GROUP OPTS OUT OF SCULPTURE FRACAS

There’s a new twist in the continuing controversy surrounding a proposed sculpture by artist Ellsworth Kelly. This one involves a group of individuals that, under the cloak of secrecy, may have sought to use an artists’ organization to file a suit against the San Diego Unified Port District.

Last week a claim was filed against the Port District demanding, among other things, restitution of all amounts paid to Kelly--namely the $15,000 he received to prepare a model of the towering stainless steel monolith. The document listed the Combined Organizations for the Visual Arts (COVA) as claimant. Less than a week after the claim was filed, COVA disassociated itself from it.

Since receiving port approval, Kelly, a famed minimalist sculptor, has backed out of the project for artistic reasons and because of the controversy surrounding the abstract monolith.

In an open letter from its board of directors, COVA President Jennifer Spencer stated that the group’s reversal was in response to a letter from Gerald Hirshberg, chairman of the Port District’s arts advisory board. In his letter, Hirshberg confirmed that future Port District art commissions will be made by “limited and open competitions with ample notification beforehand” and that meetings surrounding the selection process would be open to the public--two major concerns of COVA. Regarding Kelly’s project, the COVA letter stated that “we do not support the notion that the Port should seek restitution from the artist for the work he did in good faith for the Port District.”

Spencer said she was shocked to see COVA’s name on the legal claim. According to Spencer, a group that was dissatisfied with the Port District’s procedures for commissioning art hired art and literary attorney Peter Karlen, who asked Spencer if COVA would back the group’s position that competitions and open meetings be used by the district. Karlen “said the group of individuals was trying to establish a paper trail for a future lawsuit,” Spencer said. “The next thing we knew, our name was on the claim as claimant. That was a total switch. And demanding restitution from the artist is ridiculous.”

When read the COVA letter of disassociation, Karlen said he may have jumped the gun. “It looks like Hirshberg’s letter crisscrossed with my claim in the mail. It was an unfortunate thing that the claim was filed the same day,” Karlen said.

Among those reportedly backing the claim filed by Karlen were Joseph Olson, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who has lived in the county for 35 years, and artists Gilbert A. Watrous and Maher Morcos. Morcos said he was approached by Watrous and Olson, but he denied involvement in the claim. “After July 23, I haven’t had any involvement in that issue at all,” Morcos said. Watrous and Olson, who both said they think the art selection process used by the Port District was illegal, would not say whether they had paid Karlen. Karlen would not name his clients, but said he would withdraw the claim if asked to by COVA.

TAX ARTS: San Diego County’s Voluntary Contribution Plan, under which residents can contribute funds to 30 arts organizations at the time they pay their property taxes, has attracted $158,653 since its institution in 1981, according to a COMBO official. The program, which is administered by COMBO, attracted $57,000 the first year, though less in subsequent years. After last year’s offer of two complimentary tickets to arts events with each $25, contributions rose by 20% over the previous year.

RAP MASTER: San Diego Repertory Theatre’s staging of “Rap Master Ronnie” has made a quick connection with San Diegans. After only 2 1/2 weeks, the Garry Trudeau-Elizabeth Swados musical, which skewers the current resident of the White House, was selling an average of 20 standing-room tickets per night, and only single seats remain for the rest of the run, according to a Rep official. “This proves there’s an intelligent and aware audience here that’s interested in political satire,” Sam Woodhouse, Rep producing director, said. The show has been extended through Dec. 1, Woodhouse said.

QUEL ART: Computer music has become an integral part, if not a staple, of contemporary composition. Could computer art be far behind? With the advent of personal computers, what must be called PC art has begun to emanate from space-age printers in dens, bedrooms, garages and offices around the country. Michael Gosney, a local commercial artist, advertising executive and publisher, will exhibit his computer-produced works titled “Macintosh Verbum” next month at Quel Fromage coffee shop, 523 University Ave. Gosney uses words as an integral part of his “highly conceptual” style of art. The exhibit, which runs from all month, includes three-color, silk-screened editions of the artist’s laser-printed images.

ARTBEATS: Young pianist Kenneth Bookstein returns to La Jolla for a benefit recital at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at Sherwood Auditorium at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. Sponsored by the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, the recital is similar to those by local pianists David Korevaar and Gustavo Romero to help promote their careers. Bookstein, a 1980 La Jolla High School graduate, is studying at the Juilliard School of Music, having graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University. . . . The San Diego Symphony will play a concert Nov. 5 at the Centro Cultural theater in Tijuana to benefit earthquake victims in Mexico City. . . .

The Old Globe Theatre has extended “Greater Tuna” yet again, with 8 p.m. performances added Oct. 24, 25 and 28, and a 2 p.m. performance Oct. 27. . . . On Saturday, the Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre will be the site of a costume sale for those preparing for Halloween. Props, fur pieces, fabric remnants and costumes from shows such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Scapino!” will be sold. . . .

The Museum of Photographic Arts-sponsored tour of Japan leaves Oct. 28. Elizabeth Yamada will guide the group of 26 on an itinerary that includes the Nikon factory, the Tokyo fish market and visits to the countryside to view the spectacular fall colors. The group returns Nov. 11. . . . On Friday night, the International Gallery will offer “Fine Points,” a slide lecture by Patrick Ela, director of the Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles. Ela will discuss the work of the 30 artists represented in the gallery’s current show on ceramics, fiber, glass, metal and wood.