SOLANA BEACH — Artists who contribute works to Solana Beach’s temporary public art program will be paid more and see their work displayed for longer, changes that city leaders hope will encourage more artists to participate.
The city’s temporary public arts program currently features rotating art installations annually at four locations — Solana Beach Town Centre, the Lomas Santa Fe median adjacent to Skyline Elementary, Seascape Sur Beach Access, and the intersection of San Andreas and Las Banderas.
Selected works are loaned to the city for one year, with the artist earning $1,500 in compensation. However, after seeing a decrease in submissions over the last couple of years, the city’s Public Arts Commission recommended changes to make the program more enticing for artists.
On Wednesday, the Solana Beach City Council unanimously approved recommendations to increase the loan period to two years and double artists’ compensation to $3,000. These changes will be in place for the artists participating in the 2024 program.
“The benefits to modifying the program would be to improve the overall appeal, increase the quality and and further grow the program’s success,” said Assistant City Manager Dan King.

Officials said the increased compensation and loan makes Solana Beach’s program more competitive with neighboring cities. Carlsbad offers artists $5,000 for an 18-month loan at its Rotating Sculpture Garden, and Encinitas’s temporary art program offers $4,000 for a two-year loan.
Del Mar pays $750 for a 23-month loan to their temporary art program.
“Over the last year or two, it has been a little difficult attracting the quantity of submissions that we’ve had before, and so this would further kind of align this program with other similar programs in Encinitas, Carlsbad and Del Mar,” King said.
Mayor Leesa Heebner said she believes these modifications will help, adding that a two-year loan period is less of a hassle for artists.
“I think this is a great idea,” Heebner said. “I know that they’ve had some trouble gaining a little bit more traction in attracting more artists to put up their work for just a year, as it’s really kind of a lot of trouble to get that done.”
The council also approved the addition of a new fifth location for temporary public art on a newly-constructed median on Highland Drive near the Lomas Santa Fe Country Club.

The number of temporary art sites has fluctuated over the years. The program started with three sites in 2008, and several more have been added and removed. Since 2013, the city has purchased four works from the temporary art program as part of its permanent art collection, and two other sites have been retired for logistical reasons.
Artists’ compensation in Solana Beach’s program was last increased in 2021 from $500 to $1,500.
Solana Beach’s 2023 Temporary Public Art installations include “Calliope” by David Beck-Brown, “Sunflower” by Yuriy Akopov, “Peace Arrow” by Alexander Gall, and “Attack on Meaning” by Bill Vielehr.
For more information about the city’s temporary public art program and a map of locations, visit cityofsolanabeach.org/en/temporary-public-arts-program.