For a litany of reasons, it has become clear that the out-of-scale, out-of-character structure as conceptualized by Marc Fornes would not be a value-added addition to the widely acclaimed Village Entrance project. On this matter, the general public appears to be in agreement. In fact, as reported by Mayor Bob Whalen, 90 percent of the considerable number of letters received by the City Council have expressed opposition to the project, most citing its aesthetic, size, color palette, and cost of maintenance.
So how did we get to this point? I would suggest that the Arts Commission selection process was flawed, and the commission’s subsequent communication with Mr. Fornes has been ill-defined, if not deficient, from the very beginning.
The Arts Commission, whether out of haste or by calculation, neglected to work in coordination with those public and municipal entities that for years were involved in planning the Village Entrance project. Instead, they elected to go it alone without any communication or collaboration with those charged with designing the space where the commission chose to locate this enormous structure. Clearly this was mistake and a missed opportunity for which the city, unless we reverse course, could potentially pay a heavy (and expensive) price.
Despite being the largest public arts project in the city’s history, the Arts Commission elected not to issue “call for artists” notifications. Artists, whether local, national, or international, were never apprised of the project nor given the opportunity to tender their ideas or proposals.
Instead, the commission operated singularly and independently without any attempt to reach out to professional artists or respected arts organizations. This was a closed search. As imparted to me and others, the commission considered only a handful of artists of their own choosing before submitting their recommendation to the City Council. For a public arts project with a $1 million budget, this practice is highly uncommon, if not without precedent.
It should be noted that the Arts Commission guidelines call for public notification for the “Artist’s Holiday Palette Competition,” the “Children’s Holiday Palettes Competition,” and the “Postcards from Laguna Competition”—why was this not the case for a project of this magnitude? The California Arts Council (CAC) (www.cac.ca.gov/opportunities/artist.php) is the go-to clearinghouse for public art competitions and submittals. CAC “call for artists” announcements are free, and the website is updated weekly with information on hundreds of public art competitions, both in-state and national. One has to ask why this vehicle and other outreach efforts were not pursued?
Randy Lewis, Laguna Beach
