Arts Commission Wrapup

The following is from the Jan. 14 meeting of the Laguna Beach Arts Commission.

Senior center public art finalists chosen

The commission selected five finalists from the 10 submittals it received for its public art competition for three art elements at the Senior and Community Center currently under construction.

Each finalist will be given a $500 honorarium to create a maquette of their proposed design; a final selection will be made at the Feb. 11 meeting of the Arts Commission for approval by the City Council at its March 4 meeting.

The winning design will receive a $190,000 honorarium, the highest in the commission’s history. The winner will create a mural, seating element and sculpture for the site.

A committee set up to evaluate the submittals recommended four submittals by Jorg Dubin, Jeff Peters and Mark Garry, Julia Klemek, Leah Vasquez and John Warren, Jon Seeman, and Gerard Stripling and Michele Taylor.

The commission later added a fifth submittal by John Barber and Lance Jost to the finalists.

Members of the commission told each finalist there were elements in their submittals they would prefer to be changed.

Commission extends bench deadline

The deadline to submit designs for the city’s artist-designed bench competition has been extended to March 7 in order for more entries to be received.

Details on the competition are available on the city’s website, www.lagunabeachcity.net.