Richard Ayer

Richard Ayer's murals and terrazzo tile flooring designs on the third floor of the Maritime Museum.

NPS/J.Woerner

Richard Ayer (1909-1967) designed and created the abstract, three-dimensional murals, reminiscent of steamships, on the third floor of the Aquatic Park Bathhouse. He also designed the terrazzo tile flooring throughout the building and the murals in the Blue Room that is now part of the San Francisco Senior Center.

“It was all very modern,” Ayer said of his work on the upper floor. “There were no cute little sailboats running around in there; there was enough of that on the Bay that you could see.”

Born in San Bernardino, California, Ayer was a self-taught painter formally trained in other mediums. He studied sculpture under Ralph Stackpole, collage with Jean Varda, and lithography with Stanley William Hayter. Over a career based in San Francisco, Ayer worked with noted artists like Hilaire Hiler and Victor Arnautoff, assisting the latter on the frescoes about the history of the Presidio of San Francisco in the Presidio Chapel.

After the Aquatic Park project, Ayer went on to create artwork for the Federal Building at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Shirley Staschen, his primary assistant at Aquatic Park, also worked with him there. Ayer then served as a radio operator in the 2nd Airways Communication Squadron during World War II. Ayer’s works were exhibited at museums and galleries around San Francisco, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Legion of Honor.

Further Reading:

"Oral history interview with Richard Ayer” by Mary McChesney, Smithsonian Archives of American Art. September 26, 1964.