The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC), a 50-year-old arts organization lodged on the third floor of Chinatown’s Hilton, announced last week the launch of an “Innovative Open Space Project” combining a public art installation with landscaping. The target? The Portsmouth Square pedestrian bridge spanning Kearny Street, linking the Culture Center to Portsmouth Square Plaza.
The bland brick-covered bridge currently hosts two rows of concrete benches and not much else. For local skateboarders, the spot is legendary, but as far as bridges go, it’s not the most convenient pathway through the neighborhood (the bridge is only open during select business hours).

Proposals for the art portion of the bridge’s redesign are due by June 22, 2015. The project budget is a hefty $20,000, an amount that goes a bit farther if the selected artist or collaborative is local. Landscape designers Jennifer Ng and Christopher Hardy are responsible for bringing greenery to the bridge, which the CCC envisions as a “welcome retreat.”
For CCC’s artistic director and curator Abby Chen, a permanent installation on the bridge is the realization of a dream she’s had since she joined the organization in 2006. Temporary projects and performances over the past nine years kept the site active and paved the way for the current initiative. Now, with backing from a Community Challenge Grant and additional funds from the Hilton, the bridge can become what Chen has long envisioned, “a critical metaphor connecting Chinatown to the rest of the city.”
“A lot of times, community organizations don’t get to do innovate projects like this,” Chen said at last week’s press conference. The CCC has a deep roster of support even beyond funding, including a partnership with the Chinatown Cultural Development Center (CCDC) and oversight from a local advisory committee.

For Malcolm Yeung, deputy director of the CCDC, the bridge project is more than beautification: “It’s about engaging people in owning their community… so that in the future they’re adamant about making Chinatown a better and greater place. So they step forward in advocating for the neighborhood improvements that Chinatown needs.”