Study Opposes Freeway Mural, but Says Trestle on Right Track

Forget a giant Wyland whale mural. How about wrapping the railroad trestle over the Ventura Freeway the way artist Christo wrapped in lustrous gold fabric the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris?

Or, if city leaders want to be more artistically adventurous, they could project a constantly changing video image on the main pylon of the railway bridge.

These are among the suggestions of a Los Angeles-based public arts consultant hired by the city to determine whether the freeway wall at California Street is a good place for a Wyland mural.

It isn’t, according to the consultant’s report.

Indeed, there could hardly be a worse place for a Wyland--or any mural for that matter, the report concludes.

The cement wall is bombarded by damaging ultraviolet rays, is vulnerable to graffiti attacks and is covered with salt residue and rust stains, writes Duane Robert Chartier, who reviewed the Wyland proposal for the city at a cost of about $900.

“No paint that forms a film would survive for any amount of time on this wall,” Chartier wrote. “It is predicted that five years is probably optimistic for the integrity of such a film and it would be less if those years encompassed a particularly rainy period.”

After walking the length of the base of the north wall, “it was apparent that salt deposition on the surface was a significant and long-term problem,” Chartier wrote in his November report.

Sonia Tower of the Ventura Office of Cultural Affairs said the city must also consider whether an arts project along the freeway would be a good investment. Restructuring the California Street offramp is on the city’s list of long-term projects.

But Tower disputes the notion that an art project in the area is dead. And Scott Boydstun, who heads the city’s public art committee, agrees.

“There are options,” Tower said. “You could treat the wall with mosaic tile. You could paint on panels that could be affixed to the wall. You just can’t apply paint directly to the wall.”

Instead of focusing on the freeway wall, Chartier suggests in his report that the city concentrate on the railroad trestle that spans the freeway--perhaps wrapping it like Christo would.

“Potential ideas are endless,” he writes. “For example, a ribbon bow might make a great package for visitors. . . .”

He also suggested projecting a constantly changing video image on the central supporting pylon of the railway bridge.

“You could have a lead crystal screen of significant . . . size,” he said. “It would give the city a moving canvas. I’m pretty sure that has never been done before.”

But Chartier, who has a doctorate in chemistry and a master’s degree in art conservation, reiterated that a wall mural is not wise.

“I’m not against painting on walls completely,” he said. “But it has to be the right wall in the right place for the right reason. That wall, particularly, is not, because of the salt content.”

A spokeswoman for Wyland said she does not know of any instance where deterioration of a mural has been a problem.

“Most of his [Wyland’s] walls are near the sea,” LeeAnn Smelser said. “But even in extreme cold, and extreme heat, that is not a problem.”

The idea of painting a giant whale mural on the freeway wall was the brainchild of Bill Clawson, executive director of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Clawson, whose job is to attract tourists to Ventura, wanted to find a way to lure some of the estimated 106,000 cars that whiz by Ventura daily on the freeway. A colorful mural near California Street could do that, he speculated, and boost tourism as well.

He suggested that marine artist Wyland paint a huge 552-foot mural on the north wall of the northbound freeway, stretching from just beyond the railway trestle, and up the California Street offramp.

Last summer Clawson proposed that half the $250,000 cost of the mural be raised privately, with the other half coming from the city’s public art funds.

After much discussion, the city’s public art committee agreed to consider putting some type of public art in the area, provided local artists compete to do a project there as well.

In September, the City Council set aside $143,000 for the project. City officials also began talking to California Department of Transportation and Union Pacific officials on whether artwork in the area would be feasible.

Clawson, who initially had hoped the mural would be completed by the 1998 tourist season, expressed frustration that the process has dragged on.

“Naturally, I am as concerned as anyone that whatever project is done there is done with the idea that it will last,” Clawson said. “But I was hoping we would have something done by the coming summer. And that is certainly out of the question.”

He is also skeptical of some of the suggestions in the report.

“Did you see the recommendation about the video art?” Clawson asked. “That is a little far out. People were worried that a mural would distract drivers . . . picture yourself at night under this giant video screen, wondering what you will slam into.”

Nevertheless, he said he remains optimistic something can be done.

“Even if the wall is not painted on, my biggest disappointment would be if nothing happens there at all,” Clawson said. “For it to just fade away with no resolution would be the saddest ending of all.”