Light Show Turns Hulking East Cut PG&E Substation Into San Francisco's First Permanent Projection Artwork

A concrete electrical substation that has long loomed over a fast-changing part of downtown San Francisco became a giant digital canvas on Thursday evening, when the East Cut Community Benefit District held a party to unveil what is being described as the city's first permanent light installation.

The artwork, called "East Cut Electric," debuted at 425 Folsom St. at Fremont St. Its opening image is a lava lamp-like abstraction by artist Jeff Dobrow. The project is expected to run for several years, with new images from new artists replacing the current one every quarter. For about two weeks in December, a holiday-themed series of projections called "Let's Glow SF" will briefly take over.

San Francisco has seen a number of large-scale lighting projects lately, including efforts to illuminate the entire Transamerica Pyramid and a huge waterfront crane in Hunters Point. None of those, however, was permanent.

The substation itself is a 171-foot windowless cube with grooved concrete walls and a flared roofline. It remains an active PG&E facility, packed with coils and other equipment that help power much of downtown. Decades ago, the Embarcadero Freeway, since demolished, passed almost directly above it. As thousands of new residents have moved into the neighborhood over the past ten years, the building's heavy, monochrome presence has become a challenge for urban design among the neighborhood's gleaming high-rises.

Projecting art onto the structure was among the strongest of about 5,000 ideas the community benefit district collected after surveying residents, according to executive director Andrew Robinson. "We have a couple of historic structures like this PG&E building on the south side of Folsom Street that, you know, need some vibrancy and life," he said.

The installation is funded through a partnership among PG&E, the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the real estate firm Related, and contributions from neighbors. Robinson said it is set to continue for at least the next two years. The images are beamed from the Avery, a 618-foot luxury rental tower on Folsom Street that was completed in 2019.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the area, noted that his district includes several other PG&E substations. One, at Mission and Eighth streets in SoMa, features two bas-relief sculptures dating to the 1930s, but he said it is unlikely ever to host projected art. "Nothing good happens in front of that substation, with all the drug use," Dorsey said. "It's just a dead space. No amount of economic activity will bring it back."

The scene at the East Cut event, eight blocks from that site, was quite different. Guests nibbled on passed hors d'oeuvres and got temporary tattoos at a dedicated station while craning their necks at the hypnotic digital art that had suddenly appeared in their midst.