Marco Cochrane began production of his sculpture, Bliss Dance, on Treasure Island, starting with a foot-tall prototype. The 40-foot-tall structure took over a year to complete and was unveiled for the first time at Burning Man 2010 in Black Rock City. Cochrane used two geodesic layers to build the 7,000 pound sculpture. It has been returned it to Treasure Island where it is currently on display until at least October.
Author Archives: Monica Jensen
Monica Jensen, the multimedia editor at SF Public Press, is also a volunteer at the “Crosscurrents” news program on KALW Public Radio. She has been documenting a collective art project titled “Welcome to the NeighborHood” in Bayview-Hunters Point. The project has been exhibited in the Sargent Johnson Gallery in the African American Arts and Culture Complex, and will be displayed at Zeum and Art 94124. Jensen is also the winner of an honorable mention from the National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism award.
Posted inNews
Free pot for the needy
SoMa cannabis dispensary serious about philanthropy
How do you define compassion? In the tight-knit medical marijuana community, the word has become a euphemism for small, periodic donations of cannabis-based medicine to patients who cannot afford to buy it at the going rate — now about $10 to $25 a gram.
Posted inLaw & Justice, Neighborhoods
Book recalls immigrants who passed through Angel Island
To commemorate the centennial of the Angel Island Immigration Station, authors Erika Lee and Judy Yung shed light on the thousands of immigrants who passed through the “Guardian of the Western Gate” in their recently released book “Angel Island: Gateway to America.”
While more than 70 percent of detainees were from China, others came from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Mexico and more than 70 other countries, a finding they discovered while examining hundreds of documents that were made public in the National Archives’ collection in San Bruno in the 1990s.
Posted inNews
Superfund site in San Francisco proves toxic for Navy, neighbors
A Toxic Tour reporting project
A year after the dissolution of the Restoration Advisory Board for Hunters Point Shipyard, the Navy says it will introduce a new community involvement plan that it says emphasizes diversity.
The announcement follows the White House’s reconvened interagency effort on environmental justice, which held its first meeting under the Obama administration in September. The group is creating a four-year road map to develop “stronger community relationships” and targets “overburdened communities.” The next meeting is set for April.
Posted inEducation, Muni, Neighborhoods, Transportation
Reporters’ Notebook: En route: 28-19th Avenue often off schedule
Reporter Jerold Chinn, Multimedia Editor Monica Jensen and Social Media Editor Sarah Fidelibus rode one of the Muni bus lines that has the most trouble keeping on schedule — the 28-19th Avenue.
They documented the problems the bus faced while traveling on a recent Wednesday afternoon along the route from Fort Mason to Daly City. The bus travels for much of its route along 19th Avenue, or Highway 1, which leads to the Golden Gate Bridge to the north and Interstate 280 to the south.
Posted inElections, Labor, Transportation
Muni update: Debating Prop. G, looking beyond driver pay to fix transit
As the Nov. 2 election draws near, Proposition G has come to the forefront as one of the city’s most hotly debated measures.
The measure would force the city’s transportation operators’ union into collective bargaining and backers say it would “Fix Muni.” But opponents say that Muni’s problems don’t start and end with drivers.
Posted inTransportation
Muni update: Drivers feeling the squeeze
SF Public Press multimedia editor Monica Jensen met with Muni operator Emmanuel Andreas, who was featured in a story in the Public Press’ summer print edition, to discuss how Muni’s on-time performance goals affect drivers.
Posted inEducation
Oakland teachers and families’ one-day strike (photo gallery)
Oakland teachers and families picketed outside schools Thursday. According to various reports, few students attended school.
Posted inFood Systems
Edible gardens grow up
Sanchez Elementary School, in San Francisco’s Mission District, has erected the city’s first public, off-the-grid, vertical garden. Equipped with a high-tech weather station, students will study the growth patterns of the edible, organic vegetables and measure weather patterns.
Posted inNews
Welcome to the neighborhood: Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island (photo essay)
Treasure Island, named for the imagined gold embedded in the mud dredged from the Sacramento Delta to build the manmade island, offers an oasis for some in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Yerba Buena Island, to the east, has sweeping views of the East Bay.