Culver City : Funds for City Hall Art

The City Council granted funding for three artists to draft proposals for artworks to adorn the walls, halls and exterior of the new City Hall Building, which is scheduled for completion in 1995.

A proposal by a fourth artist to create murals on a fence surrounding City Hall while construction is in progress also will be considered.

City code states that 1% of the building’s cost be set aside for the Art in Public Places Program. That gives the project about $250,000.

The Culver City Arts Committee spent several months selecting the four finalists from a field of more than 200 interested artists, said Mim Shapiro, head of the committee.

The artists must now create a visual and narrative description of their project, and then make a detailed presentation to the agency, which will then approve further funding.

The four artists:

* Ed Carpenter, who lives in Oregon. He creates sculptures in glass and steel for public buildings throughout the West.

* May Sun of Hollywood. She works in mixed media and was recently involved in the Chinatown Los Angeles redevelopment project.

* Barbara McCarren, a Culver City resident who also works in mixed media and is involved in the Pershing Square redevelopment project in downtown Los Angeles.

* Blue McRight, an Inglewood painter, who proposes to work with local high school students to paint murals on a fence that will surround the construction site.