Skygate was built in 1985 as San Francisco's first piece of public art funded by a corporation. Made of stainless steel and sculptured by Roger Barr, it is dedicated to the memory of Eric Hoffer, a longshoreman, poet, and philosopher.

Artist Vicki Saulls' sculptural mural of casts of 23 swimmers' faces is set into a section of North Beach Pool's tiled wall. All of the swimmers are from the community and all wear goggles and caps.

Artist Mark di Suvero gained fame in San Francisco with an exhibit of his sculptures on Crissy Field in 2013. This, however, is one of two permanent SF works, built in 1978. It's built out of steel and weighs ten tons and sits at the port where di Suvero first entered the U.S. from China as a child.

These illuminated books appear to be taking flight over Chinatown. Words and phrases from the books are embedded in the plaza, recognizing the area's literary history, in this permanent site-specific sculpture by Brian Goggin with Dorka Keehn. Goggin is probably best known for Defenestration, the flying-furniture sculpture that came down in 2015.

Andy Goldsworthy's newest Presidio sculpture is a ball of branches and earth set in an earthen wall. It makes up part of an enclosure at the back of the Presidio Officers' Club.

Most remarkable about this contemporary and gimmicky (meant in the best way possible) fountain outside the Gateway apartments and townhomes is that it mists at intervals.

One Maritime Plaza, set in a rooftop garden, is filled with a variety of public art, including this sculpture by Charles Perry. The figure is made up of spirals that create an icosahedron shape.

Love it or loathe it, this 40-foot-high fountain is made out of precast concrete square tubes. It has been controversial, with many attempts made to remove it. Bono famously spray-painted graffiti on the fountain during a 1987 U2 concert. After a brief period of dryness, it was turned back on in August 2017.

More than 1,200 feet in length, Andy Goldsworthy's second Presidio sculpture is Wood Line, which is near Lovers' Lane, the Presidio's oldest footpath. The sinuous work is made up of eucalyptus branches sourced from park projects that required tree removal. His lines made of wood "draw the place," according to the artist, and ask viewers to look at the earth.

A pre-Instagram marvel, chances are that you know the famous Cupid's Span sculpture along the Embarcadero. It was created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen to to evoke the myth of Eros. Today it provides the backdrop for many outdoor weddings and like-heavy social media moments.

Note: You cannot see this just yet. The Transbay Transit Center is temporary closed, with tentative plans to reopen in early summer.

Jenny Holzer’s White Light features scrolling LED text that wraps around the elliptical glass enclosure of the Grand Hall in the new Transbay Transit Center. Her text messages, such as “Protect me from what I want” and “Abuse of power comes as no surprise,” were composed using text from historical archives from authors who wrote about the Bay Area, as well as documents and records on the construction of the Bay Bridge and the original Timothy Pflueger-designed Transbay Terminal.

The design of the lacy awning surrounding the in-progress TransBay Terminal borrows from geometric formulas of a British mathematician. The pattern is known as Penrose tiling, designed in 1974 by Roger Penrose, an Oxford mathematician, physicist, and knight, noted for his work on black holes.

Ruth Asawa's beloved fountain—a bronze sculpture set into a base of brick stairs, featuring relief scenes of San Francisco—was at the center of controversy when the new Apple store nearly buried it. But plans were revised and the fountain remains.

A big trio of mottled aluminum heads, created by Ugo Rondinone, stands in contrast to the glassy corporate building on site. Some find the trio endearing; others find them downright frightening.

Inspired by the Tony Bennett song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," the Hearts of San Francisco can be found scattered throughout the city, in both public and private spaces. (Psst, there’s one hiding inside the LinkenIn headquarters grond floor lobby at 222 Second Street, which is visible from the sidewalk on Second Street.) The one pictured here in Union Square, however, is possibly the most photographed.

This Rodin sculpture that sits outside the Legion of Honor is just one of many casts of the same work, but it is still special. It was first meant to depict the poet Dante but evolved to represent all poets or creators. The work has also inspired scores of museums visitors to pose exactly like the aforementioned man of thought—a popular thing to do, it seems, on social media.

Pop artist Keith Haring’s sculpture has been outside the Moscone Center since 2001, following a Haring retrospective at SFMOMA. It was restored in 2012 and moved to the de Young Museum. It 2017, it returned to the Moscone Center at Howard and Third Streets

Environmental artist Ned Kahn created Firefly, a 12-story kinetic sculpture, to mimic fireflies, which are a threatened species. The sculpture moves with the wind, triggering a series of lights at night.

This piece may never qualify as high art, but the depiction of the former Giants star has delighted fans on their way to AT&T Park since 2003. The statue lights up at night.

Designed by Brian Goggin with Dorka Keehn, this hanging set of pianos garnishes the new Ava 55 rental building. The sculpture's full name is And My Room Still Rocks Like a Boat on the Sea (Caruso's Dream).

Local artist Charles Gadeken’s glowing, tree-like LED installation Squared moved into Hayes Valley this year. The 50-foot-tall tree, according to the artist, is “reimagined in a futuristic world post nature.” And at nightfall, the sculpture lights up in an array of colors and patterns.

These kaleidoscopic lookouts on Octavia Boulevard by artist Po Shu Wang came with the revitalization of the area after the Central Freeway was torn down. The telescopes of the installation change a user's view of the surrounding neighborhood.

Richard Serra's Ballast is made up of two steel plates that are 50 feet high by 15 feet wide and sits on UCSF's Mission Bay campus. The plates remind Serra of growing up in the Outer Sunset.

The stunning mosaic steps in the Sunset are greater than the sum of its parts. Artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher led the creation of the 163 mosaic panels.

At the San Francisco Zoo, an interactive sculpture by Barbara McCarren and Jud Fine encourages visitors to reflect on the importance of habitat and the interdependence of species. Its many elements include a "Zoetta Stone" and a marble map of Pangaea.

This Hunters Point sundial’s gnomon (the triangular piece that casts the shadow) measures 78 feet long, nearly triple the length of Ingleside’s noted sundial.

Built in 1913 to attract prospective buyers to newly built homes in the neighborhood, the sundial originally boasts a circular reflecting pool, a fountain, bronze seals, and colored lights.