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Culver...Is That You?, 2010

by Moshe and Eddie Brahka


Digital Photo Collage
8'h x 12' h
 9900 Culver Boulevard

Moshe Brahka and her son Eddie Brahka’s picture, Culver… Is That You? is a composite image of the intersection of Culver Boulevard and Duquesne Avenue. The piece incorporates a daytime and nighttime exposure photos collaged together to create one iconic picture. Ms. Brahka states, “Our concept for this photo lies in this idea that beauty is not only all around us, but usually in the places you least expect.”

 

Moshe Brahka is a photographer from Israel by way of Hollywood. She has done print work Rolling Stone Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler, contributed to advertising campaigns for Adidas and Motorola and has also photographed a wide array of celebrities.

Linear Cascade, 2010

by Sean So


Copper Relief Water Sculpture
6'6"h x 9'2"w
 3850 Watseka Avenue

Linear Cascade is a wall installation consisting of 5 stepped, textured vertical panels. Water flows down the irregularly patterned copper, disappearing into a trough at the sculpture’s base. The sculpture floats above the reception area where it is located with ever changing water currents.

Sean So has been creating water and fire sculptures for over seventeen years. Mr. So has completed public art projects for the Disney Cancer Center, El Paseo Street in Palm Desert, and many other civic institutions.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  

8 Studio Pass, 1996 and 1998 (two-phased project)

by Jim Heimann


Wrought iron and porcelain
15" h x 15" w and 10" h x 10"
9336 Washington Boulevard / Ince Boulevard (The Culver Studios)

Studio Pass is a series of sculptures by Jim Heimann that celebrate Culver City's long standing history with the motion picture industry. This artwork consists of multiple sculptural finials that contain the names of the studios that once occupied the site and objects typically associated with the industry: the director's chair and the movie camera.

Jim Heimann also conceived of Plato's Cup (1995) and King Kong Gone (1995) for the Culver City public art program.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  


Photo: Lisa Naruko

5 Almost Invisible Boxes, 2004

by Joshua Callaghan



In and Adjacent to Town Plaza - covering nine traffic signal/utility boxes

Joshua Callaghan's Almost Invisible Boxes are located in and adjacent to Town Plaza in downtown Culver City. The artist conceived of this installation as a continuation of the space that the traffic signal and utility boxes obstructed. Each box is wrapped in vinyl that has images of the surrounding landscape printed on it. While examining the boxes, the viewer becomes an active participant in the setting by engaging in this optical illusion.

Joshua Callaghan has exhibited works in video, sculpture, and photography in the United States and abroad. He lives and works in Los Angeles and recently completed his MFA at the University of California Los Angeles.
Photo: Joshua Callaghan  


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko

5 Culver City Singularity, 1995

by Eric Orr


Granite and water
10' h x 16" w
 In and Adjacent to Town Plaza - 9540 Washington Boulevard

Culver City Singularity is a three-sided granite column water sculpture located near the western entry to Town Plaza. Water cascades down the column in a graceful, wave-like pattern, flowing into the triangular basin at the sculpture’s base.

The late Eric Orr was a local minimalist and conceptual artist who had completed several water sculptures for private and corporate collections. Mr. Orr was commissioned to create public art installations for the City of Los Angeles (L.A. Prime Matter, 1991) and the City of Beverly Hills (Untitled).
Photo: Lisa Naruko  




Photo: Lisa Naruko

1 Panoramic and Quotation Courtyard, 1995

by Barbara McCarren


Sheet bronze and stainless steel (Panoramic)
Brick wall and limestone (Quotation Courtyard)
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall Courtyard)

Like the other art installations in the City Hall courtyard, Barbara McCarren's Panoramic fuses the past with the present. Panoramic is a replica of a life-size movie camera that displays black and white historic images of Culver City. The images are shown in segments, emphasizing the City's geography, history, and film studio industry identity.

Quotation Courtyard comprises four free-standing walls that are constructed from the bricks of the former City Hall that was erected on the site in 1928. Each side of the four walls contains a limestone panel etched with a quotation. The quotations represent a culturally diverse group of historical and civil rights leaders, including Cesar Chavez, Albert Einstein, Coretta Scott King, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Barbara McCarren received a B.A. from UCLA and an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California. Her first public art commission was for Los Angeles' oldest park, Pershing Square.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  




Photo: Lisa Naruko

1 La Ballona, 1995

by May Sun


Mixed media
9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall Courtyard)

May Sun's artwork (incorporated into the Heritage Fountain located in the City Hall's courtyard) commemorates Ballona Creek and the region's native inhabitants -- the Gabrielinos (Tongva). The artwork includes a cluster of six oversized charm stone and effigy sculptures, replica stainless steel fishing hooks affixed to the floor of the fountain, and historic photographs of Ballona Creek etched into the stainless steel plates embedded in the brick spillways.  The spillways are constructed from materials reclaimed from the former City Hall building, and the overall installation references an archaeological site.

