Posted on 10/06/2004 7:24:40 PM PDT by Nasty McPhilthy
LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) - It didn't take a nuclear physicist to realize changes were needed after a $40,000 ceramic mural was unveiled outside the city's new library and everyone could see the misspelled names of Einstein, Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and seven other historical figures. "Our library director is very frustrated that she has this lovely new library and it has all these misspellings in front," said city councilwoman Lorraine Dietrich, one of three council members who voted Monday to authorize paying another $6,000, plus expenses, to fly the artist up from Miami to fix the errors.
Reached at her Miami studio Wednesday by The Associated Press, Maria Alquilar said she was willing to fix the brightly colored 16-foot-wide circular work, but offered no apologizes for the 11 misspellings among the 175 names.
"The importance of this work is that it is supposed to unite people," Alquilar said. "They are denigrating my work and the purpose of this work."
Alquilar said it took her quite a bit of her own time and money to create and install the work, and that it sat idle at her Santa Cruz studio for two years until the city cleared the way for its installation.
There were plenty of people around during the installation who could and should have seen the missing and misplaced letters, she said.
"Even though I was on my hands and knees laying the installation out, I didn't see it," she said.
The mistakes wouldn't even register with a true artisan, Alquilar said.
"The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she said. "In their mind the words register correctly."
She should fix it for free.
Oh...you mean its OUR fault?
hey if you are liberal, then that tends to carry through with liberal use of meaning, liberal use of spelling, and liberal use of facts. shakes head...
Artistic interpretation of spelling would have been a valid argument, had the other 150+ names been spelled correctly. What really shocks me is that no one noticed it before the opening of the library, or viewed the piece during the two years of storage.
Our government dollars at work.
It's not my fault the words are misspelled. It's your fault that you're trying to read the words. Just 'feel' the art. Correct spellings don't mean anything.
/SARCASM
However, by that token, maybe "John F Kerry" REALLY is spelled "Geo W Bush" -- ya think?
LOL
They should misspell the artist's name when they write her the check....made out to DUMBA$$
How do ya spell potatoe head?
*ROFLMAO*
This is too funny!
Michelangelo can paint the bleedin' Sistine Chapel by hand, while this 'artist' can't spell his name.
PINGING Rush Limbaugh. Whining Liberal of the Year contender, right here!
Well, if you hire an artist from Miami, it's not realistic to expect proper spelling.
Sue the idiot for damages.
Another barking moonbat. I'd like to get a bit ahead of the curve here and nominate her for international prizes plus a plum job at the National Endowment for the Artisans.
A series and hugh mistake. What a looser.
The people that are [..] into Blake's concept of enlightenment
I prefer Locke's concept of enlightenment...
That's it, blame someone else for your stupidity. Don't take personal responsibility for your work. Moron.
The "artiste" in this story, Maria Alquilar, sounds to me like she has that same kind of protected-class, affirmative-action sense of entitlement. A mindless arrogance. I haven't seen her work, but I bet anything it sucks. Attention to detail is important in everything anyone does.
This is beyond pathetic. There is ALWAYS a preliminary design submitted for approval before the commission is awarded. How could these mistakes have been overlooked before its execution and installation. The attitude of the "artist" is breathtakingly stunning and she should fix it at her own expense.
The big question here is why the library is wasting money on murals and not buying books?
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