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>> it is has been quite a few weeks here in san francisco. mayor newsom: we balanced the budget and celebrated we did not lay off police officers. we expanded our universal preschool program. we did so without raising taxes. we got our budget on time. we did not borrow a significant amount of money. we were able to address significant concerns of the school district by using dollars from the rainy day reserve and transferring them over. we are proud of that. then we kicked off 12 pieces of legislation i signed establishing the framework for the southeast sector redevelopment deal. [applause] supervisor maxwell and other community leaders established the framework where we will provide 10,500 units 30% below

market. we will provide hundreds of thousands of square feet of new retail with acres of open space and new parks, literally kne millions of feet of space for r&d, areas for outdoor amphitheaters and an outdoor stadium, we hope that is for the san francisco forty-niners. the artist colony was preserved. we will be rebuilding the ellis griffin public housing site. -- we will be rebuilding the alice griffith public housing sites. it is 30 years of hard work coming to fruition. we are marking the economic development of this part of san francisco and marketing at the economic development of san francisco for the next 30 or 40 years. that means tens of thousands of jobs and all kinds of

infrastructure improvements. if that was not enough from the budget to the hunters point deal, we were also an extraordinarily proud to have had speaker nancy policy out here, senator barbara boxer out here, and countless others celebrate our groundbreaking at the terminal. we will be developing a world- class grand central station on the west coast of the west coast. i call it a grander station. it is a new intermodal facility creating a regional transit hub. 11 transit agencies will feed in from 88 area counties into this world class hub. there will be ground-floor retail. there will be 2600 new units of housing. 30% of them will be available below market. there will be the ability

ultimately to connect the high- speed rail from san francisco to l.a. and ultimately down to anaheim and eventually to sacramento. to have the key terminus there at the terminal. the speaker was there. she has been extraordinarily helpful for decades. she was disproportionately influential with the great support of secretary lahood who was also of the press conference. they got $400 million of the stimulus money. $400 million will be going to this site to create this framework, a train box will allow for the terminus of a high-speed rail and extension into this new terminal. it will be the heart of the new

downtown of san francisco. it is a $1.6 billion first phase in terms of the new frame. then it will be $400 million for the structural frame for the new train box that will allow for this facility to truly be everything we are hoping and imagining it will be. this is something will also anchor our economic future. we will be doing that for the economic future of our city and for the entire region. at the end of the day when jobs and the economy continue to grow, we will see congesting. people forget that in the 1990's

when we saw job growth, we saw commensurate transportation congestion of roughly 200% as a consequence of the job growth. when our regional economy comes back, the key differentiator will be transportation, alternative means of transportation. we cannot build enough freeways, highways, bridges, and roads. it has to be public transit. the buses and light rail will affect the economic fate and future of the region, particularly in san francisco. tens of thousands of jobs, some estimate up to 48,000 jobs will be created over the life of this terminal and a new neighborhood development and redevelopment. both of those projects are of such magnitude and significance that if we do nothing else in the city, that should give

people confidence about our future in terms of the ability to set the course for revitalizing our city and being competitive on an international basis. it is not about nations and states now. it is about cities and immature regions -- metro regions. these metro regions will be competing with others around the globe. there is the commitment now from the federal government that we will have the resources to development this infrastructure and transportation hub that will give us the anchor into san francisco in terms of job creation and the like. those are two significant things in addition to the balanced budget. this week, we are celebrating a

third. none of this was easy. all of this came together in the last couple of weeks. this came together just a few days ago with treasure island. >> signing this endorsement, we ensure that this site will remain a source of jobs for our community for decades to come. >> 8000 hhousing units to be developed with additional space for open space. there will be the ability to create a new town center and ferry service to the island. there will be a new strategy in terms of the straddle is age -- of the usage of wind, water, and solar. all of these things are remarkable planning. it is a visionary plan to take an old navy base that was

