2 of San Francisco's large artworks have been vandalized

When two giant bronze crow sculptures were installed in the Panhandle in May, their wings were midnight black. Standing taller than some adults, the crows, named Tom and Lucinda by their artist, Jack Champion, watch over the park's midsection. 

Now, Tom and Lucinda's black sides are streaked with white spray paint. As of Monday morning, both crows' north-facing wings have been tagged with graffiti.

Katie Ryan, who lives in the area, noticed the graffiti while walking her dog in the park. 

"It's unfortunate," Ryan told SFGATE. "They don't need to be tagged. But people who tag things feel differently, obviously."

The statues, taken together, comprise an art piece called An Attempted Murder, an apparent play on the name for a group of crows. Champion, the crows' creator, first designed crow statues for Burning Man in 2016. Previously, An Attempted Murder appeared on the lawn of Laguna Beach's city hall and at the Smithsonian.

The tags, which are hard to make out, appear to read "BRDSHT" on one crow, and "YHOLUR" on the other.

"It's disappointing that public art created to enliven the Panhandle would be vandalized in this way," Daniel Montes, a spokesperson for San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department, wrote in a statement to SFGATE. "We're working closely with Building 180 and artist Jack Champion to ensure the artwork is repaired and restored as quickly as possible."

"Unfortunately, this is not the first time public art has been damaged," Montes continued. "But it won't deter us or our partners from continuing to invest in public art that brings beauty, creativity, and community to our parks and public spaces."

Champion's statues landed in the Panhandle as part of a recent series of temporary, large-scale artworks placed around San Francisco. They're part of the Big Art Loop, a series of privately funded public art installations that form a "loop" around the city. Per the loop's specifications, artworks in the Big Art Loop must be larger than 10 feet in either height or width. The idea, according to the group's website, is to showcase works that draw attention, and in the process drive foot traffic and stimulate the city's economy.

Although Big Art Loop works with several city agencies, including the San Francisco Arts Commission, it is a private entity. According to the organization's FAQ page, Big Art Loop is currently applying for nonprofit status. The organization's seed funding came from the Sijbrandij Foundation.

Other works in the Big Art Loop include R-Evolution, the Embarcadero's controversial 45-foot statue of a naked woman. That sculpture appeared at Burning Man before landing in San Francisco.

In a statement shared with SFGATE, Aliza Marks, Big Art Loop's CEO, condemned the vandalism, calling it "disheartening." She affirmed that the organization would restore An Attempted Murder, and called on locals to help defend public artwork.

"This is not creative expression - it is destruction, and it harms the artists and communities these works belong to," Marks' statement reads in part.

"When public art is vandalized once, we restore it," she continues. "But when it happens repeatedly, it changes the real cost of placing and maintaining these installations. At some point, that math becomes impossible - and San Francisco loses the ambitious, imaginative works that make our public spaces worth walking through. That is a loss no city should accept."

Most Read

Food | SF restaurant gets angry backlash for AI menu imagesLocal | Bay Area city braces for biggest housing boom in decades

News | 'She was amazing': 18-year-old dies after falling at Calif. dam

Crime| She was alone in a remote Bay Area farmhouse. A killer found her.

Get SFGATE's top stories straight to your inbox by signing up for The Daily newsletter.

Read this story on sfgate.com