l.e.d. lights, providing better height for the community and it saves 60% of the electricity it would take to light normal streetlights. this sidewalk and -- there's only a few blocks here. you're talking about. but the perm i can't believe pavement, that means five -- 500,000 gallons of water per year that used to go in the waste water treatment plant won't, it will go back in the ground water and recharge and can be used for other things. you do that across the city and you could change the way we treat storm water. the amount of money we spent on pumping the water, all that changes. in the waste water improvement this swail, the basin, you could see the storm water runs down the street, it moves over >> there are other government departments we work with. i want to acknowledge doug johnson, the transportation authority under the direction of jose luis. and caltrans, jimmy pan may and hinge cunge. and then the better streets plans guru. and al hearst and lauren worked on it. we worked closely with the

h.t.a. on these projects. i see amy here from the office of economic development. a lot of different folks worked together to -- to make these projects happen i want to make sure to acknowledge them. one that i haven't yet mentioned, though it has been referenced, has to do with public art. public works is -- is you know, typically a profession of civil engineers and hard tough stuff, pipes and asphalt and concrete. we realize that in order to -- to really make the -- these projects attractive and inviting, that public art can really be an important element to do that, to compliment the great work our architects do. i want to ask joe maddon from the arts commission to come up and say a few words about the beautiful public art that you may have noticed. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> good morning.

good afternoon. it is a pleasure to be here. congratulations to the residents of -- of visitation valley on your beautiful new streetscape. i want to say that it has been a measure to collaborate with our colleagues from d.p.w. and p.u.c. on the project. and i also want to say the rope you have public art is that 40 years ago, san francisco was -- was on the edge of cutting -- cutting public policy, even then by having the vision to enact a percent for art legislation which insures that public art is part of the -- of every new building and transportation project. and we -- we -- we set an example, other cities across the nation have followed. they're now hundreds and hundreds of programs like this. that's why we have public art included in this project. i would like to -- to specifically talk about the project that was done for -- by rebar, the artist team of rebar, through their temporary work

that they have done in the past, they have made an indelible mark on the city's cultural landscape by beautyifying and improving the liveability of our city through their inventive and unique and humorous art installations. i mentioned those were temporary. this however, is the first ever permanent art install hation. we're proud to have it here on leland avenue. from the victory garden in the civic center which took place a couple of years ago, to parking day, which has now become an international event, originating in san francisco, again, we are a leader, other cities across the world are following us, rebar's art work challenges us to contemplate a more sustainable future. where street furnishes and -- of today may be art materials of tomorrow. what strikes me about them is they take the ordinary and mundane, such as the uniformly abhored parking meters and turn

-- turn it into an extraordinary -- extraordinary work of art. who would have ever thought that a cluster of used parking meters could end up being so whimsical and beautiful and welcoming. unfortunately we don't have rebar's founder, matthew pass more here today, he happens to be in paris inaugurating their first parking day, which is -- i said was started here in san francisco. again, we're leading the way. he sends his regrets and wanted me to convey how much he enjoyed working with the residents of visitation valley. rebar sculpture. you can't miss it. it is down the street on the corner of leland and bay shore. it looks like stalks of organically grown street furniture. using the vernacular of the street, sur mass parking meter heads which are painted dark

orange which are attached to tall arching poles. the form was intended to reference the neighborhood's pastoral and agricultural past. according to the artist, the scultchur is meant to mark this particular moment in -- in a time when it undergoes a positive transition in the future. if you look at the sculpture, he incorporated eight text elements in the stalkings. you'll see the words visitation valley and a -- accompanied by words such as grow, thrive, nurture, prosper, cultivate and flourish. they're all written in the diverse languages that reflect the demographics of our complunity's residents. i wanted to commend our art commission staff, marry chu and eleanor -- mary chu and eleanor who oversaw the project. i want to thank community

members, marlene and ann who donated their valuable time to help us in the selection process. of course the municipal transportation agency who donated the used parking meters so we could turn refuse into art work. and lastly, someone -- someone who hasn't been acknowledged who deserves to be acknowledged or who has been acknowledged in passing but hasn't been acknowledged for her vea valuable contribution to the artwork of the community is fran martin and her husband jim grouden. -- who have -- have -- who have volunteered their time without compensation from the city. volunteered their time and effort and materials to beautyify the neighborhood in various ways through -- through beautiful tile work you see and gate ways and railings and through butterfly and dragonflies. so thank you for your beautiful work, what a gift to the city

and a gift to the neighborhood, and glad i have this opportunity to thank you publicly. so in concluding, i'll say i hope visitors and residents do to downtown visitation valley with enjoy our exubebrapt bright bouquet for generations to come. thank you so much. >> thank you. for this whole project is obviously a great benefit for all of san francisco. the primary beneficiaries are the folks here in viz valley, along this corridor. as primary beneficiaries, they were the ones that suffered the most as we were getting the work done. as you could see, it was a significant construction project. just like a major renovation would be in your home, a little disruptive. this was a little bit disruptive and we understand that and appreciate the support and patience of the merchants and residents of leland and the surrounding streets as we

