EDITORIAL: Whale of a problem in public art
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For a city as passionate about art as Laguna Beach, it’s embarrassing when public art projects go awry.
That’s what has happened with the ill-fated public art competition for the senior/community center.
Nobody seems to know why Jon Seeman’s set of sculptures, which the Arts Commission so enthusiastically endorsed, proved in the end to be considered either too large for the site or too distracting from the already-approved landscaping for the project.
While we think that landscaping can and should take a back seat to art, others felt differently and “obstructing the landscaping” became one of the reasons the council jettisoned the site-specific works from their intended locations.
One problem, of course, is that the artists in this case were invited to submit proposals without being able to eyeball the location for the art. The project is still under construction, and will be for many more months.
Did the Arts Commission jump the gun, or was somebody not watching the overall process closely enough?
It’s all a big mystery, even to the city manager, who has said he doesn’t exactly know what the City Council intended in March when it accepted the Seeman artworks but rejected the location for them.
Mr. Seeman, of course, designed the sculptures with the specific location in mind, as did all the finalists for the project.
Now a council subcommittee is charged with figuring out where the “whale” sculpture should go, with Heisler Park a likely possibility. But it’s also not clear whether the other two pieces — a bench and a mural — will be part of the package.
Whether the other four finalists’ work will be reconsidered is also unclear. Maybe all the proposed art will be scotched and the competition will start over.
The subcommittee isn’t expected to make a recommendation until November.
At this point, all city officials know is they spent a lot of money for art but don’t know where it’s going. And it’s not the first time that a public art project has been mishandled.
Last year, a snafu occurred with the much-maligned People’s Council, which required expensive last-minute adjustments to comply with ADA codes — at the artist’s expense.
Perhaps another city department, such as Public Works, needs to be brought to the table to tie up the loose ends and smooth out the rough edges in the city’s public art program.
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