Put Kelly at Embarcadero

Selecting art for public places is not the most attractive task for public officials. No matter what decision is made, some group of very vocal people is likely to be outraged.

So it seems will be the case when the San Diego Unified Port District finally decides what to do about the proposed Ellsworth Kelly sculpture for Embarcadero Park. Port commissioners are expected to receive the artist’s new design by next week. We hope they will find it acceptable and vote to commission it, thus ending at least the first stage of the controversy over the work.

Kelly agreed to rethink his design after one element of his original two-peninsula proposal was viewed as too easy a target for graffiti and too attractive to transients. The remaining element is expected to be a graceful, stainless steel monolith rising as high as 120 feet.

There has been much modern art-baiting and talk of “elitism” in the opposition to the Kelly sculpture. But the port commissioners should not be misled into believing that those who argue so emotionally against the proposed design necessarily represent a majority or even a large minority of the public.

The advisory board that selected Kelly to create a work for the Embarcadero is made up of five eminently qualified people, all of whom work professionally in the mainstream of American art and design. Virtually every arts organization in the county has endorsed the proposal, including some artists who originally opposed Kelly’s selection. That Kelly agreed to a major modification of his design in response to such practical criticism is hardly the mark of elitism.

No public artwork is going to be loved by all who see it. The port’s advisory commission did the right thing by selecting an acknowledged modern master to create a piece appropriate to this special site. The artist has done his job. Now the port commissioners should complete the process by voting to have it built.