The biggest art installation in SF's Golden Gate Park came at a massive cost

"When Cjay Roughgarden was crafting what would become the largest public art installation in Golden Gate Park's history, she sought inspiration from her favorite children's book. The Richmond-based artist and fabricator has long been captivated by the story of "Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent," a 1975 tale of an enormous maritime monster who is urged by a shark to sink a boat of civilians, but overcomes the peer pressure to save them from the dangers at sea."

"The process to build the mythical creature started in July of 2023, when early pen and paper illustrations became clay renderings. Within months, more than 250 volunteers joined Roughgarden and co-creators Stephanie Shipman and Jacquelyn Scott to fabricate Naga, carefully shaping the humps on its back so it could fit on a semitruck for safe transportation, and one by one, placing over 5,000 iridescent scales on its body by hand."

""A whole team was devoted to his spikes, and another was devoted to his eyebrows," Roughgarden recounted of the approximately two-year-long endeavor, which took place at her own workshop, Seaport Studios in Richmond, and the Loom, a hub for artists in East Oakland. "We had one group of people painting, another working on the floodlights in his spikes and throughout his body. ... He was built to have a very long life.""

Naga is a 100-foot-long, 25-foot-tall sculpture of steel, aluminum and wire mesh weighing approximately 12,000 pounds. The sculpture was inspired by the children's book Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent and was built by Cjay Roughgarden with co-creators Stephanie Shipman and Jacquelyn Scott. Fabrication began in July 2023 and involved more than 250 volunteers and roughly 35,000 hours of work. Over 5,000 iridescent scales were applied by hand and teams handled spikes, eyebrows, painting and floodlights. The project cost about $400,000 and was supported by the Sijbrandij Foundation, Building 180, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and Illuminate. Naga is now facing a plight of its own.

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