DREAM is a public art installation by visual artist Ana Teresa Fernández, commissioned by YBCA and co-sponsored by San Francisco Public Works.

The sculpture’s facade consists of metallic disks that create a visual effect of three-dimensional shimmering water, spelling out the word “DREAM.” At ten feet tall and spanning over 50 feet wide, the sculpture is situated on the hill above the Alemany Food Market on the east side of Bernal Hill and can be seen by commuters as they enter and leave San Francisco at the 101/280 merge.

Inspired by the life of Mike “Dream” Francisco, a graffiti writer and peace fighter who was killed in 2000, Fernández’s sculpture is a sign to compel individuals—not just the widely mixed-race population that works, lives and goes to school in this area, but all individuals who come across it—to start identifying their goals and aspirations, from a place of consciousness and awareness, and to begin the process of pursuing them.

YBCA has carried that inspiration into Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, which is less than a mile away from Fernández’s sculpture, and where YBCA has been in residence since 2015. Spanning art, poetry, design and architecture, YBCA’s curriculum at MLK Jr. engages students from the 6th to 8th grade in critical thinking and provides them with the creative skills needed to be active participants in a constantly changing and continually developing San Francisco.