Auteur: AIVP
Source: Port of San Diego
Date de parution: Mercredi, 19 Janvier 2005
Type de Document: Actualité
Thème: 5.08 - promenade et espaces publics, 5.02 - l'architecture à l interface ville / port
Langue originale: Anglais
Localisation: Amerique : Etats-Unis : San Diego
Langue: Français, Anglais, Espagnol

Une trentaine de sculptures originales, sur le thème de l'arbre, étaient installées sur le waterfront de San Diego depuis octobre 2003 dans le cadre d'un programme de valorisation du site et du travail artistique. Ces "arbres" vont être remplacés par une nouvelle série dans le cadre d'une prolongation du programme Urban Trees II.

The 30 original tree sculptures were created by artists as a means to help promote their work to a diverse audience of visitors and to assist the Port of San Diego in branding San Diego Bay and the oceanfront of Imperial Beach as home to a significant and dynamic collection of public artwork. The project is also geared towards stimulating the interest in the North Embarcadero as the area primes itself for redevelopment.

To create their trees, artists were supplied with a 12-foot pole placed in a concrete planter which served as the tree’s base. The artists were allowed to alter the pole by attaching materials that would make up the tree. A loan fee was paid to each artist for the Port to install the trees on the waterfront for a period of one year and the artwork remains the property of the artist. Now that the one-year period has ended, the public has an opportunity to own an original artwork. Ranging in price from $2,000 to $40,000, the trees are being sold by the individual artists. Two of the sculptures are survivors of the 2003 Southern California wildfires and have been extremely popular with the community. “Mini the Mermaid” and “Surfboard Cedar Survivor” were both created by artists who lived in areas ravaged by the fire. Both artists’ studios and homes were destroyed, but miraculously the sculptures were salvageable. Other popular sculptures include “Soft Sculpture Carrot,” a giant carrot created from fabrics stitched together and embellished with assorted objects and “The Puzzle Tree,” which includes 24 puzzle pieces that interlock to form a puzzle. For prices and descriptions of the artworks for sale, log on to http://www.thebigbay.com/urbantrees or call the Port of San Diego’s Public Art

Urban Trees Slated for Uprooting to Make Way for New Planting

Installation for Urban Trees II begins in February and the 30 new trees are just as imaginative as the originals. Examples include “Germination” which represents a seed with a root sprouting out of it; “Shoe Tree,” a tree with pairs of shoes growing out of its branches and “Under the Sea,” which has colorful sea creatures attached to it. The new trees will be on the waterfront for one year. The Port’s Public Art Program was created in 1996 to promote a healthy, vibrant atmosphere that contributes to the quality and identity of the region. The Port enacted the first “percent for art” program in San Diego County and now dedicates one percent of its projected revenues each year toward a public art fund that is used for the acquisition and maintenance of public artworks on Port tidelands.