Going public with art

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A strip mall can be a work of art.

Just look at Peninsula Marketplace at the corner of Garfield Avenue

and Goldenwest Street, where the city’s history is sculpted into a wall

of an outdoor eating area.

Or the larger-than-life acrobats cast in bronze, which is lighted

every night in a Sport Chalet parking lot along Beach Boulevard.

For about 30 years, the city has strived to enhance the quality of

life for residents -- instead of just the quality of shopping -- with

projects continuing to this day.

“Right now, we have an artist drawing up a mural to go along with the

Wal-Mart [on Talbert Avenue, near Beach Boulevard],” said Ann Thorne, a

public art manager with the city who works with developers to find

artists. “And what’s been called Surfhenge at the end of Beach Boulevard

is in the early stages of design as well.”

In the early 1970s, the city commissioned artist Edward Shumpert to

sculpt the Ultimate Challenge, depicting a nude male surfer catching a

wave. The piece was first placed at City Hall and later moved to its

present location on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway at Huntington

Street.

A few years later, the Seacliff Village shopping center included

murals, educational displays and steel pelicans as part of its design,

taking into account the city’s wetlands.

“That was such an exceptional project artistically. It worked

beautifully,” Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff said.

It was so beautiful, she added, that when plans came up to redevelop

the shopping center in 1998, the City Council secured much of the artwork

to add to the Civic Center, where tile murals and the sculpted metal

birds stand today.

“The council knew that once [that artwork] was lost, no one would

enjoy it again,” said Dettloff, who was instrumental, along with

Councilman Peter Green, in saving the artwork.

While developers aren’t required to include a piece of art in their

projects, the city encourages it, and an ad hoc committee of community

members reviews each artist to keep the residents involved in public

artwork.

“We see more of an emphasis on functional art now, not just statues or

paintings,” said Mike Mudd, who manages the city’s cultural, historic and

events division. “Things like park benches and tables can be art too.”

Hence Pier Plaza, its rolling concrete amphitheater depicting the

spirit of the sea, as well as giving residents a place to sit and

reflect.

“I think it shows that there’s style and planning in what the city

does here,” said Ellen McCarthy, as she took in the view from the Pier

Plaza amphitheater.

McCarthy said her family makes much use of the amphitheater, whether

it’s to watch the sea, appreciate the hand-painted tile mosaic nearby or

sit for a concert.

Fountain Valley resident Tyler Carr and his 4-year-old daughter,

Lauren, stop off at the plaza at least twice a week on their coastal

bicycle rides.

“I think that any kind of artwork is good for a city,” he said. “But

when it’s incorporated into structures, like here at the beach or other

places, it helps people to appreciate the community in which they live.

Without that, everything is just another building.”