Kelly Agrees to Drop Half of Sculpture : Changes Eliminate Touchy Part of Embarcadero Park Design

Amid controversy and concern that his proposed artwork would be a haven for vandals and transients, artist Ellsworth Kelly has agreed to scrap one of two elements he designed for the twin peninsulas of Embarcadero Park near Seaport Village.

Kelly, 62, a New York-based minimalist and one of the most renowned figures in modern art, has suggested eliminating the design’s hollow, prow-like concrete structure and extending the other element, a subtly widened monolith of stainless steel, from its proposed height of 68 feet to as much as 120 feet. According to Gerald Hirshberg, chairman of the five-member Port District arts advisory board that selected the Kelly design, the artist originally had planned only the steel monolith structure.

Commissioners of the San Diego Unified Port District expressed concern recently that the concrete part of the design, with its open interior, would be attractive as a sleeping place for transients as well as an invitation to vandals. They asked Kelly to rethink the design. Earlier, the commissioners had voted to delay their decision on the $450,000 commission, after some public criticism of the design’s abstract, non-representational nature. The commissioners are expected to consider the new version of the design on July 23.

“I think that Kelly’s willingness to redesign the piece was very amiable of him,” said artist Russell Forester, a member of the port’s arts advisory committee. “I really think that for an artist of his stature to consider the sort of problems that were pointed out to him . . . proves how interested he is in the project.”

According to Port Commission Chairman Bill Rick, Kelly would entrust the plans for the concrete part of the design to the Port District for future construction on the site, when and if the city sees fit.

“I think we’ve convinced him that there were enough practical concerns on the mind of the commission that we would not want to proceed with (the concrete) element at this time,” said Rick. “But we’re also saying, ‘Leave us with the plans for that element and perhaps, as time goes by, we’ll implement them.’ ”

“My personal feeling is that (Kelly’s single-element design) doesn’t lessen the work, because the two pieces would have been quite a distance apart anyway,” observed Forester, acknowledging that Kelly had envisioned the two-element design as a “a dialogue” between its two parts.

“If the two elements had been right alongside each other I think this new design would be a lesser piece, but this way I think the big piece will now speak to the world --and not just to the other piece,” Forester said. Kelly could not be reached for comment.

Privately, at least one member of the arts advisory committee expressed concern that the port commissioners would vote down the Kelly proposal altogether, out of an over-sensitivity to public debate and a lack of confidence in the board’s expertise. If so, speculated the committee member, the port’s commitment to funding public artworks would likely dwindle to insignificance and the arts advisory board would have little choice but to disband.

“I’m not that pessimistic,” said Rick, though he refused to speculate on how the port commissioners would finally vote on the Kelly proposal. “There’s no belittling the fact that the decision is an important one in the field of the arts, but I for one have complete confidence in the committee.”

Rick admitted that, if the Kelly design is rejected, “there’ll be some significant repercussions, and things will cool for awhile.

“But if we blow this one, the whole country’ll know it.”

“If you look at who supported the Kelly proposal, there has been more meaningful support from (the art community) than anybody has any comprehension of,” Forester argued.

“I think most of the problems have come from the press. Remember, the port put up $15,000 for Kelly’s proposal, and I think the commissioners still have the backbone they had when they put up that money. But I can’t guess what they’ll do.”

Also Friday, local artist Maher Morcos held a press conference at Eagle Art Gallery II in La Jolla, which he co-owns, to unveil his alternative design for the Embarcadero Park site and to present the position of a new group, Public Art for the Public, spawned by the Kelly controversy. He said the group believes that public art should be thematically accessible to the general public, and that selections for such prominent sites as Embarcadero Park should be made as a result of open competitions.

Morcos, who recently produced the statue of Don Diego for the Del Mar Fair, has designed a work for the site consisting of three copper pinnacles resembling ships’ masts, a two-tiered pool with fountains, and a bronze relief wall with depictions of San Diego history. Hirshberg said that the five-member arts panel had reviewed the Morcos design, along with about half a dozen others submitted since April, and rejected it as “confused and dated.”

Rick said that “there’s a time and place” for commissioning public art via open competitions, but in this instance “we decided not to go on a fishing expedition. We said to our art advisory committee, here’s the budget, bring us the finest you can. They went through a long list of artists and came up with Kelly. Now it’s for us to vote (his design) up or vote it down, but not to go chasing around the country for another artist.”

“If you look at what’s being proposed (by Morcos), it’s not one iota more figurative than the Kelly,” said Forester.