USF Students Animate Salesforce Tower

The animations displayed on Salesforce Tower are the work of the students in Digital Art 331, a course taught by Susan Wolsborn, adjunct professor of fine arts. After San Francisco artist Jim Campbell, who created the tower’s light installation, invited USF students to show their work on the tower, Wolsborn built her course around the project.

“It’s not every day we get an opportunity like this,” she said.

Once the class got a good handle on the project, Wolsborn took her students to Campbell’s studio in Dogpatch to present their proposals. Campbell and Emma Strebel, studio imagery collaborator, offered feedback on how the students’ ideas would translate to the tower’s screen. They also suggested that the students reflect San Francisco back to itself. Each student interpreted that guidance in their own way.    

For her animation, Sadie LaComa ’27, a media studies major with a dance minor, filmed a dancer performing original choreography and converted the footage into silhouettes. Four figures will loop around the tower. Swirling patterns behind the dancers are inspired by ironwork gates found on homes in the Richmond and Sunset districts.   

Petra Helebrantová ’27, a design major with a UX/UI minor, and a member of USF’s cross-country and track teams, built an animation about running. “I was inspired by Zach Litoff, an SF-based runner and also an artist and designer,” she said. She animated runners moving in sequence. 

Audra O’Reilly ’27, a fine arts major, designed a lava-lamp animation to capture what she calls “the psychedelic themes of the Haight.” She found the prospect of displaying her work on the tower intimidating. “It was a lot of pressure, and a lot of being scared at the beginning, but I’m also really honored,” she said.

The finished animations will appear on the tower’s 11,000-LED display. On a clear night, the moving images can be seen from 20 miles away. The students’ pieces will run in a loop from 30 minutes after sunset until midnight across all three nights.

“When I envisioned myself coming to college, this was the kind of thing that I saw myself doing,” LaComa said, “really getting to engage with the city and do hands-on work.”