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In 2008 the FOR-SITE Foundation, in partnership with the Presidio Trust, commissioned the Spire, a site-specific installation by artist Andy Goldsworthy. The Spire is made from the trunks of thirty-seven cypress trees felled as part of the Presidio’s reforestation effort. From its fifteen-foot diameter, it rises over ninety feet into the air. The height of the Presidio spire and its placement presented its own set of unique administrative and engineering challenges. Architects, structural engineers, and preservationists were all brought into the process. To ensure stability, the keystone tree was lifted by a 350-ton crane, anchored into a metal sleeve within a 12-foot deep hole, and surrounded by poured concrete. New trees, some of them already planted near the spire, will eventually grow up around the sculpture. At some future point in time, the Spire itself will succumb to decay. During its life span, the sculpture will be a monumental reminder of the history of this forest and by extension the history of the Presidio. The Spire is located on the Bay Area Ridge Trail near the Arguello Gate, west of Inspiration Point Overlook and north of the Presidio Golf Course Clubhouse.

Trailer for Spire, 2008
An 18-minute video about the making of the Spire.
On view and available for purchase at the exhibition Goldsworthy at the Presidio.

A temporary exhibition, Goldsworthy at the Presidio, afforded visitors further insights into Andy Goldsworthy’s art and the making of the Presidio’s spire. Preparatory drawings, color photographs, and an 11-foot model of the Presidio spire provided an informative context for this sculpture. Text and installation photographs, and a short program of film and video clips, provided background on Goldsworthy, site-based art, and the Presidio Trust’s reforestation efforts.The exhibition was on view from November 2008 through July 2009 at Building 49 in the Presidio.

About the Artist
Andy Goldsworthy was born in 1956 and spent his childhood in Yorkshire, England. His work has been made in the open air and in places as diverse as the Yorkshire Dales, the North Pole, and the Australian Outback. Goldsworthy is known to many through the 2001 film Rivers and Tides. His works in the Bay Area include Stone River at Stanford University, made from earthquake rubble, and Drawn Stone at the de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which also recalls San Francisco’s earthquakes and their effects. Goldsworthy draws his inspiration from a specific place and creates art from the materials found close at hand, such as twigs, leaves, stones, snow and ice, reeds, and thorns. The works made from these natural materials interact in different ways with their environments. The Presidio’s man-made forest is an evocative backdrop for the artist who strives “to make connections between what we call nature and what we call man-made.”

Press
Kenneth Baker, “Spiraling Toward the Heavens in the Presidio,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2008
Jori Finkel, “Work Stands Out Before It Blends In,” New York Times, October 30, 2008
Lisa Krieger, “Sculpture Salutes Cycles of Forest,” San Jose Mercury News, January 7, 2009
Elisabeth Laurence, “Artist Goldsworthy's Spire Graces Presidio,” San Francisco Examiner, January 29, 2009
Kelly Wilkinson, "A Newly Enchanted Forest," KQED.org, May 25, 2009

Photos

The first site-based art exhibition conceived for a national park

Now open to the public

Visit the project website

 

Building on the broad public interest generated by the FOR-SITE Foundation's first initiative in the Presidio—Andy Goldsworthy's Spire from 2008, and its accompanying exhibition, Goldsworthy at the Presidio—the FOR-SITE Foundation has proposed a further site-specific commission by Andy Goldsworthy, titled Wood Line. The Presidio Trust is currently reviewing and soliciting public comment on this proposal.

Wood Line is conceived as a celebration of the Presidio’s historic forest. Wood generated by construction and reforestation projects in the park will be positioned to form a sinuous "path" through the forest between Presidio Boulevard and Lovers' Lane. The artist has described the movement of the piece through the landscape as "drawing the place." As with many of Goldsworthy's site-specific works, the materials would decompose and return to the earth over time.

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