Anyone going to talk about this at the Regents next week?

"Time will tell," "neutral." UC-San Francisco is amazingly passive about saving their murals.

UCSF New Deal murals could be destroyed

J.K. Dineen, 7-22-20, San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has initiated the landmarking process for 10 Depression-era frescoes that could be destroyed as part of UCSF’s 1.5-million-square-foot expansion at its Parnassus Heights campus. The series, “History of Medicine in California,” was painted in 1935 by radical artist Bernard Zakheim, a Polish-born muralist who studied with Diego Rivera and contributed to the murals inside Coit Tower. It was one of more than 220,000 works of art partly funded by the Works Project Administration.

In June, The Chronicle first reported that the murals likely would be a victim of the UCSF expansion unless an individual or group came forward with a plan and money to move the murals, which weigh 2,500 pounds apiece. UCSF said it had consulted with two preservation architecture groups that concluded it would cost $8 million to preserve and move the artwork, and that some of the panels could be damaged in the process.

“UCSF has decided not to use public funds to physically preserve the murals, especially at a time when the UC system faces financial challenges in the wake of COVID-19,” the university said in a statement at the time. “This decision in no way has to do with any complaints about the murals.”

On Monday, however, UCSF Vice Chancellor Brian Newman told the supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee that the university would like to see the artwork preserved.

“We understand how passionate people are, including our own community and alumni, to preserve these murals,” Newman said. “Time will tell, based on the work we are doing now, if they can be saved.”

Peskin described the landmarking as “honorific” because UCSF, as a branch of state government, is not subject to San Francisco’s zoning or planning codes. That means that even if the murals are designated a city landmark, UCSF could destroy them.

“(UCSF) is not subject to our local laws, but I believe that these incredible, radical 10-part frescoes deserve that level of honor and deserve that protection,” Peskin said.

Newman said UCSF is “neutral” on the landmarking proposal, but “my colleagues and I are certainly sympathetic with its goals.” ...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-supervisors-take-an-interest-in-preserving-WPA-15427125.php