HV Artists Create Wedding Cake

What’s a wedding without CAKE? Newlyweds of any race, creed, color, or sexual orientation can tie the knot atop a life-size mosaic wedding cake. This conceptual sculpture, conceived by Santiago Rodriguez, is a tribute to love, equality, and San Francisco Mayor Newsom’s precedent-setting work toward legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Wedding Cake is currently at the Hayes Valley Market artist’s space, with the hope that it will eventually be located at City Hall. It is available for photo opportunities at no charge to the public. Couples are invited to stand on top of the two-tier cake, which is made of white Carrera marble and Italian tile, to complete the artwork concept and honor the myriad of unions brought together through love and commitment. This unique art piece may also be used as a bench for sitting.


Photo: Lillian Sizemore

Mr. Rodriguez says: “I wanted to do something to thank Mayor Newsom for his efforts. I hope that perhaps he and his new bride will do me the honor of standing on top of the cake for their upcoming wedding photos.” He and his group hope the Wedding Cake will become a permanent installation at City Hall and would like to gift the work to the city.
Santiago Rodriquez, owner of Frjtz, the popular Belgian fries and crepe restaurants, is also an Italian-trained mosaic artist. He originally conceived the project after seeing a “conversation bench” in Merida, Mexico. With the recent California Supreme Court ruling, the vision became a wedding cake that also serves as a bench, spurring curiosity and light-heartedness. He put together a dream-team of professional artists who donated their talents to the design and execution of the frosty confection. The team is Madeline Behrens-Brigham, mixed-media artist, community liaison and co-founder of the Hayes Valley Arts Coalition who was honored as this year’s District 5 Woman of the Year; Lillian Sizemore, mosaic historian, author of Guide to Mosaic Sites: San Francisco and instructor at Getty Museum in LA; and Laurel True, Founder and Director of Institute of Mosaic Art, who has completed dozens of mosaic installations in the US and abroad. All three women are instructors at Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland.

Current plans call for a champagne and cake reception from 5–9 pm on Friday, July 18th at the 580 Hayes Gallery. In the meantime, the cake remains on display along with the current presentation on the history of the building and the area. For further information, rental inquiries or location opportunities, contact Madeline Behrens-Brigham at madelinebb@sbcglobal.net.