While staying at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and exploring San Francisco, I noticed colorful and whimsical artistic hearts displayed throughout the city.

In December 1961, award-winning singer Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at the Venetian Room in the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Hearts have been associated with the city ever since the song's debut. Many of these creative hearts are located in popular tourist areas such as Union Square, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, City Hall, AT&T Park and San Francisco General Hospital.  

For over 20 years, these sculptures have become a symbol of San Francisco’s support for the innovative, compassionate care provided to over 100,000 of the city's neighbors.

Each year, the Foundation commissions local artists to dazzle these one-of-a-kind heart sculptures. The sculptures are auctioned at the Hearts in SF annual gala. This unique event brings together art, health care, and the support of an entire community. Proceeds raised help to support the city’s underinsured and uninsured at the only public hospital, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. To date, 'Hearts in SF' has raised more than $40 million to provide accessible, equitable, exceptional health care for all.

After each victory game at Oracle Park, the San Francisco Giants play the song. Bennett performed the song to fans after multiple Giants games, including the 1993 home opener and before the 2002 and 2010 World Series

Tony Bennett also led a sing-along at noon on Saturday, April 25, 2020, during the pandemic for San Francisco fans and residents to sing, 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' from their residence and other sheltering places as a tribute to the spirit of the Golden City.

Inside the Wells Fargo lobby on Market Street there are two dazzling hearts. Located in the Financial District, 'My Heart' is by Sirron Norris, a recipient of the Artist in Residence programs at the de Young Fine Art Museum of San Francisco and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

According to the SF General Hospital Foundation site, Norris is known for his extensive public art contributions. Among them, his most notable mural, “Victorion: El Defensor de la Mission” located in San Francisco’s historic “Balmy Alley”. His Calumet mural is located at the corner of 18th and Bryant in the Mission district. It currently stands as his largest at 600 square feet. With support of the San Francisco Arts Commission, Norris also has murals adorning the pediatric emergency rooms at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

The second heart in the Wells Fargo lobby is 'Leave Your Heart in San Francisco' by Assemblage artist Beka Brayer. She is known to creatively incorporate found objects and upcycled materials in her work, seeking beauty in discarded items emphasizing the object and its architecture. Every one-of-a-kind piece embodies a specific destination, resulting in a representation that captures a significant moment in time.

This heart-shaped sculpture is wrapped in over 100 pounds of hand-forged chains. It's an interactive installation where viewers can leave an inscribed lock as a piece of themselves in San Francisco. This is a popular tradition symbolizing love and commitment. Throw the key away to signify unbreakable love.

Also on the SF General Hospital Foundation's website, there is a story about the artist who created the appealing Double Dipping heart in Union Square Plaza.

'The creative artist and Vietnam vet, Michael Osborne painted Double Dipping. He taught advanced package design at the Academy of Art University for 27 years, and for much of that time, all his designers and interns for his business came out of his classroom.' He is also famous for designing the first USPS Love Stamp in 2002.

Also in Union Square Plaza there is also 'There Is No Try' by Lawrence Noble. Nobel is an American Figurative sculptor, who is known for his Star Wars sculptures. Also an illustrator, his achievements include designing advertising campaigns for the movies 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Flash Gordon.'

This talented artist has the 'Noble's Legendary Yoda Foundation' at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the San Francisco Presidio. 

Also at Union Square Plaza, Monika Steiner's 'Gathering' heart. This Bay Area based professional artist, originally from Switzerland, received her BFA degree from Sonoma State University. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in galleries, museums, and public exhibitions. She is represented by galleries in San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Fe, New York, and Berlin.

In an interview in Marin Magazine, the abstract artist describes her work as an outward expression of her innermost thoughts and feelings, a tangible expression of personal memories, situations, moments and feelings. 'I am attracted to spheres because they are nature's most perfect shape – requiring the least amount of structure to enclose the greatest possible volume. I am amazed by their ability to conjure entities as massive as planets or as small as subatomic particles.'

For those who wish to contribute to this great cause and own a heart, visit San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.