Address
4th and Folsom
San Francisco, CA 94107
Artist
Mel Vera Cruz
Details
Since 2020, the ABAKADA utility box project has brought the full 20-letter Filipino alphabet to the streets of SoMa Pilipinas, San Francisco's Filipino Cultural District which Yerba Buena is a part of. Created by artist Mel Vera Cruz in collaboration with FEC Galing Bata families and SOMCAN, each utility box pairs two Tagalog letters with their corresponding word, ancient Baybayin script, and Hinabi textile patterns from indigenous Filipino communities, turning everyday infrastructure into a public celebration of Filipino language, heritage, and craft hidden in plain sight throughout Yerba Buena neighborhood.
