Banning public sculpture on Promenade will be debated
The Santa Monica City Council will soon determine if sculpting is an art form suitable for street performing.
On any given day, a handful people can be found braiding palm leaves or strips of paper into caricatures of insects and religious symbols along the Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier.
They sell their fare for pocket change to passersby along two of the city's busiest attractions. For their work, they must obtain permits from the city — which has long regulated outdoor performers on the Promenade and pier.
City officials are now asking the city council to remove sculpting entirely as an art form for public performances. Because the law doesn’t allow selling handcrafts as a performance, many people use a sculpting permit to get around the law, city officials said.
And the practice of folding palm fronds, in their opinion, is not art because it creates a series of very similar pieces, which can be made quickly and with materials that cost next to nothing.
“It’s very lucrative to make quickly-made handcrafts,” said City Attorney Marsha Moutrie. “I don’t believe that’s what the council intended when they authorized artists to work there in the first place.”
Since there are few true “sculptors” working on the Promenade or pier, and because the line between art and handcrafts is unclear, Moutrie has recommended that all sculpting be banned.
“It’s hard to a draw line between handcrafts and sculpture,” Moutrie said. “We suggested, because we are always trying to avoid future legal action, we recommended a prohibition against sculpture in general.”
She added, “The real problem is trying to define what is art and what is not.”
Many of the performers argue that what they do is art and they shouldn’t be punished for making money from their craft.
“I would like the city council to go to China or Japan and ask anybody there if they believe origami is art,” one performer said. “They would be laughed out of the country.”
“I would like the city council to go to China or Japan and ask anybody there if they believe origami is art.” — — STREET PERFORMER
Some of the artists are starting to band together. A group has formed, somewhat spear-headed by community activist Jerry Rubin, to challenge the city’s proposed changes to the performer ordinances.
The city council has asked that the performers’ group meet with officials at the Bayside District Corporation — which regulates the Promenade — and at the Pier Restoration Corp., which regulates the pier.
“I am concerned that sculpture is indeed an art form, and I believe more could have been done to separate tacky, mass-produced crafts from the art form itself,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown.
“I am concerned that sculpture is indeed an art-form, and I believe more could have been done to separate tacky, mass-produced crafts from the art form itself.” — — KEVIN MCKEOWN Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem
The city has several ordinances in place to regulate everything from the amount of noise a street performer can make to the length of time performers can stay in one location.
The council voted 4-3 last year to ban Henna — the practice of painting designs on skin with temporary ink — because some artists were using a dangerous chemical. The controversial decision has drawn criticism from local and regional artist groups.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 27, 2002. Read the original PDF.