10.30.26 ALBA SF Arts Commission November 2 Call to Action

Media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Public urged to defend Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument
at November 2 Arts Commission hearing

Attend Monday at 2 p.m. at City Hall or send written comments urging a permanent public home and enforceable preservation commitments

30 October 2026 – SAN FRANCISCO: Supporters of San Francisco’s Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument are urging the public to attend the full San Francisco Arts Commission meeting on Monday, November 2, at 2 p.m., in City Hall, Room 416, and speak up for the waterfront memorial’s future. Those unable to attend are encouraged to submit written comments before the meeting to art-info@sfgov.org, referencing Agenda Item 8, Consent Calendar, subitem 3.

The Commission is scheduled to consider Conceptual and Phase 1 approval for the Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park Renovation Project. The proposed motion includes a condition requiring a meeting about the monument with representatives of BXP, the Port Commission, Recreation and Park, Civic Design Review, the Visual Arts Committee and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA). That condition does not identify a permanent site, funding or an installation timetable. Supporters are asking commissioners to consider the park proposal separately from the consent calendar and make a written preservation commitment part of any approval.

“San Francisco made a promise when it dedicated this monument: that the Americans who stood up to fascism in Spain would have a lasting place in our city’s public memory,” said David Perry, a monument supporter who helped with its 2008 dedication. “We appreciate the work city staff are doing. Now we need a written commitment identifying where the monument will go, how the move will be funded and when it will be back on public view. It cannot get lost in the shuffle.”

How to participate on Monday

Attend and speak: Monday, November 2, 2026, at 2 p.m., San Francisco City Hall, Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Supporters are encouraged to arrive by 1:30 p.m. and be present at the start because agenda items can be taken out of order. Comment on Agenda Item 8, Consent Calendar, subitem 3. Speakers generally have up to three minutes, subject to the chair’s announced time limit.

Send written comments: Email art-info@sfgov.org before the meeting. Suggested subject: “November 2 Arts Commission – Item 8.3 – Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument.” Ask commissioners to require a permanent, prominent and accessible home, identified funding and a firm timetable. Written comments will not be read aloud at the meeting.

Watch online: The official meeting page provides the agenda and livestream link. Public comment is in person; remote comment is available as an ADA accommodation. For accommodation requests, contact art-info@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2255 as soon as possible; late requests will be honored if possible.

What supporters are asking the Commission to do

• Require a permanent, prominent and accessible home developed with ALBA and artist Walter Hood, including consideration of design changes that could retain the monument within the renovated park.
• Identify funding, a responsible City department and a firm installation timetable, with conservation safeguards and secure handling and storage during any move.
• Provide readable, accessible panels and space for education, commemorations and community gatherings.
• If a final site cannot be identified now, set a deadline for presenting alternatives and require a public progress report before the next design approval.

In an October 15 email to supporters, Arts Commission staff said Recreation and Park was not proposing Embarcadero Plaza as a relocation site, citing conflicts involving maintenance access, stormwater management, landscaping, visibility and accessible circulation. Staff said the Arts Commission was working with Recreation and Park and the Port to identify alternatives. That correspondence did not identify a replacement location or timetable.

“But when an existing public monument cannot be accommodated, the design itself deserves another look,” wrote Megan Bierman, daughter of the late San Francisco supervisor, planning commissioner and port commissioner Sue Bierman, urging revisions to the waterfront plan.

The monument’s waterfront setting connects its story to San Francisco’s labor history. Participants in the 1934 waterfront strike later volunteered in Spain, and returning veterans continued their involvement in labor, civil rights and antiwar movements.

“A renewed waterfront should make room for the history that helped shape San Francisco,” Perry said. “These volunteers’ courage, and their lifelong commitment to social justice, deserve a place where people can encounter their story, read it and gather to remember.”

About the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument:
Dedicated on March 30, 2008, at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument honors the approximately 2,800 American volunteers who went to Spain to defend the Spanish Republic against fascism during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Designed by Ann Chamberlain and Walter Hood, the monument combines onyx panels and steel on a concrete base. It was a gift from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives to the City and County of San Francisco and is part of the city’s Civic Art Collection. Its dedication brought surviving veterans together with families and supporters to recognize a legacy of international solidarity and the defense of democracy. 

Photo for media use: Abraham Lincoln Brigade Monument, San Francisco. Photo: Jim Heaphy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Photograph taken May 6, 2013.

Meeting information: November 2 meeting details and participation instructions | Official agenda