literally a wpa project that was sand and rocks them into the bay for the world's fair. it was to eventually become the san francisco airport. it never did, thankfully. the navy had it for over 50 years. they began the process in 1993. it was in 1994 that things started in earnest. mayor willie branown and mayor frank jordan worked hard on this. we created this new framework of profit participation, the first ever in the history of this country where a news polity like san francisco, a private developer, and the navy came together. each one has a stake in the other's success. this is why the secretary of the

need avy was here with speaker pelosi. it will not officially be executed until the environmental review is done next year. we signed an agreement, the three of us. again, this is all about jobs. this is all about real imagining our vision to include jobs, housing, and a light to focus on taking an old property that is not servicing a lot of good in terms of what it produces economically and creating a framework where we think we will be doing something that will be in the -- envy of cities around the world. it is something to really celebrate. even if you feel pessimistic about your city and that there

are a huge amount of challenges, i think people will mark this moment in san francisco history as a really proud moment as we look forward to replicating the success that is now taking shape in mission bay and replicating the best we have to offer in terms of sustainable values as opposed to situational values. we're thinking about how the city will look imagine how we will look as people in the next 20 or 30 years. i wanted to mark this week' and this message in light of those extraordinary projects that have all gotten to the next phase and level. now it is all about application and implementation having a framework where we are creating jobs and opportunities and revitalizing these areas. that is it for the week. i also wanted to note that we

had some success in the central part of market street this week. we're down there with the partnership. it is a more modest redevelopment strategy and new business just opened down there. we will be doing these arts markets at u.n. plaza. it will be happening on august 19. in a couple of weeks, i will be announcing that we will be doing dance, music, and theater. we will be bringing it out on the streets and sidewalks around the central market area starting at the old navy plaza. this will be happening in late september. we will use it as a catalyst for revitalization and change in the central market area. as we look big, treasure island, hunters point, trans bay

terminal and redevelopment. we're going to look small at fifth, sixth, seventh, eight st. and began storefront by storefront -- and began storefront restaurant to look for change. the national endowment recognized our efforts. we hope to do to market street what they did to times square in new york. large and small, but a lot to be thankful for and excited about as it relates to the future of this area. ♪

>> if you hear strange sounds,

we will be hearing strange sounds all the time. this is part of our new installation called "what is missing." i am the executive director of the academy. people in san francisco are very fortunate to have a truly remarkable public arts pro gram that makes projects like this one possible. we open this building one year ago. since then, about 2.3 million visitors have come through the california academy of arts and sciences. that is ok. my original goal was to speak alcatraz. don't tell anyone, of course. i think that we did it. it is a brilliant year. if we get a real rush, we could hit 3 million by the anniversary. we would like to have a last

minute push. we are fortunate enough to have two public artworks by mai ling. the first is on the west terrace where the land meets the sea. mai is a dedicated environmentalist and this is consistent with who she is as a person. we are quite have this book and did by her works. this is an extension of all that is in between it and it encourages people to think about the world and their responsibility to it. the academy is all about two questions, how did we get here and the challenge of sustainability? i suggest that there are no more important questions for our time and all that you see around here deals with those issues. we will hear from maya in a few

minutes. i would like to think many people who made this possible. first the members of the art advisory committee, bill wilson and mary [inaudible] and the arts commissioner. the golden gate music conkers advisory committee. -- concourse advisory committee. the former curator of the deyoung museum. can you imagine? this is fantastic. the academy scientists who work during the early design phase of this installation included [inaudible]

carol tang, brian fisher, jack dunn blocker, [inaudible] i also want to acknowledge my predecessor who played such a seminal role in the design of the academy. he is now at the university of colorado. the director of the exhibit development who insured that the installation went off without a hitch just as he ensured that the entire academy moved to howard street and then moved back without one lost fish. of course, the arts commission in the city of san francisco.

