- >> pull the trigger. >> careful, the water's really hot, too. >> i have been on a packer truck. i painted removed graffiti. my favorite. >> what's that smell? pine. one of my favorite, a guy got his head stuck in a trash can. we had to get vasoline and rub his ears. [laughter]. what goes on here we will empty out and clear this area. >> ever find stuff like drugs
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or anything? do you deal with that. >> i don't know, do you find anything? >> everything's trash. >> dave, let's get a little of that. >> the way to do it easier without opening the can is push off the debris off the top and you are topping off the can. we are not supposed to empty the can. there is a can on every corner. sometimes we get calls the majority of my work is done on eyesight if i see it i do it. downtown we fill up 3 or 4 times a day. >> daily it could change and be various different assignments that come up. we can swing by, we see some of
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the trucks unloading in the area. >> this is our dump site, this is where we dump the debris. we come twice a day to unload all the trucks. i need you to go on up there and he will assist you to unloading the mattress and the futons. >> okay. okay. >> sometimes you see it popping out. you have to be very careful. pushing in and down. pull it out. >> you have been here once
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earlier? >> did you have as much stuff? >> more. >> oh , my god. >> did you survive your day in dpw? >> i did i learned quite a bit. the packing truck. shovelling stuff. the steamer i thought i was a candidate for an industrial accident. >> we have 340 employees. most of the people out there do it every day. >> i'm ready to turn in my vest. >> did a good job today. >> would you pass him on probation. >> yes. see you tomorrow at 6
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>> as the city of san francisco has grown, there are a number of cultural organizations that have grown with it. the san francisco symphony, the ballet, and ensure we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the san francisco museum of modern art's. one of the things many of our viewers may not understand about museums is the way they grow and evolve is really about a broad. his patient and support from many individuals who give their collections -- and broad support from many individuals who give their collections to the museum. this year it will be celebrating and abolishing those individuals through exhibition -- and acknowledging those individuals throughout asia. joining me is janet bishop, the
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curator. i understand you have been with the museum quite a number of years. you remember its original home on van ness. now you are part of that transition to the center, the civic center, and of course your museum has been really the anchor of cultural tenants that has helped us transform this area of the city. >> to my mind, it is wonderful to be part of such a rich cultural community. when visitors come to this area, that have so many different options. >> let's talk about the anniversary show, which will be a phenomenal opportunity for san franciscans and all visitors of the city to get a real sense of how the city has grown and the importance of culture. >> we focus on moments where it
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was involved in pushing the dialogue about contemporary art forward. the jackson pollock exhibition in 1945 is a perfect example of that. our founding director was deeply interested in abstraction and was engaged in dialogue with the guggenheim about bringing the jackson pollack showed to the west coast. the original price for the painting, $750. are directors thought that was too much of a stretch before the board of trustees, so she convinced them to reduce the price to firefighter dollars. it was just -- to $500. it was what was needed to persuade the board. it is a very subjective history of art. it has been very much shaped by the individuals involved with the museum over the years. in 1935, would start with the gallery with works that came in
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through albert bender, one of our founding trusties. when we opened our doors in 1935, 181 of the 186 pieces in our permanent collection had been gifted. >> what are the names that pop out as the museum evolved? >> we have another gallery that looks at the theories that the museum has since the late 1980's. we focus on a particular aspect of that program that developed under one of art curators. he arrived in 1989 and was especially interested in artists. >> are some of the highlights? >> one of the aspects of the museum program that i have been especially involved with have
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been the exhibitions that stand for society for the encouragement of contemporary art. it is encouraged to honor exceptional bay area artists during their careers. for instance, an early worked who showed here in 1996. for this exhibition, he has extended an updated it to 2010 with the addition of photographs and other frameworks. >> thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> as we examine the 75th anniversary, we cannot overlook its important role as an educational institution and how it brings public program to all of our citizens in the bay area. try me now to talk about that is dominick, the curator of education and public programs. you are vested with a
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multifaceted responsibility, with education and also multimedia. could you explain that? >> there are three main areas. we produce education activities for all ages, k-12, and adults, and we also produce a lot of educational media, a lot of interviews with artists, stuff that we published online, and other galleries. there's also a public program, which include some educational activities, but also live cultural programming for the artists projects. >> what are all the ways that the museum reaches out? >> the latest platform for educational media is launching right now with his anniversary. we have gotten to the point
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where we could put a lot of the content about artists, the stories behind artists we have had on line, but those on to the ipod touch. >> could you talk about the education role that the museum plays in the city of san francisco? >> we are in the middle of a new initiative to provide more resources and programs for families and the locality. we are benefiting from a grant from the wallace foundation, and in the last two years many more bay area families have come to the museum, participated in the programs, most of which take place on sundays. we will see more and more different offerings rolled out in the coming months. >> thank you, dominic, for being part of "culture wire."
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>> the museums are almost like a team sport. there is a tremendous amount of talented staff that puts together patrons to help support the institutions, but they all need a coach. the coach is the director. neal, could you let the viewers know, you have been director how long? >> we are working on eight years. >> now you have the 75th anniversary. how does that feel? >> we opened this building in 1995. it was bought at that time as a move from the civic center and the veterans building 2 third street, into our new building, a much expanded space, better space. it will be wonderful for the museum for decades to come. and 15 short years we have been
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amazed by we have outgrown the building. the collection has grown to 26,000 works. >> was a challenging to decide what was going to be put on display during the anniversary year? >> 3 people on our staff spent 2 1/2 years of going through archives, the storage vaults, honor think all kinds of works that we have not seen -- uncovering lot of works that we have not seen but also history we uncovered about how we presented a television show produced by the museum, in the museum, in 1950. a lot of great stories that the presentation tells. >> the most recent news was the incredible decision on the part of donna morris fisher to give their collection to sfmoma.
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>> think it is commonly understood that the fischer collection was 1100 works by some of the great contemporary works, one of the great collections in the world. in fact, the collection has not been seen. it has been largely stored at the headquarters, there has never been a publication or exhibition. >> but fischer collection and the additional expansion over the next 50 years, what in the next 25 years will the museum be doing? >> we are very committed to expanding the museum, expanding the collection, the overall growth of the museum. that is one of the things that is very important to us. we are about to enter a strategic planning process. the fundamental question we want to address is, how wil sfmoma
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