How many museums in San Francisco can you get into for the price of a Muni ticket? The new Central Subway, which launches weekend service on Saturday, ahead of full service in January, will connect more than Chinatown and Sunnydale: It also will connect riders to eight site-specific, museum-quality artworks across the four newly opened stations, courtesy of the San Francisco Arts Commission, with two more coming in 2023.
Above the station’s platforms, Werner Klotz and Jim Campbell’s “Silent Stream” comes to life. A winding serpent of stainless-steel discs, the pixelated mirror reflects the crowd below. Looking up to view the piece offers a different perspective on the station itself, and one that changes with what’s on the ground.
“Public art needs to be integrated as much as possible and as engaging as possible without being startling,” said Campbell. “It needs to work in that ambient way, but also if you pay closer attention to it.”
- Max Blue, San Francisco Examiner