understood took this process. we worked very hard on all of these projects to minimize adverse impact, but we all -- we all recognize there's going to be some, but it is limited in time and from here forward, it is nothing but good times and hopefully not -- not significant rent raises for the folks. but i want to ask one of the leaders from the community who has been working with us all along, who has been a booster of the community for a long time and will continue to be, that helped us working with the merchants representing the merchants in their community to come up. nick wolf from b.b. boom. >> thank you, ed. this is a new day in -- in downtown visitation avenue. it is usually sunnier here. this is one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city of san francisco. i like to thank may newsom and supervisor maxwell for their leadership and commitment in

securing the four-plus million dollar bond that led to the creation of this beautiful state-of-the-art streetscape that we're here celebrating. the department of public works staff and project managers on the ground have worked we ve hard to keep the project moving and it actually finished a little ahead of schedule. i think they should be acknowledged for their hard work. chris, alex, john, deppness, thank you guys. the fact that they made themselves available too attend our merchant meetings and were attentive and patient fielding an endless barrage of questions from a lot of small business owners was great. they were real partners in this and -- i really thank them for that. the merchants themselves along leland avenue, i think -- i like to thank them. i think we owe them a big debt of gratitude, there's 50 merchants that are the heart of the neighborhood. every day they wake up early and

-- leave late and make sure we have fresh fruit, we have affordable medicine. in my case, we're able to get a cup of coffee and some dim sung for lunch every day. i see a lot of them are here too. j.b. from the shop is here. ken from the dragon city aquarium is here. this is good. this is a good day. i feel good about it. they weathered a real storm like the mayor mentioned before. the factory across bay shore. the economic slump didn't help things, we're thrilled to stand here today in a new and improved leland avenue. this -- this is where we serve to bring the economic vitality back to the street. it is quite a year down here. the future has never looked brighter for do you want visitation valley. b.b. boom, the -- it is a program that works hard to bring in resources and programming to the community. i like to thank people that are on my steering committee that i

see here. russell and edie and smalley hassler, and betty particle -- betty and even. you guys make my job a lot easier. you know, we're a part of the -- of the mayor's neighborhood market place initiative program. we partner with the support corporation and office of economic and work force development. we work with 1345u8 business owners. -- we work with small business owners. the street fair, there's flyers everywhere. please take one and tell your friends. we were pretty thrilled to land latin jazz legend, pete who is going to perform. we're pretty happy to have him. so, there's going to be a lot of homegrown artists, musicians,

chefs, children's area. we're going to have the writers and the partners, the jump start in the bank of america parking lot. thanks everyone that played this -- the streetscape a reality. i hope to see you back on sunday, but not just sunday, i hope people kind of make this gateway to san francisco a part of their routine and come back and support the business owners and thanks, you guys. thanks again. s >> thanks. i was going to say exactly the same thing. not only before you leave today, should you stop and patronize a business, and not only should you come back sunday, think of leland and viz valley as one of the up and coming commercial district. it is a special and unique place and worthy of all of our patronage as we go forward. before we cut the ribbon, i do want to just take a moment to

acknowledge just a few -- a few of the many of department of public works employees who worked hard on this projects, in -- in some cases for years. if you indulge me to go quickly. nick mentioned dennis, along with martha ketterer and nick and steve o'sullivan and danny wong and thomas wong the nernling crew that put this together on the -- engineering crew that put this together. joe is here and wally wong, and alex marie who i saw limping, i hope that wasn't from the community meeting. these are the folks that worked with the contractor, mcgwire and hester to get this work done. i want to thank them for that. last but most -- the woman who manages the great streets program that has taken the mayor's vision and the board's policy directive for great

streets and actually put it into practice so that we see these projects here, mr.ings all of these prodge -- manages all of the projects, chris opreck. let's give her a hand. if there's anyone i missed, accept my apologies know my gratitude is there. with that we will cut the ribbon. >> all right. we'll do, five, four, three. >> no. no. no. that was really bad.

>> everybody. ready? five, four, three, two, one, [cheering] thank you, everyone. ♪ >> hello, i'm meg, welcome to "culture wire." for this episode, the director of cultural affairs, luis, will take you on a journey through presidio has been tet. -- presidio habitat.

>> welcome to "culture wire." today i'm at the presidio trust, a treasure within san francisco, because the presidio trust is really a national park in the center of an urban setting. it dates to the very founding of the city. national park. toting me today to talk about this amazing exhibition at presidio habitat is cheryl hanes. can you tell me a little bit about the idea of the presidio

habitat? >> succinctly, i have been long involved in the presidio. i was here when it was still a military base in the 1980's. i remember driving down walmart to the golden gate bridge and seeing the military guard at the gate and being utterly fascinated. >> so presidio habitat is an exhibition where you have invited, how many artists to think about the habitat? >> we put together a list of possible participants, local, national, or international, of people who are concerned with environmental concerns, made some sort of contribution to the landscape and conversation we're having here. we said that broke -- proposal requests and we received 25

