San Francisco's mosaic stairs

From the days of Mesopotamian civilization, the decorative technique of mosaic art has always been awe-inspiring.

This art of creating picturesque scenes by assembling pieces of tile and glass creating landscapes is still very much in the trend.

The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps in San Fransisco, US, attests to this.

Inspired by the world-famous steps in Rio de Janeiro, Irish ceramist Aileen Barr and mosaic artist Colette Crutcher joined forces, working with over 300 community volunteers for over a two and a half year period until they unveiled the project in August 2005.



The names of over 220 sponsors were actually woven into the sweeping sea-to-sky design and, amazingly, over 2,000 handmade tiles and 75,000 fragments of tile, mirror and stained glass went into the finished piece.

A total of 163 separate mosaic panels created, one for each step riser, creating a beautiful and colorful art gem of plants, animals, sea, sun and the moon.