Celebrating the region's history, La Ballona combines natural and sculptural elements in a refreshing blend of movement and mystery.

May Sun lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Among her local commissions is Listening for the Trains to Come (1992) at Union Station.
Photo: schafphoto.com  




Photo: schafphoto.com

1 Hanging Garden, 1995

by Ed Carpenter


Leaded hand-blown, rolled, and dichroic glasses
28' h x 24' w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall Courtyard)

Located on the north side of the third floor atrium of the Culver City City Hall, Ed Carpenter's stained glass screens are an abstract representation of a hanging garden. The artist intended the artwork to serve both a functional and artistic purpose -- as a wind barrier and light filter -- and as a visual bridge connecting the upper floors of City Hall's main facade. Dichroic glass (glass that has been fused with various metal oxides) has been incorporated into the design, which lends to the overall sparkle and iridescence of the work.

Ed Carpenter studied at the University of California at Santa Barbara and at UC Berkeley. He is based in Portland, Oregon and has completed many public art projects including Architectural Glass Window (1994) for the City of Los Angeles, and Ojo (1997) for the City of New York.




Photo: Lisa Naruko

7 Moving Pictures, 2001

by and Brailsford, Robin Alexander, Wick


Steel, glass, ceramic tile, brick
In and Adjacent to Town Plaza - Paseo alleyways between Cardiff Avenue & Main Street

Moving Pictures, comprising seven unique zoetropes (pronounced ZOH-uh-trohp), celebrates the origin of cinema and Culver City's film studio history. Invented in 1834 by William George Horner, the zoetrope as it later came to be called, uses the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of movement. Inside the zoetrope's drum is a series of images that can be viewed through the slots incised in the drum's shell. By adjusting the rate of the spin of the drum, the viewer is able to observe an increasingly smooth progression of images. Zoetrope is from the Greek words zoe, "life" and trope, "turn."

Wick Alexander and Robin Brailsford have worked on numerous public art projects located throughout the downtown San Diego Area. Robin Brailsford also completed a public art project for the City of Santa Monica Downtown Transit Mall: River of Life (2000).


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko

6 A Moment In Time, 2006

by De L'Esprie


Bronze and Copper
5'8" h x 6' w
 Town Plaza (in front of the Culver Hotel)

A Moment in Time is a life-sized bronze sculpture depicting the City's Founder, Harry Culver, his wife Lillian, and their daughter Patricia. Harry Culver is reading a special edition of the Culver City Call, dated September 21, 1917, the day after Culver City became incorporated. The newspaper has articles commemorating the incorporation of the city, as well as advertisements and announcements. The adjacent plaque provides details of Harry Culver's many accomplishments, including the construction of the Landmark designated Culver Hotel (also listed on the National Register of Historic Places).

De L'Esprie was commissioned in 2003 to create a multi-figured bronze sculpture (Path of Life) for the Culver City Senior Center.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko

5 The Lion’s Fountain, 2004

by Douglas Olmsted Freeman


Bronze
8' h x 8' w
 Town Plaza

The Lion's Fountain was commissioned by the Culver City Redevelopment Agency as the public art component of the Town Plaza development project. The fountain is comprised of an eight foot tall bronze lion sculpture surrounded by forty lighted jets that shoot streams of water high into the air. The Lion's Fountain has become a focal point of Town Plaza, delighting visitors with its carefree demeanor and dancing water jets.

Douglas Olmsted Freeman, a Minneapolis based sculptor, was awarded this commission, in part because of his success in creating sculptures and designing spaces that invite the viewer to participate, to imagine, and to play. Some of Mr. Freeman's other large-scale installations include: A Spiral of Birds (1991) in St. Paul, MN; The Fountain of the Wind (1994), in Duluth, MN; and Shichifukujin - The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan (1995), and The Seven Animals of Akabane (1996) in Tokyo, Japan.

