• 2024-07-06
• san francisco
• cool parks
• wooden sculpture
• public art
• demetrio braceros
• travel-guides
• Cayuga Park
• 06 July 2024

Lower Entrance
301 Naglee Ave

Upper Entrance
Roughly 2720 Alemany Blvd
San Francisco, CA

Website: https://sfrecpark.org/facilities/facility/details/Cayuga-Playground-234

I love exploring offbeat tourist attractions, so I decided to check out Cayuga Park after coming across a Reddit thread on spooky Bay Area locations. I wouldn’t call the sculpture gardens at the park spooky, but they definitely make for an interesting walk contemplating their meanings and the work that went into them!

Demetrio Braceros, who worked as a gardener for the San Francisco Parks & Recreation department for 24 years, is the artist. The park appears fairly run-of-the-mill at first; there is a community center, basketball and tennis courts, a playground, and walkways. But the wooden figurines peak out from the gardens right away.

The ones closest to the lower entrance are the most detoriated, and many more lively wonders await once you continue up the path and reach the grand lawn.

Some of the sculptures seem to be of everyday events—a dad with his children climbing his back, a kid on a bike—but as you begin circling the lawn, the figures take on more of a sacred feel, potentially drawing from ancient religious practices, and Catholic folk iconography in particular (I am not an art historian, y’all).

By the end of the loop, animals and even a dinosaur have joined the menagerie.

Be sure to follow the little trails to find more works hidden within the greenery.

The beautiful doors at the upper entry to the park were made by artist Eric Powell and are a suitable invitation to see the works of Braceros inside.

It won’t take more than 30 minutes to take in all the sculptures, but why not bring a picnic basket and make an afternoon of it? If you go, let me know which sculpture you liked best!