Vandals target the park at S.F.'s Upper Great Highway again. Here's the latest damage
An Outer Sunset resident who went to play the instrument, known colloquially as the 'wave piano' due to its proximity to the ocean, found that almost none of the keys worked early Saturday, said Lucas Lux, president of the volunteer nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes. Lux was also the campaign manager for Proposition K, the measure voters approved in November 2024 that closed the Upper Great Highway to cars and opened the park.
All the evidence points to someone 'very intentionally' damaging the piano, ripping off the felted hammers controlling all but 10 of its keys, political communications consultant Catie Stewart told the Chronicle. Piano maintenance experts have since confirmed the instrument is damaged beyond repair.
'It's such a thing that brought joy,' Stewart said. 'I don't know why anyone would ever do that.'
This is the latest in a series of acts of vandalism targeting Sunset Dunes since the 2-mile, 50-acre park opened in April, months after San Franciscans created it by voting to close a section of the Great Highway to cars. The measure has been highly controversial, and the supervisor who championed it, Joel Engardio, will face a recall election in September driven by groups opposed to the Upper Great Highway's closure.
The vandalism, Lux said, has largely occurred in two separate waves. The first occurred right after the Upper Great Highway closed on March 14, with murals and asphalt marred by graffiti, and the second began shortly after Engardio's recall qualified in late May.
On Thursday, just two days before the wave piano was found destroyed, park visitors discovered heavy damage to the nearby 'Ocean Calling' exhibit — a public art installation consisting of a phone booth that visitors can use to make symbolic phone calls to deceased loved ones. Someone had ripped the phone from its cord, tossed dirt and rocks into the booth and damaged its wooden frame, according to photos and videos taken shortly after the discovery.
While park rangers have not identified the perpetrators of the vandalism or definitively linked the acts, Lux and others suspect they are linked to the Upper Great Highway closure controversy. He said that while he understands that members of the community are split on their views about closure, they have plenty of ways to express that discontent without harming public artworks that bring joy and comfort to park-goers.
However, he added, 'most of the community regardless of their opinion treats the parks with respect.'
Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, echoed Lux's sentiment.
'It's abhorrent that someone would try to destroy these sources of joy, connection, and healing," he said in a statement. 'But you can't break the spirit of a park, of public art, or of the people who cherish them.'
Soon after the piano was found destroyed, community members spent Saturday afternoon visiting and helping 'Ocean Calling' artists Jamae Tasker and Sarah McCarthy Grimm as they restored their installation. By Sunday morning, the piece had been fully repaired, Tasker posted on Instagram.
While the wave piano is irreparable, Lux said his group is looking for a new one to replace it. 'In the current world we live in, there are a lot of pianos that need homes. We'll have a wave piano back in place soon,' he said. Future pianos will have locks on their top guards to prevent similar acts of vandalism.
In the meantime, a second community piano at the park, this one intersecting with Judah Street, is still operable.
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