friend who is equally amazing and sophisticated. i've got to say i've heard about dd and her. when the de young museum was getting built and the whole ventilation system on the ground. they said, no, we have to make sure they're just small enough to dee dee's heels don't get stuck in the vents. i said i know that's right, take control and get it done. dee dee has been an institution in san francisco for as long as i can remember. the work she has done is people have heard about how she single-handedly raised all the

money to rebuild the beautiful deyoung museum today. she continued to give to over 100 organizations annually both large and small. but i do know what her favorite organization is and it has a lot to do with her canine babies, an organization that she has been giving to for so many years, they recently honored her for her philanthropy. and the thing i like about dee dee is when you call her, she didn't even know who i was and she still took the time to talk to me. and this was before i was an elected official or anything else. she wanted to know more about the organization and what she could do and she's like that with everyone.

yes, she looks amazing all the time just like b. wright. but, again, another woman who cares about giving back but she consistently vests in san francisco and as i said, whether it's our cultural institutions like the deyoung, like the opera, like the symphony, there have been times i'm at events and the whole event is sponsored by dee dee and she's not even there. because she always makes herself available to give. to give up her time if she can, but also give up the resources to support the causes that, of course, are worthy. and when i think about how

fortunate we are in san francisco, how fortunate we are to have dee dee and her desires to want to be that person to contribute and support, it's important for me to make sure she knows how much she's appreciated. i remember when the new millionaires came to san francisco. she feels as though when you have it, you have to make it a responsibility to help somebody

else's life. for continuing to serve the city and making sure that she is spearheading a lot of the major causes that keep the opera, the symphony and the ballet, these incredible world class institutions here in san francisco that are recognized all over the world and they're like that because of dee dee. so, today, let me just honor you and let me make sure i don't forget the other thing. we honor you because as a woman in philanthropy, dee dee doesn't ask for anything. all you do is ask for something that's going to make san francisco better. it's never about anything personal. it's always about how do you change the lives of people in san francisco. how do you work on this project. how do we get this done, how do we clean up this, how do we

make things better. so today, dee dee, we honor you because of your commitment to san francisco and i know you don't do it for the recognition. i know you do it because you love to do it. i know you love san francisco. and we are so fortunate and blessed to have you as one of our well-known, well respected citizens of the city. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, we honor you today for women's history month. thank you so much for your philanthropy. so this is your little gift in there. >> well, london, thank you for

everything. i have to say i have been a grown-up in san francisco because i didn't come here until i was a grown-up and i've known a lot of mayors and some have been really fun, but no one's been fun like london. nobody is the breath of fresh air and you know when you call her or she calls you, i always just sort of get a dog, put it in my lap and think this is going to be nice and relaxing and funny and i laugh and i laugh and even if it's something serious, we find something to laugh about, something that's good. i have to say when i was 14, i was growing up in washington, d.c. and one day, my father said to me, "do you realize that you could grow up to marry the president of the united states. you could be the first lady of the united states." and i said to him, "daddy, i'd like to be the president."

[cheers and applause] >> well, that didn't go over. in those days. in the late '50s, early '60s absolutely didn't work. my father at first was horrified and then he laughed. that's really she's so funny. so i have to say, i listened to him because he used to always say, "you were lucky enough to be born in the good right bassinet, now you have to give back." and he always said that to me. it took me into my early 20s to figure out what he was talking about because i lived in the city with a building called the capital. and i couldn't understand how you possibly could spend it. those are the two things i kind of live by. i have to say as far as the president goes, i'm very

pleased to live in a time now where i have two beautiful, smart granddaughters. one is here today. i am absolutely convinced either one of them could be president if they wanted to. at least they have that possibility which my generation has not. i have hit more glass ceilings and glass walls, even some glass floors that most people that you'll ever meet because i couldn't understand why i couldn't go where i wasn't supposed to go and often that was in a room full of men and i will never forget being introduced to an important dignitary from china when we were building the deyoung. i was standing next to my husband who was alive at the time and harry said i'd like to introduce you to the chairman of the board and the guy puts his hand right out across me to my husband.

