East Cut Tiled Stairway

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.