Paramount encourages art where ‘people can feel it, sit on it and become part of it.’

Armed with a chisel and blacksmith’s hammer as well as modern power tools, sculptor Arlene Cartozian is grinding and chipping away in the back room of a machine shop, transforming a three-ton chunk of marble into art.

The three-foot-tall sculpture, tentatively titled “Let the Children,” will depict children of various ethnic groups in “natural states, including sleeping, crawling, walking, playing,” Cartozian said.

Within nine months, she expects “to give birth to my children,” said the Cal State Long Beach art instructor.

“This is hard work, physical and mental,” said Cartozian, who is doing the sculpture in connection with Paramount’s Art in Public Places program. This is the fourth project Cartozian has done under the city program, which started in May, 1985.

The city encourages developers to contribute to an Art in Public Places fund or commission artists to produce art for the developer’s project, said Patrick West, deputy city manager.

There is no requirement, West said, as is the case with some other cities that have ordinances stipulating that developers set aside money to produce or purchase art to be included in a specific project.

The “Children” project was commissioned by religious radio station KGER, which has transmission towers in Paramount although its studios are in Long Beach, West said.

The radio station wanted to increase the height of one of its two towers and agreed to participate in the arts program by commissioning a work by a local artist, West said.

The finished sculpture is expected to be placed on the property of the Evangelical Free Church of Paramount, which broadcasts religious programs over KGER, West said.

Cartozian, whose name was given to KGER by the city, said she received a $20,000 commission for the KGER sculpture.

“The city is familiar with my work,” said Cartozian, 46, who lives in Downey with her husband Fred, a banker, and two sons, Craig, 11, and Kirk, 13.

“Children,” is her fourth project for the city program, each was commissioned for about $20,000.

Cartozian was asked to do her previous three works for the city’s art project by businessmen Charles Lyons Jr. and his son, Chuck Lyons III, of Lyons & Lyons Properties. The company develops industrial and office properties.

“I was aware of the City of Brea’s art in public places program. Brea is a pioneer in this type of program. I thought such a program would upgrade Paramount culturally and economically,” said Chuck Lyons III.

The first of the pieces that Cartozian did for the Lyonses was a three-foot marble statue of a man and woman laboring with hand tools over a huge stone. Entitled “Sustenance,” it is in front of the Orange Avenue Industrial Park.

The second is a nine-foot limestone abstract sculpture called “The Die is Cast,” which represents the process used to make steel tools. It is at the entrance to the Garfield Avenue Industrial Park.

The third is a seven-foot limestone abstract sculpture called “Hole in One.” The Lyonses have a company called Golf Products, which manufactures golfing equipment. Both the sculpture and the firm are at the Garfield Industrial Park.

With the completion of the latest Cartozian sculpture, the city will have five works in its arts program with a total value of more than $170,000.

The fifth piece, a 21-foot, bright red abstract geometric figure called Kai Koo VII, is on Alondra Boulevard at the western entrance to the city. It was done by artist Betty Gold of Venice. Valued at $80,000, Kai Koo VII was donated by Charles Elliott of Tygart Steel in Paramount.

There are eight other sculptures promised for the arts program. Paramount will purchase those pieces with money pledged by three developers whose projects are either under way or scheduled, West said. These eight additional sculptures, valued at more than $150,000, will be done by two different artists, Orange County sculptor Sue Kim and Laguna Beach sculptor Harold Pastorius.

By late summer, West said, the city hopes to have purchased all of the pieces and placed them throughout the city.

“At this stage, we are extremely pleased with the program and the participation of both the developers and artists. We’re excited to be contributing to the aesthetics of the community,” West said.

“Paramount is setting a wonderful example. People tend to think of art as being for the elite,” Cartozian said. “It is not feasible for most people to drive to museums, but the Paramount program places art in public view. People can feel it, sit on it and become part of it,” said Cartozian, as she put on her safety goggles, switched on her electrically powered mini-jackhammer and began chipping away at her “children.”