San Francisco Art Institute

The San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) will conserve two of a group of six New Deal era frescoes on the walls of SFAI's historic 800 Chestnut Street Campus. SFAI (then called the California School of Fine Arts) played a central role in the development of the fresco as an art form in the United States in the 1930's. Covered for more than 70 years by overpaint, the murals were discovered recently in 2013. This project will conserve another two frescoes, Marble Workers at Fisherman's Wharf by Frederick Olmsted, Jr., and the Lost Fresco #6, artist unknown. Treatment will include removing urethane and overpainting and restoring damaged areas of the frescoes. The revealed frescoes will illuminat the stories, experiences, and ethos of Bay Area public mural artists, including those less prominent, in this very important period in our collective history.