Hearts in San Francisco
If you’ve ever spent some time in San Francisco you’ve probably seen some of these large heart statues, like this one on Union Square:
This sculpture is called Butterflight and is part of the Hearts in San Francisco public art project that’s been running for over 20 years. New hearts are added each year, and some hearts are also sold off regularly.
Currently there are over 100 of these large hearts to be found in public places all over SF right now. You can find all of them in this hearts gallery or see them on this map of hearts:
click here for an interactive map
Or do as I’ve been doing, and admire them when you randomly bump into them on a city hike!
In the map below you can see where we found Hearts in San Francisco so far. Or at least: where we captured and logged them. It really is a bit like Pokemon Go, isn’t it? :-)
Hearts in San Francisco - 100+ large statues
Here are a few of my more recent heart encounters:
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When we were visiting Sutter Health on 1100 Van Ness recently (nothing serious, thanks for asking), we saw this gorgeous heart called “City Fruit” painted by prolific SF Mission artist Sirron Norris:
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In Francisco Park you can find this beautiful chrome heart, that somehow is not on the map I included earlier. Hidden hearts! What will they think of next? 🙂
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Just like the Butterflight heart at the top of the page, this Tea Time with Laine is on Union Square. Or actually it was there, but it moved to New Hampshire now - the heart goes where the heart wants, I guess.
Hmmm… I’ve definitely seen more than just these, so I need to get better at taking pictures of them. Do you have a favorite (or just a first) Hearts in San Francisco statue? Share it in the links above 👆
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Hearts in San Francisco - Double Delight and There Is No Try
Today we saw two more heart statues on Union Square.
Double Delight by Michael Osborne
There is no try by Lawrence Noble
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Hearts in San Francisco - ColorFall of Hope
We found another one today, this time near the Bank of America on Castro:
ColorFall of Hope by Deirdre Weinberg
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Hearts in San Francisco - Bae Area
Ooh, we found another heart in downtown, as we were [heading to the SFMOMA]. This one is called Bae Area and was created by Piero Spadaro. It’s in a Bank of America branch again, this time on the corner of New Montgomery street and Market street.
Sorry for the not-great pic. The weather was not ideal, the window was dirty, and I couldn’t figure out a good angle where we weren’t showing. :-/
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Hearts in San Francisco - Fibers of Life
This statue in the Hearts in San Francisco series is called Fibers of Life and was made by San Francisco artist The Apex (real name: Ricardo Richey) in 2024.
You can currently find it in China Basin Park in Mission Bay, right across from the Giants ballpark.
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Hearts in San Francisco - Open Heart
Open Heart, located at the Bay End of The PIER, welcomes all guests to PIER 39. Hand-painted by local artist Patrick Dintino. Open Heart symbolizes the openness of our city’s heart, as well as the idea of falling in love with and leaving your heart in San Francisco. The sculpture is part of San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s 2014 “Hearts of San Francisco” collection that supports the vital programs and initiatives of San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. #PIER39
This statue in the Hearts in San Francisco series is called Open Heart and was made by artist Patrick Dintino in 2014 (the year the series started). You can find it at the end of Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf, where it gets a lot of attention.
I recommend shooting pics from both sides, as both the wooden pier and the bay make beautiful backdrops.
You can even capture the heart with Alcatraz visible behind it, but I decided to not press my luck in the cluster of folks that were already trying to get that shot.
The Hearts in San Francisco statues may move around, but from the way this plaque looks, Open Heart has been in this place for a while already. :)
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