Goddess Mark II - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: DougK
N 37° 43.654 W 122° 27.053
10S E 548388 N 4175730
Goddess Mark II is the weathered remains of the original Goddess of the Forest, a sculpture from the Golden Gate Exposition in 1939/40.
Waymark Code: WMB4MV
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 04/05/2011
Views: 8
This sculpture is current located in the Diego Rivera Theater at the City College of San Francisco, California. The totem pole sculpture had weathered to a third of its original size. Roger Baird, Chair of the Art Department at City College, worked on the restoration for years without renumeration.
From the Smithsonian AIC website:
The sculpture was carved with an axe at the Golden Gate Exposition in 1939/40, possibly as part of the art-in-action pavilion of the Works Progress Administration. After the exposition, the sculpture was a gift to the City and County of San Francisco in 1940. With the onset of World War II, the sculpture was hastily installed on a concrete pad in Golden Gate Park, where it suffered from moisture buildup and rot. In 1985, with the artist's permission, the totem was moved to the City College of San Francisco College for restoration work. A large portion of the statue had to be cut off due to rot. The "recycled" sculpture was retitled "Goddess Mark II."