Council to Consider Going Out on Limb

The city’s public arts program could branch out if City Council members endorse an idea to add an oak branch sculpture to the maligned copper curtain adorning the Civic Arts Plaza.

At a Tuesday meeting, the council will consider adding a sign above the copper curtain that would identify the building for motorists on the Ventura Freeway. Council members also will discuss whether to spend up to $100,000 to superimpose an abstract verdigris sculpture of oak branches on the curtain.

The curtain was envisioned as a long, flowing curtain with delicate strips of copper that would flutter in the breeze, reflecting glints of blue, green and purple. Through a series of bureaucratic steps, the curtain was truncated to a rectangle. Its copper strips were tacked down so they wouldn’t blow off and hit cars below. And pigments were never applied.

It is also the county’s most maligned public artwork.

To encourage community support for the new sculpture, three different branch frameworks--borrowed from local trees--would be on display at the Civic Arts Plaza. Residents would be able to view the options and call in their preferences using a new program called the Community Action Partnership System.