Plaque Peeve

William Rolland never thought it would be so difficult to give away a piece of art worth thousands of dollars.

It’s not that he is too emotionally attached to the 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a rugged cowboy on a horse. And it’s not that the wealthy philanthropist can’t arrange to move the 1,200-pound statue to the desired spot.

The reason Rolland still has the replica of Frederic Remington’s “The Cowboy” 10 months after city leaders agreed to accept his donation comes down to about 3 square feet.

That is the difference in size between a 2-by-2-foot recognition plaque that Rolland wants to accompany his gift and the 13-by-13-inch plaque the city will allow.

Seems a rather innocuous detail for a valuable sculpture that would stand proudly on the northeast corner of Lynn Road and Hillcrest Drive, welcoming residents and visitors to Thousand Oaks, Rolland said.

“It’s been very frustrating,” the developer and retired firefighter said from the second-floor office of his sprawling Westlake home. He says the larger sign is necessary to ensure that residents know where the statue came from.

Although the city has appraised the artwork at about $10,000, Rolland--who bought it at an auction in Los Angeles from an artist in Europe--values the statue closer to $25,000.

Presumably worth much more is the original “Cowboy,” which was created by the famed Western artist in 1908 for a site at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, said Laura Griffith, assistant director of the Fairmount Park Art Assn. The park has not authorized any recasts--where a new sculpture is made from the mold of the original--of Remington’s creation, she said.

Wendy Flood, project coordinator at the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, N.Y., said replicas such as Rolland’s are perfectly legal and have been since Remington’s copyright expired in the 1960s.

“A replica has no Remington original artistic value,” she said, “but it is the way most of us can afford a work of art done by a great artist.”

Rolland, a 30-year resident of the Conejo Valley and creator of the William Rolland Firefighters Foundation charity, says his reproduction looks identical to the original and would complement Thousand Oaks’ western heritage.

“It’s a donation to the citizens of Thousand Oaks, so it would be nice to have them know it came from the heart of someone rather than the city,” Rolland said.

But city officials believe a 2-by-2-foot plaque would not be appropriate at an intersection they call a gateway to the city.

“If you look around at some of the public sculptures we do have, they have subtle signs,” said Deputy City Manager Jim Friedl. “The gateways to the city are for the people, and it’s really not a place for some kind of large recognition signage.”

Although the city has no standard for recognition signs, it arrived at the 13-by-13-inch proposal by surveying plaques on other outdoor sculptures.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to have a bigger sign for that gift than for other sculptures donated to the city, some of which are worth more money,” said Tom Mitze, the city’s theaters director.

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Rolland contends that his is a special case, because the sculpture would not be in a pedestrian-friendly area, where people could easily walk up and view the plaque. City officials, however, point out that the proposed location of the artwork was mandated by Rolland himself and the renderings he presented to the council at the time did not show a plaque that could be seen from the street.

Rolland is also concerned about a condition of the agreement that would allow the city to move the statue from the corner of Lynn and Hillcrest at any time once the transaction is completed. He wants to prevent the city from relocating the statue, unless the land were needed for a public works project, such as a road widening.

Friedl and Mitze said city officials believe they have done enough wrangling trying to meet Rolland’s requests, noting that he initially requested a recognition sign twice as large.

“It’s hard to accept something with a lot of strings attached, when it comes to using public property,” Friedl said.

But Rolland would like the City Council to make the final decision.

Mitze said all correspondence between city staff and Rolland was forwarded to the council and that the city manager has received no requests to put it on the agenda for further discussion.

Councilwoman Linda Parks, a friend of Rolland’s, said she believes the council should review the issue. Other council members could not be reached for comment.

“I’m very thankful for the offer, and I certainly wouldn’t choose to reject it based on the plaque issue,” Parks said.

Another horse sculpture has also caused a problem in Thousand Oaks this year. Two months ago, artist David Huenergardt removed his “Running Free” sculpture of a massive bronze steed from the Civic Arts Plaza. Arts officials were unable to attract a benefactor to cover the cost of finishing the sculpture and establishing a separate arts endowment fund.

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A donor still hasn’t been found, said Patricia Moore, executive director of the Alliance for the Arts.

Moore said the nonprofit group, which is the fund-raising arm for the performing arts complex, has guidelines for recognition based on the value of a gift.

For example, a donation valued at $50,000 comes with a standard aluminum 7-by-5-inch plaque, and it goes down from there, she said. Large gifts, such as Fred Kavli’s $2.5-million donation, translate into 12-inch-tall letters on the side of the building.

The arts plaza probably has 1,000 recognition plaques throughout its two theaters, and Moore said she doesn’t often run into conflicts with donors when it comes to recognition.

“While people do appreciate the recognition through signage, it’s extremely rare to have someone demand or dictate the size of their sign,” she said.