Panel Wants Legal Opinion in Altering Copper Curtain

Arguing that one terrible blunder should not be replaced with another, the city’s Arts Commission said Thursday night that it needed a legal opinion before considering alterations to the copper curtain, the widely derided public artwork on the side of the Civic Arts Plaza.

Commissioners, who have only been given a $10,000 budget to fix the perplexing, radiator-like sculpture, voted unanimously to have City Atty. Mark Sellers present them with his opinion of the city’s rights, as well as the rights of the copper curtain’s creator, Antoine Predock, before making any decisions.

The commissioners also voted to contact the New Mexico-based architect, who designed the entire Civic Arts Plaza, to seek his input.

“We need to respect the rights of the artist,” Commissioner Karen LaFleur said. “We need to respect his rights legally and ethically. You can’t change it just because you own it. The Louvre cannot change the Mona Lisa just because it owns it.”

In the rancorous meeting, commissioners complained that they had asked for Predock’s opinion on plans to alter his work at the commission’s November meeting, only to receive copies of a series of newspaper articles Thursday. Predock has said he does not want the curtain to be judged--or altered--prematurely.

“We had a lot of questions that we wanted answered and those answers are not available,” Commissioner Bonnie Roth said. “I question whether anyone even tried.”

Scott Bailey, owner of a Thousand Oaks sign company, proposed turning the copper curtain’s 2,000 dull-brown metal strips into a large sign featuring the name of the performing arts center and City Hall, as well as a large image of its unofficial logo, the Exuberant Muse.

That would take care of two of the Civic Arts Plaza’s biggest problems: It would identify the building to the thousands of drivers who pass by it daily on the Ventura Freeway, and it would give practical meaning to the $150,000 abstract artwork.

Although several arts commissioners praised Bailey’s concept as the most sensible yet in the long-standing campaign to do something with the copper curtain, they said they needed to decide the larger legal issues behind changing another person’s art before moving on.

“I don’t want the public to think that we’re just going to do what Mr. Predock wants us to do,” Commissioner Robert Levy said. “ ‘Here’s what I want you to do with my Iron Curtain.’ We’re not going to do that.”

Predock originally wanted the copper curtain to be much larger, draping over the side of the Civic Arts Plaza to the bottom of the building to signify the theaters inside. He also intended its copper strips to flutter in the breeze, giving the sculpture life.

But city officials shortened the scope of the curtain, reducing it to a large square on the side of the building. And they decided to fasten the copper strips to the wall for fear that they would otherwise come undone during heavy winds and strike unsuspecting motorists.

“I know Antoine Predock is sick of Thousand Oaks,” LaFleur said. “He doesn’t want to hear from us. And you know what? You can’t blame him. But we can’t go turning this into a sign or a painting without the artist’s approval.”