Coming to Grips With Art for the Public’s Sake : The Port commissioners could establish a sort of Stuart Collection of sculpture on the waterfront. There is no reason that they can’t do something as significant as what the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego has done.

The San Diego Unified Port District is trying to resurrect its troubled, $2.2 million public art program, which began in 1982 but which to date has seen only one work installed. It has hired two consultants to conduct public hearings and develop a master plan. The last of four hearings is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Embarcadero, 1355 N. Harbor Drive.

The Port commissioners could establish a sort of Stuart Collection of sculpture on the waterfront. There is no reason that they can’t do something as significant as what the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego has done.

The Times asked three arts professionals, artists Robert Irwin and David Avalos and art historian Sally Yard, for their thoughts on public arts programs.

The Port commissioners have to be bold. They have this spectacular land and they have an amazing budget. The possibilities are extraordinary. They are in a position to do something important in the world at large.

The Port could establish a sort of Stuart Collection of sculpture on the waterfront. There is no reason that they can’t do something as significant as what the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego has done.

If the commissioners are judicious, they can incorporate tremendous variety. Some art works might become parts of buildings and walkways, and others could create more self-contained contemplative spaces. They could use artists from here and elsewhere. The commissioners could really be patrons of a major sort.

The Port District is also in a position to support a grass-roots project that has already achieved international renown: Chicano Park. The murals’ artists have always aspired to continue the park to the bay, so that it would become an artery of connectedness between the land and the water. The Port District certainly ought not to take control of the project, but by granting funds, it could nurture this community-based place and program to fruition.

The challenge the Port District has now is that it needs to put together a new advisory committee, including San Diegans and art people of national, and perhaps international experience. The commissioners may have tried that unsuccessfully in 1987, but the theory was absolutely right.

Other communities have found that a permanent staff member with significant experience and a solid reputation in the field of art is also a crucial component. This person could serve as a liaison to expedite the realization of works and play an important educational role, for the community as well as the commission. Although the Port’s advisers have included some of the most respected people in the field, they were all volunteers with full-time commitments elsewhere.

I think it is very good that the Port District is trying to get public input. But the idea of community input is both good and hazardous. As the commissioners undoubtedly know, given the range and importance of decisions they make, there is no way to do anything significant without controversy.

Strong public art infuses a place with a sense of intelligence and history, with liveliness and even humor. It entails imagination and confidence; it becomes part of the consciousness of a community.

But a reputation for quality public art is one that filters down from the art community. It’s never going to be groundswell.