Although the theme for this art work is inspired by other lions associated with Culver City's movie studio history (MGM's Leo the Lion and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz), this lion is neither a representation nor direct interpretation of either of these felines.
Photo: Douglas O. Freeman  




Photo: John Fisonatti


Photo: Lisa Naruko

4 Truth or Fiction, 1995

by Nobuho Nagasawa


Laminated glass and steel
10' h x 4' w x 3' d
 Northeast corner of Culver Boulevard and Duquesne Avenue

Truth or Fiction is comprised of three free-standing, triangular pillars made of laminated glass etched with images referencing Culver City's motion picture history. These images include MGM's Leo the Lion and an enlarged eye from Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound. At night, the sculpture is illuminated from within -- projecting moving phrases, images of native Southern California plants and animals, and various visual references from the film industry, including a reel from a movie camera.

Nobuho Nagasawa has completed public art commissions for the City of Anaheim, the City of Seattle (Water Weaving Light Cycle, 2005), and the City of Los Angeles (Toyo Miyatake's Camera, 1993).

2 Duck and Fruits, 1995

by Tammy Brakins


Watercolor (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
24" h x 30" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Duck and Fruits is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Give Me Your Hand, 1995

by Milton Davis


Pen and ink (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
24" h x 29" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Give Me Your Hand is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Singers, 1995

by Raymond Chavoya


Dry point etching (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
22" h x 28" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Singers is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Dream Figure, 1995

by Ivory Hill


Watercolor (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
25" h x 31" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Dream Figure is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Apple Trees, 1995

by Richard Devron


Watercolor (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
23" h x 31" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Apple Trees is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Boulevard, 1995

by James Bruce


Acrylic (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
21" h x 22" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Boulevard is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

2 Catching a Shade, 1995

by Milton Davis


Pen and ink (one of seven works on paper from the same collection)
23" h x 26" w
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Dan Patacchia Room)

Catching a Shade is part of a collection of watercolors and prints on paper donated to the City by the Exceptional Children's Foundation in 1995.

3 Sentry, 1999

by John Okulick


Ceramic tiles
10' h x 8' w x 2' d
 4040 Duquesne Avenue (Culver City Police Station)

Sentry is a tiled fountain, bordered by two concrete columns. The inspiration for the water feature is La Ballona and the significance the creek played in the setttlement of the area. As the title implies, Sentry is also a symbol for safety and references the contribution the Police Department makes to this community.

John Okulick was commissioned to create two additional art installations in Culver City: Street Eyes, 2001, and Water Tower, 2000. His work also appears in the Cities of Pasadena (Three Moons, 1993) and Los Angeles (Vents, 1990).

3 Our Best, 1998

by Francois Bardol


Glass tile
18' h x 13' w
 4040 Duquesne Avenue (Culver City Police Station)

Our Best honors the Culver City Police Department's dedication to the community. Culver City landmarks and references to the City's film studio history provide a backdrop to a visual narrative that includes a depiction of police officers helping children.

Francois Bardol is a local artist who has worked on several art projects in the public sphere. He created Laurel and Hardy (1996), a mural for Stellar Hardware.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  

11 Wading Pool, 2000

by Ron Fischer


Sculpture
10202 Washington Boulevard (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

R. M. Fischer's sculpture, Wading Pool, references architectural characteristics of the many art deco era buildings on the adjacent Sony Pictures Entertainment lot, as well as set elements from Frank Capra's 1937 film, Lost Horizons.

R.M. Fischer is a New York based artist who has completed numerous public art projects including, Firefly (1998) for the City of Philadephia, and Bell Street Pier Beacon for the Port of Seattle.

11 My Movie: Portraits of My Neighborhood, 2001

by with students from El Marino Language School, El Rincon School, Farragut School, La Ballona School, and Linwood Howe School Bishop (Carol), Briggs (Angela), Gale (Gayle), Gawne (Candice), and Godfrey (Richard)


Acrylic on canvas
Six 3' h x 6' w canvases
 10202 Washington Boulevard (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

My Movie: Portraits of My Neighborhood was a community-based public art project which involved local fifth grade students from El Marino Language School, El Rincon School, Farrragut School, La Ballona School, and Linwood Howe School. Carol Bishop, Angela Briggs, Gayle Gale, Candice Gawne, and Richard Godfrey served as artists in-residence to create a "film storyboard mural" with students and teachers.

Each school created six 3' high x 6' wide panels. Five of the six panels were assembled by students as murals for their respective schools. These schools donated their sixth panel to Sony Pictures Entertainment. These are now displayed in the lobby of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Plaza Building.