back. from that 25, we went through and chose tend to realize in the landscape. >> including this building, which is an amazing example of recycling. >> we are proud of this space. it was designed by a local architecture team. we said, we need something that is a temporary structure, something that can be brought onto the presidio in pieces, act as an exhibition space for one year. we came up with the notion of shipping containers. it was important for us that we made this project for the place, of the place. what i mean by that is participants would also used

repurchased materials. >> we will be speaking to one of the artists that you selected. what excited you about his idea? >> have many things. first of all, i am a fan of his architecture. because of that creativity, i knew that he could come up with something unique. i love the fact that he was specifically addressing the landscape around here, and it was also about the human interaction with this place. >> what are your expectations with the people coming to presidio habitat? >> we really hope people will come with their family, dogs, and come back a number of times the works will change over the year. the feedback we are getting is you cannot do all of them on one

visit. it is really better to come back and have different experiences. >> thank you. i am with mark jensen of jensen architect. he was one of the architects to be chosen to do the presidio habitat. when you heard about this project, what inspired you about that call? >> our inspiration is a great blue heron. it was the site itself that attracted us. this is an incredibly beautiful outdoor room. we did a bit of reverse engineering once we knew we wanted to work here. which animals live here? the great blue heron jumped out at us. we walked around, and quickly, you get into another pace.

you slow down, leave the city behind you. you can feel the wind and the breeze. in our increasingly frenetic, fast-paced, connected life, the chance to be of here and slow down a bit was part of the agenda. as part of the installation, it was suggested that this would be deliberately not mowed because it would allow the sustaining of insects, plants, that would graduate -- that would gravitate to the area. >> that is right. i think you quickly notice that. >> thank you for being here. presidio habitat is an exhibition at the presidio trust. it will be in san francisco through may 2011. we hope you will come out to experience this amazing exhibition and great natural treasure.

>> to learn more about the other habitats installations in the presidio, visit >> good morning, consuls generals and your constituency. the elected officials who may be

here and other distiguished guets. sts. may i welcome you here to celebreate the national days of our wonderful countrymen, people from and people who are citizens of the consuls' generals, citizens of el salvador, nicaragua, and mexico. these flags will be outside your abode. this is a colorful and historical day. we are proud of our ethnic diversity. we're very proud of the history that we have with your country that goes back so many years and we are very happy that these will be in front of the city hall. this is the seat of government.

my introduced the custodian of this building. you shone the dome well today. [laughter] and of the government. a mayor who is making history, gavin newsom. [applause] mayor newsom: thank you. thank each and every one of you for being here. it is an honor to have you here, and you have been here many times with the flag raising ceremonies. this is, in particular, very important and appropriate that we ask all of you to be here. we share so much in terms of the respective histories. i am reminded every time i go down the hallway, of this history. the mayors who are here before the city of san francisco. the city was founded over 200

years ago. that connection in mexico and the relationship with spain, all the challenges that are good and bad. this is more positive with an engaging future. this is something that is indelible in the minds of the people of san francisco. particularly those who served as custodians of this great city. she is right to say that what makes san francisco special and what makes the bay area special, and the state of california so remarkable is the ability to attract people from every conceivable walk of life, regardless of race or ethnicity or sexual orientation. this is a region and a state that prides itself on its diversity. i say this often because this deserves to be repeated often. we did not tolerate our diversity, we truly celebrate this.

it is right to celebrate all of these differences. at the end of the day, those fundamental aspects of our lives are what we all show. what we are doing today is sharing the values of the region and the state. we pride ourselves in being the most diverse state in the most perverse democracy. we have seen this over every conceivable difference. the more that i go out, not just across the state but across the country and around the world, we have the privilege of visiting people for every conceivable walk of life. and i truly believe that people look to us to see that it is possible to live together through all of these differences. they know that there is something special and magical about this city and this region. and that is why we are here.

that is why i am here. and i am grateful that you are here. i am grateful for the extraordinary contribution of the people from mexico and central america. i think that this is interesting and appropriate to notice that san francisco county has the distinction as it relates to the latino community that is unique among the 58 counties. we have more latino representatives. -- >> this is not the case with the other counties. we have these in el salvador and nicaragua, as well as mexico. not everybody understands this and we are celebrating this remarkable collection. the city of san francisco took the lead as the city of refuge

after the civil wars in the 1980's. we established, firmly, the foundation that marks so much of what makes this city a special place. it is mocked by those who do not understand and who did not want to understand, and this is trivialized by political campaigns and this should not be diminished by sound bites and in political campaigns. we stand up to that. and we did not play into this. we do not believe in dividing people. we do not believe in diminishing others in the broader scope of the world. we are also celebrating that today. i am honored that you are here and i am grateful. i am happy that you took the time to celebrate with us.

we have, in this spirit, a formal proclamation. you do not have enough wall space for the proclamations that you have received. but this is my honor to recognize, you have to share this today. garcia understands this because there are only 365 days a year. he must have given out 10 days every day. and i am trying to separate this. in the spirit of brown, let me give out heritage day, guatemalan heritage day, and mexican heritage day. and the crop one -- the crop was -- nicaraguan