i thought, that's interesting, isn't it. i guess in china, they don't have chairman who are women. my husband had a very good sense of humor and he directed his hand and said i'm so happy for you to meet my wife. i thought, lessons learned. this is the way it is and we have to work very hard, very carefully and try not to irritate as many people as possible and find a way to be sure that women have the opportunity they may not want to do some of these things, but we just need to have the opportunity to do that and, of course, i agree with brenda if you really want a job, well done. you should find a woman. and i'm happy you found all of us, london. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> don't you just love her. so now i have the privilege of

honoring merriam -- merriam m.. i met merriam at her house that larkin street was holding focused on ending youth homelessness. the rising up campaign has beenen about raising millions of dollars to get to a point to end youth homelessness. we're talking about kids who are in their early 20s as well and a passion of hers has been to focus on the challenges of homelessness for children, for families, for young people and she's been consistent in her advocacy and i was really not

only impressed by her work, but also her excitement for the work and it wasn't just about raising the money or giving the money. it was also about being apart of the various committees and rolling up her sleeves and being actively engaged on the ground with these various organizations to understand what they're doing and how we can make a significant impact. and the nitty-gritty, and the nuts and the bolts. and i thought to myself, goodness, this woman is amazing. and she's the chair of the opera gill. she's still involved in the arts in san francisco. she still is actively engaged in the san francisco bay school and other various causes, but i know that her desires to help address homelessness in san francisco for young people is something that she is never going to walk away from because

it's important to her and until we're at a point where we end homelessness in san francisco, we know that we have an advocate in merriam. and so i am so grateful that she is actively engaged in the city, in this capacity that i found you at this event. she wasn't i don't think trying to get involved in the world of politics. she was just trying to do her part and you know what's very interesting is when you're out there doing the work you never know who's watching and part of why you do the work is not because of who's watching, but because of what you care about, what's near and dear to your heart. so for all the time and the resources you spent as a native san franciscan caring about this city, investing in youth homelessness, investing in the

arts, supporting our city in various capacities, we are so grateful for you for your time, your commitment, and, yes, you've been hiding out a little bit too long, but we're bringing you to the surface, merriam. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, thank you. and congratulations. we honor you for women's history month. >> wow. it is truly an honor to be recognized amongst these legendary women with woman i've looked up to for quite some time and mayor breed thank you for your leadership in this

city and for your continued support and trust. for all the efforts that we all do for our beautiful city that we love. you set an example for everyone and we are truly grateful for that. you know, my father talking about family anecdotes, when i was younger, he said you have to be stronger than everybody else around you because if you have a husband who leaves you with five kids, you need to be able to take care of yourself. luckily, that did not happen and i ended up with a very supportive husband who is always supportive of all of my efforts on a daily basis and as you mentioned, mayor breed, i love our city. i love every inch of our city and i believe that every single one of us is here because we

truly believe in our efforts to enhance and preserve our -- what we want to do for the youth and for investing in early education and celebrating the strong legacy in arts and culture. so we're all here i think with a common theme of our love for san francisco and i really appreciate this recognition. and someone said if actually we had an all-women group chat late at night inspired by ruth bader ginsburg who always stood strong and recommended to act virtuously, then our world would be a better place.

so thank you again. >> thank you. and last but not least and she couldn't join us here today, i wanted to honor susie tompkins buhl. she's really been an extraordinary person in san francisco. a person who supports and uplifts and pushes women in office. she's supported programs like emerge. she is really when it comes to getting women elected. she does what's near and dear to her heart is the environment

and making sure this is a better place we leave for our children. i'm proud of san francisco and its focus on equity and our plans around our new environmental climate action plan. they are the professionals and they should decide what happens around san francisco. it centered around making sure that communities that have been disenfranchised like the bayview hunter's point and i know we have some women here today that they are at the forefront of the change we need to make in san francisco. and susie believes very strongly in not only focusing on the environment, but making sure that equity is at the

center of the decisions that we make as a city and as a country. she believes again firmly and supporting and uplifting women and she is consistently doing everything she can to support those causes. now i've got to tell you, i became a big fan of susie once she found out i was the founder of the sfree. i don't know if you remember the spree outlet we'd go to this free outlet that was off of 3rd street near mission rock. you guys all know it. yes. but she took her resources and used them to support causes that mean a lot to uplifting and supporting women and we are so grateful for her work and wish she could have been with

