WATERFRONT ART HONORS HOFFER

A work of art dedicated to the late longshoreman, populist philosopher and writer Eric Hoffer has been unveiled on the San Francisco waterfront.

Sculptor Ron Barr of Santa Rosa, Calif., chosen from among 300 applicants to create it, did not finish the $60,000 work of art until a few hours before the unveiling.

He said the 26-foot-high twisted arch named Skygate is a “Statue of Liberty for the West Coast. It’s very sensual, happy, affirmative, strong, elegant.”

The arch was commissioned by the New York insurance brokerage of Johnson & Higgins. City officials said the sculpture was the first public art commissioned by a private corporation in the city’s history, as well as the first located directly on the waterfront.