San Francisco has quietly rewritten a piece of its own lobby history. Last Friday, the city unveiled a bronze bust of former Mayor Ed Lee at City Hall, installing his likeness on the Polk Street vestibule pedestal that previously held another mayoral figure. About 200 family members, friends and civic leaders turned out for the ceremony, with Lee’s 99-year-old mother, Pansy, on hand to watch the reveal. The new bronze joins the lineup of mayoral busts at the building’s entrances, facing the same steps Lee climbed during his years in office.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the sculpture was lifted onto a nine-foot limestone pedestal at the Polk Street entrance and briefly covered before the curtain came off. The Chronicle noted that the pedestal plaque carries biographical text and this inscription from Lee: "there is no limit to the success and potential of this extraordinary city if we keep the door of opportunity open to every San Franciscan."
How The Change Was Approved
According to the San Francisco Arts Commission agenda and minutes, commissioners voted in 2023 to decommission the James D. Phelan bust and followed the Civic Art Collection’s formal removal procedures. Those rules require a documented deaccession process and qualified conservators for stone public art. Visual Arts Committee records state that staff reviewed the piece under the collection’s criteria and recommended removal under existing policy. The commission’s documents outline how the removal and subsequent replacement were carried out.
Who Paid And Who Made It
Organizers pulled together roughly $124,000 for the project, with developer Eric Tao and public-art consultant Dorka Keehn among the backers and the Rose Pak Foundation serving as fiscal sponsor, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper also reported that city policy requires mayoral busts to be donated by third parties instead of being bought with public funds, and Arts Commission paperwork formally accepted the gift and approved the pedestal plan.
The Artists And Their Approach
Oakland sculptors Jonah Hendrickson and Deborah Samia created the clay model and oversaw the bronze casting for the City Hall bust, aiming for a likeness that feels elevated but still approachable. The pair previously worked on other public memorials to Lee, including a full-figure statue outside Chase Center, where their process focused on capturing what they describe as Lee’s modest presence. KTVU reported on that earlier collaboration and the artists’ working style.
Why It Matters
Swapping out a pedestal that once honored a mayor tied to anti-Chinese politics for the city’s first Asian American mayor is not exactly a subtle move. Supporters frame the installation as a symbolic correction to an exclusionary chapter in San Francisco’s civic storytelling. At the same time, Lee’s mixed legacy, from his role in the city’s post-Great Recession housing recovery to his support for tech industry incentives, means the new bust is likely to keep sparking conversations about who gets honored in bronze and on what terms.
Storage, Rules And Next Steps
City records show that the removed Phelan sculpture is headed to storage as part of the civic collection, in line with the Arts Commission’s deaccession rules. Motions approving the Lee bust’s final design and plaque layout also put its upkeep under the commission’s standard maintenance procedures. For now, the new bronze holds court in the Polk Street vestibule while City Hall’s roster of civic icons, and the stories they represent, continues to shift. San Francisco Arts Commission meeting materials detail the approvals and steps that led to the installation.
