A young girl enjoying the swing on Valencia St. The swing is attached to a tree on the sidewalk and consists of some rope and a wooden plank.

The Valencia Street Swing

Let me tell you about my love/hate relationship with the Valencia Street Swing. I love how elegant it is, and hate that I didn’t think of it first. A few weeks ago, some folks hung this swing from a tree branch across the street from Summit Cafe and it somehow managed to survive until late this afternoon.

A woman standing on the Valencia Street swing. She is kicking one foot far back, while leaning far forward. She almost appears to be dancing, while high above the ground.

I always seemed to see folks enjoying the swing, and was often happy to make eye contact or share a smile with them. Sometimes people would even ask for a push. It was awesome. When walking, I’d often go a block or two out of my way just to see folks on it. As a matter of fact, I even spent my New Years morning hanging by the swing taking pictures and chatting with strangers, it was great.

A close up of the swing's wooden seat. It has a painting on it that appears to be a woman's face with trees growing out of her head, like antlers. Cursive writing below appears to say "unless". The painting is acrylic.

I’m bummed to see it go, but wanted to share some of my favorite iPhone shots of the swing. I also wanted to remind folks that art doesn’t have to be complicated to connect with people. Thanks to the artists who put this swing up and hopefully you’ve inspired other acts of guerrilla goodness!

A young girl enjoying the Valencia Street swing while looking at the camera. You can see the trunk of the tree that the swing is attached to and the rest of the sidewalk.
A view of someone swinging really high on the Valencia street swing, as two people in the background watch.
A woman enjoying the swing. She is wearing black boots with pink shoelaces and has a matching outfit (black pants and a pink jacket).

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