SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2002
FR E
E
FREE
Volume 1, Issue 210
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
City attempts to retrieve mural from Smithsonian Officials want historic artwork included in new Main Library building
Santa Monica artist was a creative spirit
BY MELISSA PRICE Special to the Daily Press
City officials are re-energizing a 20year effort to bring back a $5 million mural that used to hang in Santa Monica’s former Main Library but now sits in storage at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. With a $52 million library renovation planned, officials want the Stanton Macdonald-Wright murals back from the Washington D.C.-based museum so the artwork can be put on display. However, even if Smithsonian officials agreed to give back the art today, the museum’s own renovation efforts may make finding it the biggest challenge. The murals were donated to the Smithsonian by the Santa Monica City Council after the Main Library was rebuilt in 1966 because the new building, located at 1343 6th St., could not accomPhoto courtesy Santa Monica Public Library modate the massive work. Santa Monica lost the ownership rights to the murals Artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s mural was prominently displayed in Santa Monica’s original Main Library, pictured above. when they were donated. “At the time, things like that were not sequence which contains huge pieces, Virginia Mecklenburg, senior curator at given any importance,” said city land- some spanning 10 feet long and six feet the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The city has since recognized the hismarks commission member Roger wide. Macdonald-Wright described the sub- torical and artistic value of the work. Genser. “It has only taken on significance ject of the soft, green and blue earth- Several attempts have been made over in recent years. ” In 1935, Macdonald-Wright unveiled toned murals as “depicting two streams the years to return the murals to Santa the mural sequence entitled “Technical of human development: one technical, Monica, including possibly featuring them at the airport. and Imaginative Pursuits of Early Man,” the other imaginative.” “This is the most appropriate, timely The sequence is designed to flow in a and dedicated it to Santa Monica and to circle with the streams of history culmi- and easiest way to accommodate the his father. Chronicling the development of inven- nating in a panel depicting the filming of murals because we are building a new tion and imagination throughout history, a movie. Placed at the entrance of the building,” Genser said. The movement has been a bi-partisan the 2,000 square feet of fabric covers library, the panel displayed Macdonaldpine panels that snaked between the win- Wright’s belief that movies held the effort involving members of Congress, the city council and the community. dows and wrapped around the doorways greatest potential for artistic expression. “This is good — it preserved the art — “It was the most exciting cultural of the old library building. The city raised $1,035 for the activity happening at the time,” said and negative — it is the property of the
BY MELISSA PRICE Special to the Daily Press
The effort artist Stanton MacdonaldWright’s put into creating Santa Monica Library’s murals took such a toll on his health he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. “For weeks I dragged my legs like a bug that has been stepped on, half paralyzed through nervousness, at other times influenza made me fall off the scaffolding and pass out of consciousness,” he said to a friend at the time. The 1935 sequence was completed at great personal sacrifice. MacdonaldWright refused payment so that the city could fund two assistants, and he produced an amazing amount of work in 18 months. The “history of imagination” series contains eastern images, reflecting MacdonaldWright’s conviction that legends, faiths and imaginative designs Stanton originated in the East. The technical side por- MacdonaldWright trays historical figures See ARTIST, page 6 Federal government,” said assistant city librarian Greg Mullen. But it likely will take a lot of digging to get them returned to Santa Monica. The murals are in storage as the Smithsonian completes its own renovaSee MURALS, page 6
Hundreds of residents to Panhandling sting busts five spend Sunday powerless By Daily Press staff
BY JASON AUSLANDER Daily Press Staff Writer
See POWER OUTAGE, page 5
Five people were arrested during a panhandling sting on the Third Street Promenade Wednesday. The Santa Monica Police Department conducted the sting in an effort to curb aggressive panhandling, which has become a major issue for merchants along the Promenade. They say the behavior of some transients who follow people down the mall scares visitors away. Officers in uniform and plain clothes spent about two hours on the outdoor mall waiting for people to continuously ask people for money. The operation resulted in five misdemeanor arrests. Three suspects were arrested for panhandling and two suspects were arrested for public intoxication and violation of a domestic violence restraining order. The suspects arrested were transported to the Santa Monica jail and booked as charged.
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Hundreds of residents who live near the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center will be spending Sunday without electrical power for at least 11 hours. Southern California Edison plans to turn off the power to every home and business
located between 12th Street and 16th Street and Broadway and California Avenue starting at 9 a.m. to “approximately 8 p.m.,” according to John Abbott, construction coordinator for the power company. “...We must replace a piece of underground equipment that serves your area,” Abbott wrote in a notice dated July 9.
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