Some Would Prefer Whale Art Beached

After wiping out on a surfing design, the Huntington Beach City Council is now being harpooned for approving, instead, a sculpture of whale bones at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Not only are many residents appalled, but the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, dedicated to protecting beaches, is considering appealing the council’s decision to the California Coastal Commission.

The bones of contention are a cluster of tusk-like concrete pillars made to represent a whale skeleton. The “fossils” stand 12 to 16 feet high. At night, they will be illuminated from below. Speakers in a seating area encircling the bones will play a recording of the sounds of gulls, bell buoys and distant foghorns.

That sounds like nonsense to resident Anita Cizek.

“We’ve got an ocean down there that already makes beautiful music,” she said.

Local resident Keri Byrd said she would rather have the city build sandcastles.

“Who wants a dead whale?” she asked.

The inspiration for the bones, with its taped accompaniment of “sea voices,” came from a T.S. Eliot poem, “Dry Salvages,” which will be etched into the future landmark’s seating area, said artist Kathleen Meehan. She works with her husband, Howard, from their Santa Fe, N.M., studio.

The poem mentions a whale’s backbone, as well as a crab and a starfish, when describing how the sea “tosses its hints of earlier and other creation.”

“When I found that poem, it just hit me instantly that [the whale-bones sculpture] was the right thing,” she said.

It wasn’t so obvious to many city residents. But then, city officials seem unable to please their constituents on public art for the spot. Last year, the council shied away from a proposed design nicknamed “Surfhenge.” Reminiscent of England’s Stonehenge, the design called for a collection of 18-foot stones shaped like surfboards and set in a circle of sand. The public protested and the proposal was scrapped, although city officials said they rejected “Surfhenge” because they discovered a similar sculpture on the East Coast.

Resident Lisa Brooks, a member of Surfrider, said the group may appeal by early June. The whale-bone sculpture is expected to be assembled early next year.

It’s not that Surfrider liked “Surfhenge” any better. Brooks said the beach is beautiful enough without decoration.

“You can’t really improve on what we already have there,” she said.

Deciding what has artistic value is always controversial, Councilman Ralph H. Bauer said.

“I don’t think it’s particularly offensive,” he said. “I think it’s interesting.”

The “unconventional” art the council chose May 1 has a “timeless quality,” Bauer said.

Perhaps public art such as whale bones will raise the stature of Huntington Beach, Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff said.

“It turns an ordinary city into a special place,” she said.

The city paid the Meehans $35,000 to design the sculpture and two miniature plazas, planned to be installed nearby, which will have floor designs shaped like seashells. Construction is expected to cost about $80,000.

Despite the public backlash, not all residents are bone weary.

“I think it’s dangerous. It looks tough,” resident Adam Whitlow said with admiration.