The Vision Remains

Art is not so much about a tangible creation--be it a sculpture, painting, symphony or ballet--as it is a creative way of looking at the world.

And so while we lament the city of Ventura’s bulldozing of a series of charming balanced-rock sculptures that briefly graced the beach at Surfers Point, we recognize that the true gift of the man who built them is something that can’t be knocked down and hauled away.

Over the past few months, Stuart Finch assembled more than 100 of the sculptures out of stones, concrete chunks, driftwood and assorted flotsam. A favorite with the spectators who increasingly stopped by to marvel was his 6-foot-tall Christmas tree decorated with seaweed, strings of colored lights and shiny bulbs.

Finch is a 37-year-old drifter who has been homeless most of his life, a ninth-grade dropout who can barely read or write. With more time on his hands than money in his pocket, he started stacking rocks to amuse passersby and maybe inspire them to part with a little spare change. As word spread, his seaside sculpture garden became the county’s most talked-about art in public places exhibition.

Then, about 6:30 Tuesday morning, a city crew knocked over most of the larger works. City officials said the gravity-defying formations could be safety hazards to children.

As sorry as we are to see them go, we concede that the city has a responsibility to keep the beach as safe as possible. One injury or worse could have turned a whimsical oddity into a tragedy--leaving the city legally at risk.

Perhaps the city did what it had to do. But that doesn’t diminish Stuart Finch’s contribution to the lives of all the people who enjoyed his work, either in person or via photographs in this newspaper. We thank him for reminding us to see beauty in everyday objects, to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary simply through the power of our imaginations.

“All this stuff was here before I was, and will be here when I leave,” Finch told Times columnist Steve Chawkins last month. “I’m just rearranging it. That’s art.”