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POWER IN COMMUNITY
Steel, Aluminum, Wood, Found steel wheels and gears, Paint, Archival photos
18’ x 6’ 8” x 4”
2025

Commission for Fifth Space at the Sophie Maxwell Building

Power in Community is a site-specific tribute to the people who built San Francisco — and to the workers who once powered this very place. Composed of found objects sourced directly from the decommissioned power plant site, alongside wood and metal replicas, the installation preserves the industrial DNA of the building and reactivates its history. Worn wheels, gears, and pulleys become visual anchors for storytelling: each object evokes the hands and trades that shaped the city from the ground up.

Embedded within several of the circular forms are archival photographs of generations of laborers — electricians, welders, engineers, and operators whose skilled work kept the lights on and the infrastructure moving. These images transform machinery into memory, connecting the building’s past purpose to its present role as workforce housing. The installation underscores a deeply place-based identity: this is a home for today’s workers, built on the legacy of those who came before.

By arranging these industrial remnants in a constellation across the wall, Power in Community calls attention to collective effort as a source of strength. It honors the labor that often goes unnoticed and reminds residents that their futures — like the city itself — are powered by people, together.