Rec and Parks Commission Schedules
Special Session on Solar
Web Dispute
Mirror staff
The Santa Monica
Recreation and Parks Commission will hold a special meeting tonight at
7:30 PM at the Ken Edwards Center for "Presentation of Additional
Information on Solar Web and Possible Action Transmitting Commission
Comments to the City Council."
The aforementioned Solar Web is a sculpture which
would be situated on the South Beach near the Santa Monica-Venice
line. It was commissioned by the Santa Monica Arts Commission ten
years ago and has been approved by the City Council and virtually
every other board and commission in the City, along with the
California Coastal Commission, and opposed by a number of residents on
a variety of grounds -- including cost. safety, aesthetics and taste.
At a regular meeting of the Rec and Parks Commission a
couple of weeks ago, seven people spoke against the Web, while two
people -- both Arts Commissioners, one past, one current -- spoke in
its favor.
At tonight’s meeting, it is anticipated that
proponents and opponents will present their cases against and for the
construction and installation of the sculpture in an effort to
influence the Commission’s final recommendation to the City Council
in September.
The controversy began in the mid-1980s when the
then-new Arts Commission proposed the creation of a Natural Elements
Sculpture Park (NES Park) on the beach to "...interact with the
environment." NES Park opponents argued that the beach should
remain unencumbered by any manmade works.
The Commission won the first rounds, commissioning two
works -- The Art Tool, a massive concrete roller, and the Singing
Chairs.
In 1985, the City Council approved the siting and
funding of those two works and approved the proposed site of Solar
Web. In 1989, , the Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate
and execute a contract
for Solar Web with sculptor Nancy Holt.
The Coastal Commission then directed the City to
develop a Local Coastal Art Plan for all potential art projects in its
coastal zone, including Solar Web. The Plan was approved by the City
Council in 1993 and by the Coastal Commission in 1994, which
simultaneously issued a permit for Solar Web.. .
It is an open structure made of dark grey aluminum
tubing. It varies in height from two and one-half feet to 16 feet, is
52 feet wide and 72 feet long and roughly resembles a giant spider.
Holt is a nationally recognized sculptor who has won
both National Endowment of the Arts and Guggenheim fellowships. She
has a work in a current exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Earlier this year, the Arts Commission voted to
approve another $40,000 from the City’s Percent for Art Fund for the
project, bringing the total price to $270,000. Of that amount,
$145,000 will be paid by the City, $75,000 will be paid by the Lannan
Foundation and $50,000 by the Southmark Corporation.
Among the questions raised by opponents are the
validity of the Coastal Commission permit, the possible danger to
children climbing on the sculpture, the cost, and the City’s arts
funding priorities.
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