'Beloved' fixture of Golden Gate Park removed after vandalism |
FILE - JFK Drive is seen in Golden Gate Park.
When Patricia Suflita Wilson received a text from a ranger in Golden Gate Park last Saturday morning, she expected the worst. The photos accompanying the message confirmed her suspicions: One of the public pianos she oversees in the park had been vandalized again. This time, it was the one in front of the Conservatory of Flowers, and it had been flipped over and broken into pieces, leaving both the instrument and its rain cover beyond repair.
“It’s demoralizing,” Wilson said. “It’s sad to see someone be so hateful and careless to something loved by so many.”
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Since the fall of 2022, when JFK Drive became permanently car-free, Wilson has been the director of the Golden Mile, a public art initiative spearheaded by Illuminate, in partnership with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, to bring eye-catching and interactive installations to the promenade. Along with colorful Adirondack chairs, sprawling murals of whales and a sculpture of a bubble-blowing sea serpent, three open play pianos were stationed through the park: across from the Conservatory of Flowers, next to Blue Heron Lake and along the JFK promenade.
People gather to listen to a park visitor play one of the public pianos on JFK Drive.
Not long after the first piano was installed, Wilson remembers watching as a woman passed by, completely decked out in cycling gear. Noticing the instrument, the woman slammed on her brakes and with her helmet still on, raced over to sit at the bench and play. “It turns out she was a concert pianist,” Wilson said. “More and more people gathered, and she stayed and serenaded all of us. We see a lot of that beautiful spontaneity.”
A man started driving up from San........