SAN FRANCISCO -- Katie Wakeman never set out to become San Francisco's most recognizable gate artist. Twenty years ago, she was just a young woman in her twenties, unsure about her future, who needed help fixing a broken car seat.

Today, her vibrant, ornate security gates dot the city like an open-air art gallery, turning mundane neighborhood walks into treasure hunts for locals and visitors alike.

"These things are very loud, very colorful," Wakeman explains from her Santa Rosa workshop. "You're walking down the street and seeing the same houses over and over again and then go, holy (expletive), what is that thing?"

That "thing" is likely one of Wakeman's signature creations - security gates that transcend their functional purpose to become neighborhood landmarks. Her journey began wi

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