Work in Progress

Who would argue against beautifying the city?

Actually, lots of people, members of the Ventura Arts Commission have learned. After forming more than two years ago, the commission is just now beginning to see its projects come to fruition.

There is simply no such thing as choosing just the right piece of art for just the right spot, city officials say.

“When it comes to art, you’re always going to get very differing opinions,” said Sonia Tower, director of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “Most people are very positive. But the people with negative opinions tend to be more vocal.”

No one has raised an eyebrow over the city spending $170,000 to make the coming six-mile Ventura River Trail more pleasant for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians. Life-size models of brown pelicans and egrets, a drinking fountain that spouts a rainbow and trash cans covered with clay slabs depicting animals are among the artworks that will dot the pathway.

The same cannot be said for a city plan to make artful improvements at Grant Park. In June, the City Council agreed to solicit artists’ proposals for beautifying the park. The improvements--which may cost up to $150,000--could include a sculpture garden or other landscaping changes, city officials said.

The proposal has met with strong opposition by some nearby homeowners who worry that drawing attention to the park would also draw more traffic through their neighborhood.

Fear of Attracting Undesirables

Residents fear more people will visit the park at night and drink there, leaving beer bottles and trash behind. Already, the rugged 107-acre hillside park, which is crowned by a large wooden cross and has a spectacular view of the city and ocean, is frequented at night by such undesirables, they say.

“I’ve seen men passed out drunk in their cars up there,” said Dick Kirkpatrick, who has lived in his condominium on Tioga Drive near the park for 13 years. “They throw stuff out their windows. I’ve had to call the police a couple of times.

“If this is going to be conducive to attracting more of those people, then I don’t want it,” he said.

“If they’re going to spruce up the place, they had better police it,” added Rosemary Frohock, who has owned her Tioga Drive condo for 15 years.

The plan has drawn additional concerns.

The main project is directed at the park’s original reservoir, built in the 1920s, which will be replaced beginning in October. City officials want to spend $150,000 in arts funding for what they consider artistic landscaping for the project.

City officials say such elaborate landscaping would improve the aesthetics along the concrete reservoir.

On Monday night, Lawrence Anderson of Ventura urged the City Council not to spend public arts funding, arguing that the project was primarily landscaping. Landscaping should not be considered art, he said.

Anderson, an artist who makes signs, told the council, “Of course that’s not art. That’s called moving the earth around.”

He is collecting signatures on a protest petition to bring back to the council.

City officials said some residents do have legitimate concerns that should be addressed. But they said aesthetic improvements can make a positive difference.

“Art has a way of changing a place, changing the use of the place for the better,” said Alice Atkinson, a city public art specialist.

To address people’s concerns, art commissioners and city parks and recreation department officials plan to hold at least one public meeting on the Grant Park project where residents can air their views.

Receiving negative feedback on public art is nothing new to city staff.

There was the $80,000 wave spout at the end of the Ventura Pier. Many people questioned whether the pump, which blew out seawater, should have been considered art. The spout was knocked off the pier during heavy storms in 1995.

About a year ago, a proposal by the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau to pay internationally known muralist Robert Wyland $250,000 to paint his famous whales on the California Street freeway offramp wall drew sharp criticism from many residents.

They packed City Council meetings demanding that the mural-painting honor be given to a local artist. Eventually the idea was scrapped. A consultant determined that a mural would not last on the wall, which is covered in salt residue and rust.

“I still have a hard time not picturing whales there,” said Debbie Giles, the bureau’s director of communications.

Frustration in the Art Community

Scott Boydstun, chairman of the seven-member Public Art Commission, recalled when the city had nearly $1 million and could not get projects off the drawing board.

“There was a lot of frustration in the arts community,” Boydstun said. “There was a lot of money that the city was really sitting on. We didn’t have a process in place to actually work out how to spend the money.”

City Council members knew they were in for some controversy when they made art a priority in 1991. The council passed an ordinance setting aside 2% of the city’s capital improvement budget to be used for public art. Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Ojai have similar programs.

Five years later, about $800,000 was amassed. The city then appointed a seven-member commission to start spending it.

Another big project in the works is the Ventura River Trail.

Artists are already creating pieces for the trail that will extend from Ojai’s Libbey Park to the Pacific Ocean. Ventura’s Valerie Temple has been commissioned to make decorative trash cans that will depict animals found in the area.

Ojai’s Jeff Sanders is creating an elaborate drinking fountain and also sculpted oranges that will look like they just spilled off a car on the train that once ran from Ojai to Ventura.

“The arts commission is really going to make a difference in this town,” Temple said.

Mayor Jim Friedman agreed. He defended spending city money on art.

“Some people have said that instead of spending $80,000 on art for the downtown parking structure, why not spend the money to hire two new police officers to patrol downtown for a year.

“The artwork is a one-time expense. It does not thwart efforts to improve The Avenue or other parts of town that need it. . . . And it’s something residents can enjoy for life.”

Yet, Friedman still has to convince some Ventura residents that spending city money on public art is a worthwhile endeavor.

‘Interesting, but Not Worth $80,000’

Just two weeks after the unveiling of the city’s new downtown parking structure, several people walking by last Thursday shook their heads at the gigantic Chumash canoe and oars mounted on one of its walls.

“I think it’s interesting, but it’s not worth $80,000,” said Nancy Martinez, 46, a lifelong Ventura resident. “That’s unreal.”

Others also believed the price tag was too high.

“Holy mackerel!” said Michael Kaplish, who has lived in Ventura for 48 of his 50 years. “Couldn’t the city have found a better way to spend that kind of money?”