CARLSBAD — The city’s Public Art Advisory Subcommittee on Nov. 13 selected three finalists to present their proposals for a new public art project in the Barrio neighborhood.
The Barrio Traffic Circle Public Art project, part of the city’s Art in Public Places program and Village and Barrio Master Plan, will feature artwork at the center of a traffic circle at Harding Street and Pine Avenue, one of the primary gateways into the Barrio neighborhood.
Cultural Arts Manager Craddock Stropes said the project aims to improve community safety and enrich the local character in the city’s oldest neighborhood.
“The Barrio is a safe, secure place that provides a solid foundation upon which people can pursue their dreams of a bright future,” Stropes said. “Seeing local landmarks as they were in the past helps keep the community connected to their history and creates a sense of nostalgia while serving as a reminder of the opportunities available to all people.”
Nine artists were evaluated based on experience, portfolio quality, public work experience and adherence to project scheduling. After detailed scoring and discussion, the subcommittee identified the top three finalists: Mario Torero, Sijia Chen and Roberto Salas.
During public comments, Torero, a Peruvian-born artist, highlighted his approach and expressed the importance of community involvement in his work.
“To me, the art is the surrounding more than the piece, the piece is actually created from nothing,” Torero said. “I’m excited because I don’t know what’s going to be, and that is the challenge. It’s going to come from the people.”
Torero, who arrived in Southern California over 60 years ago, said his murals celebrate the resilience of love, the beauty of nature and the unifying power of diversity across backgrounds. To name a few local works, Torero has completed murals at Tortilleria Santacruz in Escondido, Chicano Park in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood, and Peterson Hall on the UC San Diego campus.
Chen, a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist, has garnered international acclaim for her work in painting, sculpture, installation and public art. A graduate of Temple University and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in China, Chen’s public art commission include “Endeavour,” a 24-foot tall, 3-ton stainless steel sculpture in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and “Cloud Fields” in Wichita, Kansas, to name a few.
Salas, a multimedia artist with a master of fine arts from UCSD, has built a decades-long career creating public art that reflects local history, cultural identity, and community engagement. Salas has numerous public art commissions in San Diego County, including “Los Portales des Jardins,” an inscribed stone installation at MiraCosta College, and “Itzamna,” which features images of the Mayan deity sandblasted onto limestone concrete panels at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.
The committee invited all three finalists to present at a Dec. 19 meeting, during which the project’s winning artist will be chosen.
“In the spring, we anticipate project team meetings and community engagement will commence once the contract with the artist, the selected artist, has been executed,” Stropes said. “That’s kind of the road that lies ahead.”