11 Golden Time, 1995

by Terry Allen


Bronze sculpture and clock element
6' h x 3' w x 2' d
 10202 Washington Boulevard (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Terry Allen's bronze sculpture, Golden Time, depicts a business man kneeling on one knee struggling to balance a clock on his shoulders. The artist intended the sculpture as a metaphor for the struggles the working man faces. Mr. Allen states, "The piece itself also addresses the dignity of work and every working person's struggle, public and private, for and against time...our shared human burden."

Terry Allen is an artist and musician living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mr. Allen has created public art projects for the City of Los Angeles (Corporate Head, 1990) and for the University of California San Diego (Trees, 1986).
Photo: schafphoto.com  

10 Modulation/Demodulation, 1994

by Michael Hayden


Implex (impact grade acrylic sheet), laminated with holographic material (mirrorized diffraction grating)
20' h x 12' w x 12' d
 10101 W. Washington Boulevard

Modulation/Demodulation is a site-specific artwork (art designed for a specific location) located at the Game Show Network building on the corner of Washington Boulevard and Madison Avenue. The intent of the artwork is to enhance the building's plain brick facade as well as serve as a screen for roof-top equipment. The seven individual horizontal blades comprising this artwork are arranged so as to appear as though the entire piece is sliding off the side of the building. The panels are partially laminated with a holographic material, creating an irridescent glow when light reflects off the surface.

Michael Hayden has completed architectural-sized sculptures for the City of Los Angeles (Generators of the Cylinder, 1982); Arc En Ciel for the Yorkdale Subway in Toronto, Canada; and, Sky's the Limit for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

9 Scan, 1996

by Judd Fine


Stainless steel, stone pavers, concrete, lighting, and a computer
60" h x 144" w
 9050 Washington Boulevard

Jud Fine's sculpture, Scan, is comprised of two elements -- Nipkow Disk and 525 Scan. Both components reference the evolution of television. Nipkow Disk contains twenty-seven lights arranged in a spiral, representing the holes of the original scanning device that was a fundamental component of mechanical television. 525 Scan includes a stainless steel plate, set in concrete above a curved bench. The plate is etched with 525 scan lines and the names of people who have contributed to the development of television.

Jud Fine is a Professor of Sculpture at the University of Southern California. Mr. Fine has completed public art projects for the City of Los Angeles (Los Angeles Central Library, Maguire Gardens), and the City of Pasadena (Avenue 57 Metro Light Rail Station).


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko

9 Primordial Reflections, 1996

by Albert Paley


Steel and painted oxidized copper patina
6' h x 25' w (two sculpture screens)
 9050 Washington Boulevard

This semi-circular sculptural "fence" aims to enhance the entrance of the studio lot while addressing "dynamism and change, emphasizing active contour and silhouette."

Albert Paley is a nationally recognized artist who works from his studio in Rochester, New York. Mr. Paley has received public art commissions from the City of Philadelphia (Synergy, 1987), the City of Rochester (Bridge Railings, 1989), and the City of Beverly Hills.

2 City Sequence, 1995

by Blue McRight


Oil on Canvas
Twenty-seven 14" h x 14" w canvases
 9770 Culver Boulevard (City Hall - Council Chambers Lobby)

Located in the Council Chambers lobby, City Sequence is a collection of 27 individual paintings arranged in three rows of nine paintings each to form an overall composition. The artist conceived of this mural as a type of disenos, a nineteenth century map created by folk artists and mapmakers, and used by rancheros filing grant petitions.  The individual paintings are categorized into one of three groups relating to Culver City's history and culture: the natural element (disenos), the built environment (landmarks), and the human element (stories).  The artwork's narrative includes references to the early native inhabitants, the incorporation of Culver City in 1917, and the establishment of the movie studios.

Blue McRight was commissioned in 1999 to create Garland for the Staples Center.
Photo: Lisa Naruko  


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko


Photo: Lisa Naruko

6 Plato's Cup, 1995

by Jim Heimann


Wrought iron
4-1/2' h x 38" w
 9412 Washington Boulevard

At first glance, Plato's Cup appears to be a weather vane, but upon further inspection the viewer discovers this is no ordinary device. The anticipated directional indicators (N, S, E, and W) have been replaced by the letters "N" and "P", intertwined with images of a film strip and a steaming cup of coffee. The film strip and coffee cup reference Culver City's film studio history and the RKO Cafe that once stood at the site; the letters "N" and "P" are the initials for Napoleon Plato, the former owner of the building.

Jim Heimann also completed King Kong Gone (1995) and Studio Pass I and II (1996) for the Culver City Public Art Program.


Photo: Lisa Naruko