FIELD NOTE // FN-004 | LOCATION: San Francisco | DATE: 2025-07-30

Sally Was Here

There are messages hidden in plain sight all over the city. For years, I've been a collector of them—the stickers slapped on mailboxes, signs, and fire alarms. They're a temporary canvas for art that's unafraid to be edgy, to be true to an artist who isn't conforming to anything.

Sometimes, the sheer density of typography and color is a chaotic mess, a visual garble of anything that sticks. But other times, you find a message that has the whole building to itself.

That's where I found Sally.

In the Financial District, where the paint is newer and the surfaces are cleaner, there she was on a bright red fire alarm: "SALLY WAS HERE." The residue of previous stickers, long since trashed by the city, was still visible. Sally had the penthouse view.

It's the mystery that gets me. Who are you Sally? A tourist? A local? Why take the time to make a sticker but leave no clue to who you are? What were you doing on this corner? Are there more of you out there?

The questions will probably haunt me for a while. But for now, on this clean street, on this red box, the message was received. Sally was here.