The Case For The Solar Web  

Bruria Finkel

Special to the Mirror

   There has been much written in the pages of this newspaper about the installation of the Solar Web, a public artwork by the renowned environmental woman artist Nancy Holt. I support the project on our beach and believe it will be of great social value to our community. So do many other people. Over the years we have had as many as 4,500 signatures on petitions in support of the Solar Web—four hundred supportive signatures in the last month alone. In addition to this tremendous show of popular support, Natural Elements Sculpture Park ( NES Park) was approved many times by different councils and twice by the Coastal Commission. Bipartisan support for the project has been reflected in the approval of the following mayors: Judy Abdo, James Conn, Ken Genser Christine Reed, Paul Rosenstein and Denny Zane. 
   I am a mother of four children who grew up in Santa Monica, and a grandmother of three who are now growing up in Santa Monica. I care a great deal about safety. I also care about their spirit and their education. I want them to grow up with the Solar Web. I care about all our children, and have served on Delaine Eastin's state task force for the arts in the public schools, and I sit on the fine art district advisory council (DAC) for the Santa Monica Unified School District. I believe that the overall creative well being of our community must be achieved by multiple expressions. There is no real conflict between accessible public artwork and arts education. This truth is attested to by the support of many teachers for the Solar Web from elementary schools to Santa Monica College. I use the beach every day since I moved here 41 years ago. The beach is where The Natural Elements Sculpture Park (NES Park) was conceived with respectful care for the ecologically and the environmentally sound use of the beach. 
   Let me tell you about the Solar Web
   The Solar Web is a marvelous work of art. Its open, airy structure (72' x 52' x 16' high) tracks the motion of the sun through the day and the month, marking the rotation of the earth through the summer and winter solstices and the equinox. The work is astronomically calibrated to be accurate for the next thousand years. ( see picture) Every year on the summer solstice, an inverted solar eclipse will appear in the lower circle.    The Solar Web does not interfere with anyone’s view, it will be installed at the extreme southern part of the beach, 370 feet from the surf line and 300 feet from the promenade, 500 feet from the southern most condo in the Sea Colony. ( see diagram) The Solar Web is a site-specific artwork designed with an unobstructed view of the mountains and the horizon line. The beach is where we are touched by the horizon line unlike any other place in our city. The Solar Web has to be installed at that site because it is aligned with the mountains and the horizon line. 

The Solar Web and the New Millennium

   As we approach the year 2000, the Solar Web will mark our communal passage into the new century. Why is it so important? It will serve as the "sun dial" of Santa Monica reminding our urban community of our place in the natural world. Human beings through the ages have charted the motion of the sun and the earth's rotation. This has lead to the celebration of time, from the Aztec civilization to the Druids of Stonehenge. The observation of the sun was very important to the survival of humans, the planting of food, and charting the times of festivals. Then, as now, our relationship and understanding of the solar system creates an existential recognition of who we are, and allows us to be humble before nature. Science does not belong to the elite. The Solar Web will enhance our community learning about the solar system and help us understand the possibilities and the limitations of human kind. The Solar Web on the sand provides our youth, college students, seniors, and families the opportunity to experience science in real space and time. It will be a free educational resource open to all people regardless of socio-economic class, gender, or cultural background. 

An Ecologically Responsible Community

   Twenty years ago, the city of Santa Monica began its journey toward a planned ecologically and environmentally responsible city. Fifteen years ago, the Natural Elements Sculpture Park (NES Park), a project of the Santa Monica Arts Commission, set the tone and direction for the city's public art program, and has influenced the care and quality of the highly merited art works in our public places. Ecology is dependant not only upon sustainable development practices, but on creating the awareness of our relationship to nature. Highlighting this relationship is exactly the power of NES Park. The artwork in NES Park must be interactive with the natural elements: the wind, the sand, the sun, force of the water and the universe. The Solar Web will not interfere with the use of the ocean or the use of the beach. On the contrary, it will compliment the elements. It must be safe yet able to be touched and climbed on. The first artwork of NES Park the Singing Chairs make sounds when the wind blows. Go there between 3 and 5 p.m, almost every day when the winds come up you will hear the celestial sounds.
   (The chairs are situated North of Pico Blvd next to a small palm grove on the sand.) I see the people come to the singing chairs in the morning to meditate, or in the afternoon to listen to the wind. Kids climb on the work of art "Walk on LA." On days that the artwork is rolled (three times a year on holidays) it imprints the topography of LA on the sand for us to play in. Go down to the beach at this time and you will hear the squeals of joy from young and old. Many people have enjoyed the experience of the two works that have been there now for twelve years. No complaint of accident or injury has been reported all this time. 
   The city committed itself to contemporary art seventeen years ago. You may like a work of art or dislike it—it is a matter of taste and imagination. However the Arts Commission has followed an extremely high standard regarding the choice of artists and artwork in public space, and the community has always been included in the process.

