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A bike rider passes by the fork at the division of St. John and Pasadena avenues. It was erected as a surprise 75th birthday present for Bob Stane of Altadena. He had playfully suggested the idea to a friend 10 years ago. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times / November 6, 2009) |
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Pasadena has a fork in the road. And it's 18 feet tall.
Where south St. John and south Pasadena avenues divide, there's a towering wooden silver fork in the traffic median. The utensil has a black steel skeleton and is rooted in 2 1/2 feet of concrete.
FOR THE RECORD:
Fork in road: An article in Saturday's Section A about a sculpture of a fork in Pasadena misspelled the name of Stephen Falk, an Eagle Rock man who was taking pictures of the artwork, as Steven Faulk. —
The art was originally intended as a surprise for Bob Stane of Altadena, who celebrated his 75th birthday Oct. 29. But Caltrans, which owns the median, and Pasadena, which maintains the land, are deciding whether to keep it up for a while as an impromptu piece of street art.
"It was just the best birthday present I've ever had," said Stane, who owns the Coffee Gallery Backstage, a coffeehouse and showroom in Altadena, with the fork's artist, Ken Marshall. "It was the only time I've ever been surprised for my birthday."
The fork was finished about 9:50 a.m. on Halloween after friends worked to erect it clad in fake Caltrans uniforms and hard hats. Friends surprised Stane 10 minutes later with the utensil and chocolate cake.
"We had a large-fork-in-the-road party," Marshall said.
Stane said the fork was absolutely shocking.
"I was basically screaming, 'Oh my God, he did it! He did it!' " Stane remembered.
Stane first playfully suggested that the location might be appropriate for a fork monument about 10 years ago in conversation with Marshall.
The idea's been brewing ever since.
"I told [Stane], you can cross this off on your bucket list," Marshall said.
The city completed a safety inspection on the fork this week and is waiting for results, said Stephanie DeWolfe, deputy director of Planning and Development.
"To my knowledge, there hasn't ever been a mystery piece of public art just popping up in the city," said DeWolfe, who has been with the city for 20 years.
If the fork is safe and secure, the city is going to attempt to negotiate a deal with Marshall to keep it as temporary public art, as long as Marshall agrees to absorb the cost of removing the piece when it comes time, DeWolfe said.
At first, the origin of the art puzzled many. City officials on Monday attempted to figure out who installed the piece, but "the cat was out of the bag" by Wednesday, DeWolfe said.
Over the last week, the fork has been featured on TV and radio and has even landed its own blog.
"We've heard from a lot of people that they're enjoying it," DeWolfe said. "They just think it's whimsical and fun."
Marshall, who says this is his first work of art, said the island where the fork is located could be an art space with benches.
Where south St. John and south Pasadena avenues divide, there's a towering wooden silver fork in the traffic median. The utensil has a black steel skeleton and is rooted in 2 1/2 feet of concrete.
FOR THE RECORD:
Fork in road: An article in Saturday's Section A about a sculpture of a fork in Pasadena misspelled the name of Stephen Falk, an Eagle Rock man who was taking pictures of the artwork, as Steven Faulk. —
The art was originally intended as a surprise for Bob Stane of Altadena, who celebrated his 75th birthday Oct. 29. But Caltrans, which owns the median, and Pasadena, which maintains the land, are deciding whether to keep it up for a while as an impromptu piece of street art.
"It was just the best birthday present I've ever had," said Stane, who owns the Coffee Gallery Backstage, a coffeehouse and showroom in Altadena, with the fork's artist, Ken Marshall. "It was the only time I've ever been surprised for my birthday."
The fork was finished about 9:50 a.m. on Halloween after friends worked to erect it clad in fake Caltrans uniforms and hard hats. Friends surprised Stane 10 minutes later with the utensil and chocolate cake.
"We had a large-fork-in-the-road party," Marshall said.
Stane said the fork was absolutely shocking.
"I was basically screaming, 'Oh my God, he did it! He did it!' " Stane remembered.
Stane first playfully suggested that the location might be appropriate for a fork monument about 10 years ago in conversation with Marshall.
The idea's been brewing ever since.
"I told [Stane], you can cross this off on your bucket list," Marshall said.
The city completed a safety inspection on the fork this week and is waiting for results, said Stephanie DeWolfe, deputy director of Planning and Development.
"To my knowledge, there hasn't ever been a mystery piece of public art just popping up in the city," said DeWolfe, who has been with the city for 20 years.
If the fork is safe and secure, the city is going to attempt to negotiate a deal with Marshall to keep it as temporary public art, as long as Marshall agrees to absorb the cost of removing the piece when it comes time, DeWolfe said.
At first, the origin of the art puzzled many. City officials on Monday attempted to figure out who installed the piece, but "the cat was out of the bag" by Wednesday, DeWolfe said.
Over the last week, the fork has been featured on TV and radio and has even landed its own blog.
"We've heard from a lot of people that they're enjoying it," DeWolfe said. "They just think it's whimsical and fun."
Marshall, who says this is his first work of art, said the island where the fork is located could be an art space with benches.
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