Amid community backlash, Laguna Beach moves ahead with refining design for Village Entrance public art piece

Work to refine the design of the public art installation proposed as part of Laguna Beach’s Village Entrance project will continue despite community protest, the City Council decided this week.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to continue concept development for the art piece — eyed for an area south of the bridge connecting Laguna Canyon Road to a parking lot near the sewer digester building — as well as direct staff to allocate an additional $15,000 for artist compensation, staking and to produce a project model.

Council members also asked for a clearer understanding of the overall budget for the art piece and requested that its proposed internal lighting be addressed. The concept also will return to the city Arts Commission for further public input and review.

“I do think [the Village Entrance is] a location where something should be put,” Mayor Bob Whalen said. “It’s got to fit the size. It’s got to fit the location.”

“The materials might have to be looked at,” he added. “I think all of those are factors that would need to be taken into account by both the artist and the Arts Commission if they’re going to proceed along with this.”

Council members emphasized Tuesday that they were not yet committing support to the current proposal, only providing additional direction.

The council initially approved both the site and concept for the art piece in April 2018 and retained artist Marc Fornes for the project last March.

Fornes presented his updated vision for the installation at Tuesday’s meeting, describing it as community-focused.

“It’s not just a decoration. It’s not just an object on the side of the road,” Fornes said. “It’s a piece that we hope to be for everyone that can become part of the heritage of the city.”

The revised proposal is an open, perforated aluminum sculpture that would allow sunlight to travel through its canopy, according to Fornes. The sculpture would be lighted at night.

The sculpture is tentatively proposed to be colored blue and green, reflecting the ocean and the greenery of the nearby canyon.

“Everyone can project into those forms,” Fornes said. “You come here from the ocean, you might see some sort of sea creature. You come from the desert, you might read ... the principal scaffold as a cactus. It doesn’t matter what you read into the piece, it matters that you’re engaged.”

As envisioned, the installation would be roughly 45 feet long, 27 feet wide and reach a height of 26 feet, according to Sian Poeschl, the city’s cultural arts manager.

That’s a significant change from the original concept, which was about 67 feet long, 47 feet wide and 33 feet tall.

Poeschl wrote in an email that the installation could cost up to $1 million, but the exact cost is unclear, as the project is still in the conceptual phase.

Despite the latest revisions, residents who spoke during Tuesday’s meeting were largely against the concept.

Some argued that the proposal is too large and would congest the proposed Village Entrance. Others contended there would be issues with light pollution and maintenance costs and said they felt the installation wouldn’t fit with the surrounding natural environment.

Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow said he didn’t have issues with the art piece personally but felt it wouldn’t suit what the Village Entrance needs — “basically ... a walkway that connects the City Hall area to the art exhibition areas.”

“[Fornes] talked about community engagement. I don’t want the community engaged over there,” Dicterow said. “He talked about kids playing there. I don’t want kids playing there. [He] said that it should be placed for an experience. I don’t want an experience. I want people to keep on walking.

“I don’t want it to be an icon,” he continued. “I don’t want it to be a place that people are coming to. That’s not what I want to see in the Village Entrance.”

Many — including Councilwoman Toni Iseman — suggested moving the project somewhere else in the city.

Leah Vasquez, president of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council and a former Arts Commission chairwoman, said Tuesday afternoon that a petition circulating against the proposal already had more than 700 signatures.

One major issue, Vasquez said, has been a lack of transparency throughout the process.

“It’s not about the artist, it’s not about the architecture ... it’s really about our own behavior in the city and respect for what we have, what we may lose and what is consistent and good for the city,” she said.

Other Village Entrance decisions

The council also voted unanimously Tuesday to allocate $27,000 to remove trees that are damaging part of the Laguna Canyon flood channel wall in Lot 12 and replace them with new landscaping and fencing.

The council also approved additional improvements for the area between City Hall, at 505 Forest Ave., and Lot 12, as well as the master parking plan for the Village Entrance, with the added condition that staff switch two 79-space parking lots.

Public parking will be designated in the lot closest to City Hall, while employee parking will be relegated to the lot nearest the sewer digester building on Laguna Canyon Road.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.