Laguna’s ‘The Sunbathers’ sculpture is back, new yet familiar
“The Sunbathers” are back at Laguna Beach’s Nita Carman Park.
The man and woman, each made of stainless steel, are new renditions and rest atop one concrete slab, but the sculpture holds true to its essence, according to the artist who designed and built the original and new versions.
“It’s the same piece as it always was, only simpler,” artist Leonard Glasser told a crowd of 20 residents that included Carman’s granddaughter Dana Carman, Mayor Steve Dicterow and Arts Commissioner Pat Kollenda.
They gathered to recognize installation of “The Sunbathers” late Thursday afternoon. Drops of sunlight filtered through canopies of nearby trees, adding to the peaceful stillness surrounding the grassy plot below the Laguna Beach High baseball field.
The tranquil scene contrasted with the commotion surrounding the sculpture’s fate earlier this year.
Following public outcry in February, the City Council, on suggestion from Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman, rescinded its prior decision to remove the sculpture, installed in 1983. Residents said the sculpture added to the park’s ambiance.
The original sculpture was titled “Two Figures,” but it was not long before residents started calling the piece “The Sunbathers.” Glasser said the name stuck after the Arts Commission latched onto it.
Last October, the Arts Commission unanimously voted to pull out the piece, citing a consultant’s report that called the sculpture “an eyesore” that suffers from failed surface coating, exposed steel and active corrosion in Laguna’s marine air. Vandals have also tarnished “The Sunbathers” on multiple occasions.
The city spent $8,550 on three prior renovations, the Coastline Pilot reported in February.
Glasser, who lives in Sherman Oaks, offered to create a new sculpture using stainless steel to help prevent corrosion.
Creating and installing the new sculpture was a team effort and included donated time and materials from Laguna Construction & Builder, which created and installed the base.
In the former sculpture, the man and woman were on separate concrete blocks. Glasser decided to place the man and woman, who weigh 300 and 200 pounds, respectively, on one concrete base because “it looks better.”
As in the former sculpture, she is lying face down as if sunbathing, and he is resting in a chair.
Glasser had the figures by his side as he created the new figures out of pieces of stainless steel. His son Mike Glasser welded the pieces together.
Glasser then drove the figures to Laguna Construction & Builder, a construction and general contracting firm, which mounted the figures onto a concrete pad.
Cost of materials and installation totaled more than $22,000, city Cultural Arts Manager Sian Poeschl said. The city’s portion, nearly $18,000, covered Glasser’s pay and site preparation work, while Laguna Construction & Builder spent nearly $4,000 on the concrete base, she said.
“I’m incredibly happy they were able to work it out for [Glasser] redoing or recreating the work,” said Dana Carman, the granddaughter of the park’s namesake. “My father loved this sculpture.”
Dana said her father and mother, Day and Deborah, donated money for Glasser’s original piece.
Glasser said the resolution involving “The Sunbathers” symbolizes the power of a community’s rallying cry.
“It goes to show you they do have a voice,” Glasser said. “It’s like Monopoly when you get a bank error in your favor. It almost never happens, but it happened to me.”
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
