What’s going on here?
That’s been a reasonable inquiry for walkers, runners and cyclists on Golden Gate Park’s car-free JFK Promenade recently. A metal fence has been erected around the outdoor living room where yellow Adirondack chairs, tree-stump tables and potted trees were arranged. Now that setup is gone. In its place, increasing evidence that a major project is underway.
The project is the return of artist Charles Gadeken’s popular installation, “Entwined”— a rainbow-colored forest that has lit up the park and visitors’ faces in the past few years. The upcoming iteration will feature a new central component called “Elder Mother,” a giant tree resembling a weeping willow.
“We’re actually moving the entire sculpture out onto the promenade itself in front of Peacock Meadow, so that’s an exciting thing there,” says Mark Hennon, a senior project manager for San Francisco Parks Alliance.
The installation officially will be on view during the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting at McLaren Lodge from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
In the meantime, passers-by can catch a glimpse of it being assembled—and perhaps even see Gadeken himself working on it—in preparation for its promenade premiere.
For Hennon and his team, the project comes at the tail end of a year marking the alliance’s 50th anniversary as a nonprofit that works with San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department to activate and enhance parks citywide.
“Entwined” first appeared in Golden Gate Park in December 2020 to coincide with the park’s 150th anniversary. At the time, there were grandiose plans to add art installations and hold events throughout the park for free. But then COVID happened.
“Pretty much most of the programming had to go away, but ‘Entwined,’ as a sort of holiday-light component, was able to stay,” says Hennon.
Gadeken built “Entwined” at the Box Shop, a work and studio space for Bay Area artists specializing in metal and industrial arts. The Bayview-Hunters Point shop is also where he constructed “Elder Mother,” which was “tested” at Burning Man in 2023.
In an Instagram post, Gadeken describes “Elder Mother” as a “magic, monumental, awe-inspiring, shade-bearing tree that moves in the wind and speaks through the language of light and color.”
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Elder-Tree Mother,” the 30-foot metal tree has a 25-foot canopy, offering ever-changing illumination and color schemes. Its sheer size and technical components, and its situation directly on the promenade, require a fair share of work to ensure successful installation.
“The big challenge this year is just sort of how to anchor it into the cement, and also they’re wiring underneath the road actually to get the electrical access there,” says Hennon.
“Entwined,” an interactive sculpture, beckons park-goers of all ages to explore its immersive features, such as the six unique QR codes on the leaves that enable visitors to briefly control the tree’s lighting patterns. People also may peer into small holes in several trees to see “Hidden Worlds,” or little magical lands made by various artists.
Another addition this year, in line with fairy tale ties, are speakers that will be rotating and reading over 4,000 international folk tales in 23 languages.
“We’re leaning into storytelling as the theme of the activation, and we’ll have that throughout the duration of its stay,” says Hennon.
With the move from Peacock Meadow to the center of the promenade, “Entwined” will be more visible from Stanyan and Fell streets, and more accessible for those in wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
“It’ll be greater visibility, greater accessibility—and it’ll also give the lawn a chance to rest. The amount of crowds and digging and trenching and everything that is required for that does take a toll on that lawn,” adds Hennon.
For previous “Entwined” iterations, SF Parks Alliance sought a grass field, working closely with SF Rec & Parks to look at spaces off John F. Kennedy Drive between McLaren Lodge and the Music Concourse. Peacock Meadow was deemed a place that could host crowds, and “Entwined” was stationed there in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
During rain-heavy December 2022, the meadow was saturated to the extent that people jokingly referred to the area as Peacock Lake. Yet the flooding enhanced “Entwined’s” beauty as reflections of the installation shimmered in the water.
Hennon says, “It was a fun, unexpected bonus. And when we were looking at new locations this year, we actually looked at a lot of places that were in water. There were some challenges with costs and everything, but we were like, ‘Should we just erect this in the middle of a lake?’”
The decision to move the installation to JFK Drive comes with a bonus: the extension of its stay. While “Entwined” typically was taken down in late February, the new version will remain on view until April 28, 2024.
“With the move, we are able to extend its duration, so it’ll be actually up through April right before Bay to Breakers. We’re excited about a lengthier residency,” says Hennon.
Large crowds are expected to gather, as they have before, to explore the installation. Over the years, the number of visitors has fluctuated from 500 to 1,000 people per night during December and January.
“It’s definitely become a tradition that people look forward to. And I think this new location and the new main feature will certainly kick up some renewed interest in checking it out again,” says Hennon.
San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department’s Annual Holiday Tree Lighting runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan St., San Francisco. Admission is free. For information, visit sfrecpark.org.