The East Cut Tiled Stairway

The East Cut celebrated the grand opening of the East Cut Tiled Stairway with a ribbon-cutting event at 388 Beale Street. Neighbors, stakeholders, and project sponsors gathered to unveil “East Cut Phases,” a hand-tiled mosaic by artist Wilma Wyss that explores themes of renewal through imagery of coffee bean seedlings, California native wildlife, and San Francisco’s official flower, the Dahlia. The celebration marks the culmination of a community-driven effort that began with a neighborhood design meeting in February 2024.

FJ Tile & Stone began the tile installation in June 2026. The work involved adding a decoupling & drainage membrane to the steps, raising the existing area drains to the new tile height, adding tile to the treads and landings, installing the mosaic on the risers, and grouting all of the new tile. All the while, Wilma was on-site supervising and directing the installation.

The work was completed on July 30th, with CBD staff installing the project sign on the building.

Although the East Cut team found a new location for the tile with a similar number of stairs, there were a few modifications Wilma needed to make due to a shallower riser height and differing stairway widths. This required Wilma to modify already-completed tilework. Additionally, The East Cut moved forward with adding the third leg of artwork, which also required additional fabrication time. Lastly, the team needed new approvals from the San Francisco Arts Commission for the relocation.

During Q1 and Q2 2026, the team reached out to multiple tile installers to bid the installation. In May, The East Cut awarded the contract to FJ Tile & Stone, who will be installing the tiles starting in late June. We hope to hold a community celebration in mid-July, commemorating the completion of The East Cut’s newest piece of public art.

While Wilma Wyss completed two runs of the tile work, in January of 2025, in coordination with city permitting, San Francisco Public Works (the permitting agency) notified us that due to its age, the Lansing stairway is no longer in compliance with the current building code. To place tile, the staircase would need to be brought up to code, essentially reconstructing them in their entirety, which is not currently budgeted or financially possible for the City or The East Cut.

Based on this information and a desire to complete the project, East Cut staff studied other locations in the neighborhood and found that another stairway exists with an almost identical number of risers in the POPOS at 388 Beale Street. The tile artwork originally planned for the Lansing stairway has been reimagined for this staircase. East Cut staff are currently coordinating with adjacent property owners to help fund the costs associated with relocating the artwork (differences in measurements, quantity, etc.), and hope to have the tile installed in Q4 2025 – Q1 2026.

Tile artist Wilma Wyss began the craft process, which included template development and sourcing of materials. Fundraising for the medallion addition and stairway dogleg took place in tandem.

The East Cut Tiled Stairway project was approved by the SF Arts Commission Visual Arts Committee and the full SF Arts Commission in July/August 2024.

The East Cut CBD was awarded $148,750 through the City’s Community Challenge Grant program and allocated $36,000 toward the project. The East Cut CBD collaborated with Wilma Wyss to ideate design concepts based on neighborhood themes and San Francisco iconography. Concepts were presented in public forums at committee and board meetings as well as a community meeting hosted at The East Cut’s office.

The two concepts developed by Wilma Wyss, “East Cut Eras” and “Nature as Transformation”, were equally preferred by East Cut stakeholders. Due to the ease of viewing the tiles on the stairs, “Nature as Transformation” was chosen for the steps. At the direction of the board, the team made an addition to the project in order to include both concepts. The dogleg portion of the Lansing stairway as well as tiled medallions reflecting the “East Cut Eras” concept, a historic look at the neighborhood, are expected to be installed on the Essex St. wall as part of a later phase. The East Cut is currently fundraising to be able to install both additional pieces.

The East Cut conducted outreach to source the tile artist for this project. Wilma Wyss, renowned San Francisco Bay Area-based tile artist was chosen and entered into contract with The East Cut to complete mosaic tile designs for the Lansing Steps in The East Cut neighborhood.