Committee Endorses Freeway Art Project

Leaving the door open for marine artist Wyland to paint his whales on a huge swath of the Ventura Freeway, the city’s public art committee voted Tuesday to initiate a project near the California Street offramp.

After almost two hours of debate, the Art in Public Places Advisory Committee decided to amend its 1996-97 project list to include a project along the freeway. An art project for the area--which would not be limited to a mural--could cost up to $125,000. Any local artists could submit proposals.

The idea for the project arose in June, when the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau’s executive director, Bill Clawson, proposed that the city transform 552 feet of drab freeway retaining wall near the California Street offramp into a local monument.

After two years of phone calls and letters, Clawson announced, world-renowned marine artist Wyland agreed to paint his whales in Ventura in late 1998--provided the city could raise the $250,000 necessary to commission the mural.

Clawson said he would raise half the money privately. The other $125,000, he proposed, should come from the city’s $800,000 public arts fund.

But members of the city’s public arts committee questioned whether work by someone as commercial as Wyland could be considered art. They also argued that the project should be open to local artists.

Committee members continued to raise objections Tuesday night, ranging from whether any art painted there could withstand the effects of sea air and exhaust, to whether a flashy mural might distract drivers and cause accidents on an already dangerous segment of the freeway.

“I have great reservations about the site itself,” said committee member Joy Berger. “I don’t feel that is a wonderful place for a piece of art that is to be contemplated . . . the best views are from up above the freeway. How many people go up there?”

Once the committee selects an artist for the project, and if it receives permission from the appropriate agencies to put art there, its proposal will be forwarded to the City Council for final approval.