A Lovers’ Line
Self-Guided Walk through Time on Lovers’ Lane
September 6 to October 31, 2008
Lovers’ Lane is the Presidio’s oldest foot trail. For more than two centuries people have made their way to and from the Presidio and San Francisco along the scenic, romantic path. This fall, a new interactive audio experience, A Lovers’ Line, will offer a series of perspectives on the trail. Created by Jeannene Przyblyski, the audio will be accessible via a visitor’s cell phone.
Przyblyski is a professor at the San Francisco Art Institute and executive director of the San Francisco Bureau of Urban Secrets, a visual arts and urbanism think tank that promotes art in city life. Last year she created a similar art experience at Lands End that used the Coastal Trail as a backdrop to explore ever-changing history, geology, and ecology along San Francisco’s western edge.
"A Lovers’ Line gives you the pieces of several stories about the Presidio and asks you to put them together in your own mind as you walk the lane,” said Przyblyski. “Think of it as a way of meditating on history."
The stories overlap and intermingle with a cast of characters including the missionary, the soldier, the military wife, the translator, the dreamer, the hawk and the dove, the wayward trees, and the springs of the Tennessee Hollow watershed.
“Working in the national parks around San Francisco is a great pleasure and a great challenge,” said Przyblyski. “My work isn’t about giving people one story about how these places came to be, but rather asking them to make connections between the many stories still living in the landscape and the present day.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
- Download A Lovers’ Line map at www.ban5.org, or pick one up at the Visitor Center in the Presidio Officers’ Club, 50 Moraga Avenue. (Map is optional)
- Begin your journey at the interpretive sign at top of Lovers’ Lane near West Pacific Avenue or at the bottom at the brick foot bridge near MacArthur Avenue.
- Note the A Lovers’ Line sign and dial 415/ 294-3627 x487 on your cell phone.
A Lovers’ Line was commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in conjunction with Bay Area Now 5/Ground Scores. It is a production of the San Francisco Bureau of Urban Secrets. Call (415) 561-5418 with questions.