Creator of Copper Curtain Signs Off on Latest Design

He could have thrown a temper tantrum--seeing his $200,000 sculpture tacked down, truncated and trashed. Yet Antoine Predock, designer of this city’s much-maligned copper curtain at the Civic Arts Plaza, has held his tongue.

He did not wince when a Port Hueneme artist proposed the artistic equivalent of an Earl Scheib paint job--covering the curtain with splashes of color.

While Predock did request that the sculpture be left intact, he has stoically withstood the suggestion that it be torn down. And the architect did not pout when a well-meaning resident pitched a Christo-like wrap over the dull-brown square of copper strips.

But the latest proposal for the copper curtain--using it as a bark-textured backdrop for an abstract, verdigris sculpture of gnarled oak branches--has provoked a reaction: approval.

“What we appreciate about this piece is that it’s still an abstract piece,” said Douglas Friend, an associate of the Venice architect who designed the city’s entire $64-million City Hall-and-theater complex. “It doesn’t have a stupid oak tree like a lollipop stuck on the wall. It is still an abstract artistic piece that represents the city of Thousand Oaks.”

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Friend said he is not familiar with the intricacies of the proposed oak branch sculpture, which would be positioned over the copper curtain. His knowledge of the proposal--which would also include a sign reading “City of Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza”--is based not on an artist’s rendering or a committee report, but on a Los Angeles Times article.

Friend said he and Predock were not wowed by the sign proposal. But they do appreciate that the two sculptures--the curtain and oak branch design--would serve as dramatic counterpoints to each other while offering a visual challenge to the 200,000 or so Ventura Freeway commuters who whiz by the copper curtain daily.

“This isn’t a paint job, it’s a serious sculptural intervention that seems to have considerable merit on its surface,” Friend said Monday. “It’s a heck of a lot better than a lot of other silly proposals over the years.”

Those comments cheered city leaders and arts advocates, who were stuck balancing the community’s dislike for the copper curtain--likened to solar panels or a radiator grill--and the belief in preserving an artist’s work intact.

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“I think it’s wonderful” that Predock approves of the sculptural enhancement, said city arts commission chairwoman Jane Brooks, who sat on a panel of arts advocates and city leaders charged with making the public artwork more palatable. “It’s one more battle we don’t have to get into.

“Some people have said that once you buy an artwork, you can do what you want to it,” she continued. “But I happen to think that the art belongs to the artist, regardless of who owns it. The art comes from within.”

Predock’s endorsement should not only smooth the way for the City Council to approve the sculptural enhancement, but it should also appease art purists who argued that any change would bastardize the piece, Brooks added.

“This is positive because I know there is a concern over remaining sensitive to the artist’s original design,” said City Councilman Andy Fox. “But the city needs to balance those concerns with those of the community. . . . It looks like we’re heading toward something that everyone can support in the community.”

The City Council is scheduled to consider a report from the copper curtain committee later this month.

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Some $75,000 has already been budgeted to add a sign to the freeway side of the Civic Arts Plaza, and a $5-million check to the city’s arts endowment could earn a donor recognition on the sign. Adding the oak branch sculpture--and brackets above and below the curtain--could cost another $100,000, according to city estimates.

Councilwoman Linda Parks said she regrets that Predock’s intentions for the copper curtain were never realized. But, she added, “I just don’t think any more public money should go into it.”

Almost from the day Predock proposed the sculpture, bureaucrats have been tinkering with it.

Originally, the sculpture’s strips of copper were supposed to hang down the east side of the Civic Arts Plaza and flutter in the breeze, giving the effect of a billowing velvet theater curtain, Friend has said. The copper pieces were supposed to be dyed so they would reflect a colorful pattern resembling geologic strata.

For reasons still in dispute, the curtain was lopped into a rectangle. The pieces were never treated with dye, so they are a listless dull-brown now. Instead of fluttering, the copper pieces were tacked down so that they would not fly off and strike an unsuspecting motorist.

“They froze it,” Friend said. “Everyone looks at it and says, ‘Oh, boy, what a bad architect,’ but the unfortunate thing is that the true vision was never built. Given that, we want to help the city and the interested parties improve it. We want to maintain a healthy relationship there.”