About Funding

   When the Arts Commission was established in 1982, it was clear that there was a great need for some order and planning regarding the arts in Santa Monica. The Commission proposed, created, and initially funded among other successful programs such as the Twilight Dance Series on Thursday evenings during the summer. Eventually, the City developed a public and private funding base for that program. A Percent For the Arts program was created, funded from the city Capital Improvement budget. This program has been established in many cities in the country. It enables us to have a designated 1% fund for public art, which generates from $25,000-$43,000 a year. This is a pittance in comparison to the development dollars spent by public and private sources in the city. The mission of the Arts Commission was, and is, to match the funds and create a 501C 3 nonprofit organization through which to seek the private funds from different sources. The Arts Foundation was created to support the work of the Arts Commission.
   NES Park is a very good example of how public and private funds work to create a high quality public resource for our city. The National Endowment for the Arts contributed to the matching funds, along with many private donors, and the prestigious Lannon Foundation contributed half the $275,000 funds for the Solar Web. It took the Arts Commission fifteen years to put together the funds, and collect all the permissions necessary from different public entities, and to create a long range arts plan for the Coastal Zone. The commission finally has all the resources it needs, and is coming before the City Council requesting allocation of $40,000 for completion of the Solar Web from the all ready earmarked percent for arts budget, to complete the work. Now is the time to move ahead and finish the long awaited project. The artist Nancy Holt will not be making any significant profit on this work. She is ready and is committed to finish this project because of her dedication. Comparing the arts commission, or public artists, to affluent condominium developers—as some opponents have suggested—is simply absurd. The public well being is the sole standard of public art projects and programs in Santa Monica.

Location

Some of the wealthy people in the Sea Colony condominiums (some of which sell for $1,230.000 for two bedroom unit) might have you believe that the beach belongs to them and not to all of us. It is funny that they did not think that by building their condos they blocked everyone else's view of the ocean from Nielson way. More interestingly, their less affluent neighbors closest to the art work support the Solar Web and look forward to enjoying it. The southern portion of the beach is the least used. I pass by there on congested beach days and this portion of the beach sits empty. The Solar Web will reduce the environmental impact of beach goers in areas more populated by spreading out and balancing beach use. 

Safety Issues 

The people who oppose the Solar Web tell you that children will be placed at risk when they climb on it. This work of art is less of an attractive nuisance then many other park structures that are available in our city parks, or, for that matter, on the beach. However, a concern for safety has gone in to the Solar Web's design. For example, the risk management report says that the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for cylindrical tubing for playgrounds are 1 1/4 inches and 1 5/8 inches for children twelve years old and under to be able to climb on.    The cylindrical tubing planned for the Solar Web is five inches in diameter so that children under twelve years of age cannot grasp or climb on it. But young children and older people can go in and around it. The Solar Web made changes emphasizing safety concerns, including rounding the edges of the 5" pipe, and placing a 6" rubber mat cover on the circle. 
   In conclusion, it is unfair to deny Santa Monica this creative educational resource, nor is it fair to punish this woman artist who has been working diligently with our city for 15 years to create the Solar Web. Purists say that the Santa Monica beach is a pristine space that should be untouched—except of course by miles of linear volleyball courts, toilets, food vendors, muscle beach, garbage cans, and cement bike lanes. The truth is that our beach is a natural environment that has been effected by human hands. A thoughtfully designed Coastal Art Plan creates playful opportunities for us to learn about and interact with the coastal environment throughout our lives. Art bridges the gap between joy and education in an accessible and diverse environment. Certainly, the Solar Web is an environmentally thoughtful and educationally exciting project that will make our community proud.