Council banishes nudes from project

Barbara Diamond

No nudes will be allowed to adorn the “naked” space on the corner of

Loma Terrace and Forest Avenue dedicated to public art.

“There is a place for everything, but I do not believe the front

of City Hall is the place for nudes,” Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman

said. “I went to Scripps, which was an all-girls school and in front

of the dorm there was this well-endowed nude statue. I don’t know

what people thought was being offered there and you can’t believe the

outfits that poor statue wore.”

The City Council approved on Tuesday an art competition to replace

a fountain, which was removed in 2003.

“The space has been naked too long,” Commission Sculpture Chair

Nancy Beverage said. The council approved the commission

recommendation of an $80,000 honorarium, funded by $30,000 from the

Art-in-Lieu mandatory contributions from developers of buildings

valued at more than $225,000, and $80,000 from the Business

Improvement District, a voluntary transient occupancy tax percentage

paid by hotels to organizations that bring tourists to town.

“No taxpayers’ money will be used,” Beverage said. “This will be

paid for by developers and our wonderful tourists.”

The competition will be limited to Laguna Beach artists.

Guidelines for entries will include compatibility with surrounding

architecture, no water feature, nothing to entice a child to climb on

it, be constructed of durable materials that require little or no

maintenance, touchable without safety concerns.

The existing low walls left when the fountain was removed must

become part of the new project or be demolished.

“I am concerned about the size of the space,” Councilwoman Toni

Iseman said. “We might get something that would be fine elsewhere,

but not squeezed in there.”

“Synthetic Falls” was chosen to fulfill the city’s Art in Public

Places requirement after the renovation of City Hall, created and

installed in 1992 by sculptor Tom Askman.

His contemporary metal sculpture was one of two finalists in a

competition that specifically required a water feature and

interaction. The commission will select up to six designs as

finalists in the new competition. Finalist artists will be required

to create a scale model for presentation to the commission and the

council and will be paid a $50 honorarium.

“We expect to have [the winner] installed by the end of November,”

Beverage said.

For more information, contact Cultural Arts Manager Sian Poeschl

in the Community Service Building, 515 Forest Ave., e-mail

spoeschl@laguna beachcity.net or call (949) 497-0722.