it is my pleasure to introduce this senior adviser to mayor gabonese som - -gavin newsom. >> i am here representing the mayor. he is anticipating the birth of his child which should come to any minute now. on behalf of the mayor, welcome to this dedication of the sculpture. the mayor early in his career realize the transforming power of public arts. it starts a discourse. it challenges us as citizens. what is missing is the expression of what people in san francisco and the mayor are trying to achieve.

we are trying to be the greatest city possible. our art should reflect our times and values. composting, water conservation, bicycling, plastic bags, plastic bottles, we are mocked sometimes for how we lead and today we are the been on public art. 90% of our big fish are gone. 1/3 of all species are missing. what is yet to be determined is that this is a memorial for us to listen. this will be spoken to millions of children. thank you for your gift.

you have already exceeded our expectations. i would like to give you the president of the arts commission. >> thank you. on behalf of the city family and all of our elected officials and especially the arts commission, it is on honor to be here and to mark this incredible vacation. -- occasion. with this addition to the city's civic collection, san francisco will become home not only to this last public

memorial but also the artist's first multimedia work. if you have not had a chance to get up close, please do so as a very exciting and innovative art work. i would like to thank the academy of sciences for being such a wonderful partner in this project with us and for welcoming not only the artist but the arts commission. some of us grew up in these avenues and it is a very joyous occasion to come back and rekindle our love in this new incredible facility. what could be a better home for these two artworks, these two pieces, then this incredible

building? we now have to two amazing pieces by a world class -- one of the greatest artists working in the world today. this is perhaps one of the best masterpieces in the world. this project is the result of an ordinance which is providing capital construction projects and the city dedicates 2% to the development of public art. although the academy of sciences is a not-for-profit institution, this is on public land after all. the san francisco arts commission worked tirelessly to

applying the arts in richmond fund and then we got a little bit of help along the way. -- enrichment fund and then we got a little bit of help along the way. finally, i think that we should take a moment to not only and knowledge and celebrate the brilliance of the artists but also the hard work and the tenacity of the many people who helped make this happen. greg mentioned a few of them, i would like to make a mention in particular, the director of public arts for the city and county of san francisco who shepherded the project from its inception to this day with a lot of help from my former colleagues on the arts commissioner. the former chair of the public art committee as well as in other former commissioner who contributed their expertise to

the project and helped to guide it to success. we would not be here today without their dedication and tenacity. we'll be joined by the dean of academic affairs at the san francisco art institute. i want to thank her and welcome her to the microphone. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for coming. it is a distinct pleasure and honor to have been lucky enough to have been there for the very beginning of this project and the selection phase. sometimes, we don't get to see things all of the way through so this will be special to me.

particularly, it was a special and extraordinary and creative opportunity to work with the artist. one of the excitemenexciting tho watch the credit process unfold and also to be a part of it sometimes. -- watched the creative process unfold. they want to aspire to work as a part of their career. sometimes, with public art, we focus so much on the environment in which we take place. the constraints under which it takes place, it can be outdoors, it can be allowed, it has to be approachable and accessible. sometimes things can become so

overwhelming, i was laughing at a press conference when maya was concerned about the cooling system. sometimes we lose sight of what is so extraordinary about public art when it works so well. when she came to us for the initial proposal, she said she wanted to do two pieces. we thought that was great. we thought it would be complicated. what happened is that she created two pieces that are not only beautiful but necessary to one another. that is what makes this work so extraordinary to me. on the other side of the building where the land lease the city, this asks us to think about what we cannot see because it is beneath the surface. to think about this is kind of imagine tiff. when she began to conceptualize

this piece, she was absolutely consistent that it had some sort of sensory, tactile relationship to the people looking at it. to how the world touches you and how it involves you and makes you a part of it. we have a piece on the other side of the plaza that says this is where we are today, this is the contour of where we need to surface. then we have a piece on this side of the building that says that we're working from here to the entire rest of the world. everything we do as individuals as we stand here in front of this piece and think about the choices that we make and think about whether we use that plastic bottle or that top, has implications in the world. we hear sounds that involves us, we hear things that put us in a particular place. we live in a world that we have to try to address