Cupid's Span

San Francisco, California, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A giant bow with its arrow buried in the ground, Cupid's Span is a sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, listed by the artists as 64 feet high, in Rincon Park on San Francisco's Embarcadero, installed in November 2002.

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Cupid's Span

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37.79156° N, 122.39005° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A giant bow and arrow, upended so that the arrow is sunk into the lawn, stands beside San Francisco Bay, the artists' answer to the city's reputation as "the home port of Eros".

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's Cupid's Span was installed in Rincon Park on the Embarcadero in November 2002. The artists' own page lists its dimensions as 64 feet by 143 feet 9 inches by 17 feet 3/8 inch and its commissioner as the D&DF Foundation; Kreysler & Associates, which fabricated it, says it was commissioned by Donald and Doris Fisher of The Gap. A May 2026 Potrero View article calls it 60 feet tall, so published heights differ.

The artists wrote that their first sketches had the bowstring drawn back with the arrow pointing at the sky. Van Bruggen found that too stiff and literal and suggested turning it upside down, burying the arrow and the central part of the bow so that the tail feathers became the focus. The result, they said, looks both like a ship and a tightened suspension bridge, and it frames either the downtown buildings or the Bay Bridge, depending on where you stand. They also evoked the myth of Eros shooting an arrow into the earth to make it fertile, and described the bow, seen from its stern, as a boat tacking towards the Ferry Building.

Kreysler says the bow is vinyl-ester resin and glass fibre over a PVC core, with a type 304 stainless-steel arrow shaft. The Port of San Francisco calls the sculpture a popular place for proposals and special events. The Port lists Rincon Park on the Embarcadero between Howard and Harrison streets.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor public sculpture in Rincon Park beside the Bay, with open views of the city skyline and the Bay Bridge according to the Port of San Francisco. The Port calls it a popular place for proposals and special events.

ACCESS

Rincon Park, The Embarcadero between Howard and Harrison streets, San Francisco. A public waterfront park managed by the Port of San Francisco. No opening hours are listed by the Port.

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