us here today but she's here with us in spirit. to congratulations to susie tomkins buhl for her work in san francisco. and so with that, we are going to bring an end to our program but we see the man of the board of supervisors joined us late. but he's here nevertheless. supervisor asha safai, thank you so much for joining us. and i just want to say as i know kimberly ellis mentioned earlier, it's been a tough time in the world. it's been a tough time with what happened during covid. it's been a very challenging time we know with what's happening sadly every single second in ukraine. we know that there are people in this city and this world who

are suffering, but i have hope. i have hope because when i look around even the group of people that i see here today, i know so many of you from various points in my life and the consistency and the involvement that you all continue to do in the city is going to help transform it for the better. yes. it won't be easy, but we're not going to give up. we're going to keep fighting. we're going to keep working hard. and because we have these extraordinary honorees with us here today, i know that we're going to get to a better place one day at a time. i want to thank all of you for joining us and celebrating women's history month in san francisco.

and i feel really good right now. so because of i feel so good right now, i want to invite all of you into the mayor's office where we will have champaign, and a few appetizers and enjoy 1 another because after two years of a global pandemic, i'm just happy to see your faces. so thank you all so much and please talk with us afterward. thank you.

>> you're watching san francisco rising with chris manors. today's special guest is mary chu. >> hi. i'm chris manors, and you're rising on san francisco rising. the show that's focused on rebuilding, reimagining, and restarting our city.

our guest today is mary chu, and she's here to talk with us about art and the san francisco art commission. well come, miss chu. >> thanks for having me. >> it's great to have you. let's talk about art in the city and how art installations are funded. >> the arts committee was funded in 1932 and support civic review, design investments and art galleries. projects we have are funded by the city's art enrichment ordinance which provides 2% of construction costs for public

art. >> so art is tied to construction. there's been a great deal in the southwest of the city. can you talk about some of the projects there? >> sure. our city has some exciting projected in the bayview-hunters point coming up. one artist created a photo collage. in the picture pavilion, one artist formed a collage of her one-year residency coming together with residents, and anchoring the new center is a landmark bronze sculpture, inspired by traditional ivory coast currency which the

artists significantly enlarges to mark that it's a predominantly african american community in bayview hunters point. >> are there any art installations around town that uses light as a medium? >> yes. the first is on van ness between o'farrell and geary. it's funded with the m.t.a.s van ness geary street project. another project is for the central subway. it is one of ten artworks commissioned for the new line. it's over 650 feet long, consists of 550 l.e.d. panels

between the powell street station and the union street station. it's called lucy in the sky, and the lights are patterned with unique sequences so that commuters can experience a unique pattern each time they pass through. >> perfect. what about the early day sculpture that was removed from the civic center? >> this is a question that cities have been grappling with nationwide. following the removal of early days in 2018, there was a toppling of statues in golden gate park as well as the removal of the christopher columbus statue. we are partnering with the parks department as well as the

community to engage with the public to develop guidelines to evaluate the existing monuments and memorials in the civic arts collection and evaluate the removal of a monument or statue but also installing new ones. >> finally, it seems like the weather might be nice this weekend. if i fancy taking a walk and seeing some outdoor art, where would you suggest i go? >> well, i would suggest the embarcadero. this work was commissioned with funds from the fire station 35. this suggests the bow of a boat and the glass panel surrounding the structure depict the

history of fireboats in the bay area. >> and where can i go from there? >> then, i would walk up to the justin herman plaza to check out the work of the art vendors. then check out the monuments like the mechanics monument. also, be sure to check out the poster series, installed in bus kiosks along market street, which features four artists each year. >> well, thank you. i appreciate you coming on the show, miss chu. thank you for your time today. >> thank you, chris. >> that's it for this episode. we'll be back with another show shortly. for san francisco t.v., i'm chris manors. thanks for watching.

>> this meeting is being held in person the city hall in room 4 huh human as authorized by california gentleman code, section 54953e and mayor 45th supplement to her february 25, 2020 emergency proclamation. possible that some members of the fire commission may attend remote. those members the participate and vote by video. members of the public may attends the meeting to bench and provide public comment at the meeting location