San Francisco artist's work explores city's relationship with concrete

Early in the spring, on the sand dunes near Ocean Beach, CBS News Bay Area first met San Francisco environmental artist Alicia Escott . For 12 weeks, Escott immersed herself in the inner workings of the pioneering San Francisco Environment Department . The department is critical for locally curbing the impacts of a warming climate, making sure that San Francisco was the first major city to install curbside composting as well as banning single use plastic shopping bags. The San Francisco Arts Commission oversees the Artist in Residence Program , which places Bay Area artists inside of municipal departments. Escott was selected to embed herself with the city's Environment Department. "To my knowledge, at my time in the department this is a first we're grateful for the opportunity," said Joe Piasecki, the public affairs and policy coordinator for the agency. During her residency, Escott interviewed staff, attended meetings, and went on location. Her goal was to create an artistic installation for public display and interaction, based upon what she discovered. She decided to create thoughtful works about concrete. CBS News Bay Area met up with Escott at her studio, where she was putting the finishing touches on some pieces. The installation is called "Etymology of a crack: the story of circularity". "I just grabbed a hand full of concrete mix. And i washed off these little river pebbles," she commented, as she showed up some small pebbles glistening in her hand. Escott's studio showed several provocative works, that combined shells, with concrete, and even video. Several intriguing pieces were concrete head bolsters, where participants could lay their heads and conjure up thoughts of concrete. "It can almost feel like a landscape, but it can also feel like a trash heap too," she said, laughing. In her studio, the artists created multiple works that will go into her installation – including two slabs of city sidewalk that a jackhammer had fractured into pieces to make space for trees. One slab is flipped upside down to reveal the coarse nature of the concrete below the surface. "That's what it looks like when they are breaking apart a slab to put in a tree well," Escott said. Each work tells a story about concrete, including an ancient type that uses seashells and sand, that's making a low carbon comeback. From the Transamerica Pyramid to the busy city streets, concrete covers about 65% of San Francisco. Construction and demolition debris accounts for half of all the solid waste generated in the city which is roughly about 100,000 to 150,000 tons a year. Most of that concrete gets either recycled or crushed for repurposing. The newly renovated Buchanan Street Mall will involve low carbon concrete and pervious concrete which are more climate friendly.  This will be San Francisco's first low carbon concrete municipal park project. City officials said the five-block park should be set to reopen in December with a ribbon cutting. Concrete is the second most consumed material in the world globally. It accounts for 8% of all carbon emissions. Part of the installation are events that invite viewers to participate including a way to interact with chunks of broken up concrete and meditate. "Just taking a little piece of our city sidewalk and mediating on that," said Escott, as she rolled a concrete wedge in the palm of her hand. Escott is rolling out some meditation workshops where participants will stand on a city pavement and ponder how ancient seashells and coral reefs were once turned into cement and combined with stones and sand to turn into pavements. Participants can also volunteer to work on the last city tree planting of the year or see the city's first low-carbon municipal park. The next three workshops are: Sunday, November 22 from 12 to 1 p.m. at Sunset Dunes, between Lawton and Kirkham Streets. Saturday, December 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Divisadero Tree Planting. Volunteer opportunity to participate in the last City tree planting of the year with a short mediation on concrete and welcoming the water with Escott. Monday, December 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Buchanan Mall Ella Hill Hutch Community Center (1050 McAllister Street) with guest collaborator Dr. Mia Pixley. In: Project Earth Featured Local Savings