Santa Monica : Artwork Approved
This fall, visitors to Palisades Park may find a 14-foot bronze statue of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Westside commuters could see an abstract sculpture on a traffic island at Pico Boulevard and Ocean Avenue.
In a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, the City Council approved a proposal to erect the lifelike Gandhi sculpture at the southwest corner of the ocean-side park and agreed unanimously to place Italian artist Mauro Staccioli’s concrete-covered wood piece on the traffic island at the intersection of Pico, Ocean and Neilson Way.
The Gandhi piece, titled “Avatar,” will be donated by the nonprofit Gandhi Memorial Foundation. The untitled Staccioli sculpture is a gift from the artist and the Shoshana Wayne Gallery.
Councilman Robert Holbrook voted against the Gandhi statue, saying he would rather see a statue of a local figure. Councilman Kelly Olsen objected to the sculpture’s size.
The proposals will be presented to the state Coastal Commission for final approval in September.
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