Three works approved for Treasure Island

Barbara Diamond

A naked lady, two mythical beasts and a five-piece seating

arrangement were added on Tuesday to the inventory of sculptures on

the Montage Hotel property and Treasure Island Park.

The selected works will cost $125,000. The cost of all public art

for the project is expected to exceed $700,000.

Cheryl Ekstrom’s “Parallel Dance,” which will be installed on the

pathway from the park to the hotel swimming pool, is valued at

$34,950.

Athens Group, which owns and is developing the resort property,

will pick up part of the city’s tab for public art: $35,000 for Linda

Brunker’s 10-foot statue of a woman, titled “Voyager,” and $55,000

for Gerard Basil Stripling’s bronze seating arrangement. Both will be

installed in the park.

The city’s actual cost will be $72,000, its obligation under the

public arts ordinance.

All selections were Arts Commission recommendations.

Ekstrom incorporated the suggestion of waves into the tails of her

sculpted horses to reflect the movement of the ocean.

“It represents travel, escape,” Ekstrom said. “I was influenced by

Japanese art, which is integral to the craftsman art movement.”

Ekstrom’s fantastical horses will be cast in bronze and installed

on opposite sides of a pathway. The sculptures are each 24 inches

tall, 26 inches high and 14 inches wide, smaller than her usual work

and smaller than other pieces of public art on the site. They will be

installed on 36-inch high concrete pedestals.

Stripling’s bronze-plated seats will be topped with a heat wax

application to preserve the finish. Johnson’s wax will be applied

twice a year as maintenance.

“I wanted ‘Repose’ to convey all things that are calming to me,”

the artist said. “The shapes represent waves crashing on the shore as

well as figures reclining on the beach.”

The benches, which the Arts Commission prefers to call functional

sculpture, will be installed on the peninsula in the northern section

of the park.

Brunker’s cast bronze “Voyager” will be installed on the ocean

side of the parking structure. It will not be visible from South

Coast Highway. She said the piece was inspired by the ocean and the

myriad life that is contained in it.

These pieces complete all the Art in Public Places requirements

for the project. The city’s ordinance requires developers to

contribute art valued at 1% of the estimated value of the project or

donate an amount equal to 1% to the Art in Public Places Fund.