Picture Poet
The sheer joy of poetry and literature as expressed in “DeLoss McGraw: As a Poem, So Is a Picture,” currently on exhibit at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art on the Pepperdine campus, makes this back-to-school season a cause for celebration.
The early fall showing of nearly 100 pieces of McGraw’s work, divided into series, each of which is devoted to a particular author, was booked nearly two years ago by the Weisman’s director. “Since the artist lives in Los Angeles, we were able to formulate the show over a long period of time,” said Michael Zakian. “We talked about ways to utilize the space in an imaginative way.”
With one’s first stride into the main gallery, imagination, innocence and whimsy nearly burst the eye. Larger than life sculptures depicting the Mad Hatter’s tea party from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” beckon the viewer into McGraw’s own world of wonder.
The paintings that accompany the works of W.D. Snodgrass, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet with whom McGraw often collaborates, go well beyond illustrations. The painter and the poet construct a balance between brush and pen that brings to mind a choral composition for two voices.
Featured here are the vibrant series “In Response to the World of W.D. Snodgrass” (1982-83); “The Death of Cock Robin” (1983-85), based upon the 18th century English nursery rhyme, “Who Killed Cock Robin;” and “W.D.’s Midnight Carnival” (1989).
While Scottsdale Center for the Arts organized the exhibit, one grouping was created this year specifically for the Weisman. A circle of 19 angels, each 8 to 10 feet high, soars overhead. In all postures of flight and repose, the figures sing praise to the celestial visions of William Blake.
Appearing in the more intimate of the two downstairs galleries is a progression of small encaustics (1988-90) inspired by “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Powerful Depression-era commentary and a deep sense of art history are evident in “Rambling Shoe,” a series that interprets John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” as well as the lyrics of Woody Guthrie.
The exhibit continues upstairs with “Frankenstein and Mary Shelley: Monstrum I,” a sequence of paintings that darkly parallel Bart Thurber’s contemporary poem. McGraw turns again to Blake (1757-1827) to explore spiritual, romantic and gothic themes for the series, “In Response to William Blake.” A monumental canvas entitled “Interruption” (1992), which is based upon Blake’s novel, “The Return of Martin Guerre,” dominates one wall.
The artist, who was born and raised in Oklahoma, was graduated from California State University Long Beach and received a master of fine arts degree from the Cranbook Academy in Michigan. He studied at the Otis Art Institute and at the Instituto de Allende in Mexico.
McGraw’s works are represented in the public collections of more than 20 museums, universities and major libraries across the nation and appear in many private collections. In addition, his art is published in literary journals such as the Paris Review, Ploughshares and the Southern Review and in various books and children’s stories. McGraw has shown in numerous one-person exhibitions in the U.S. and in Europe since 1974.
Perhaps it is because McGraw synthesizes a wide range of historical sources, from Giotto and late Medieval painting to Marc Chagall and Paul Klee, that the museum’s director says, “It’s the type of work that when you see it, you feel you have always known it.”
Returning students and the community alike can’t help but share Zakian’s long-ago discovery that, “The message behind DeLoss’s work is that literature fires the imagination. Reading is fun.”
“DeLoss McGraw: As a Poem, So Is a Picture,” Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 4. Reception for the artist Aug. 29, 4 to 6 p.m. Children’s art workshop Sept. 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Poetry reading by W.D. Snodgrass Sept. 24, 7 p.m. For information, call 456-4851.
Consultant chosen for pier renovation
Long-stalled efforts to rebuild the rotting Malibu Pier may be on track again. A City Council subcommittee recommended last Thursday that the Sacramento firm Williams-Kuebelbeck & Associates, Inc. (W-K) act as consultant for the project.
Plans for the city to take over the pier from the state have undergone four years of revisions that began with former Supervisor Ed Edelman. At one time, the deal hinged on a county demand for $125,000 a year to cover operating expenses at Surfrider Beach.
A tentative agreement between former Mayor Jeff Jennings and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, negotiated last December, would have released $2.9 million in county bond money in exchange for a portion of future pier revenue. However, in what appeared to be a political strategy to defeat Jennings’ bid for re-election, the City Council squashed the deal in March.
According to the presentation by Lawrence E. Williams, W-K specializes in waterfront projects, having worked on the Redondo, Huntington and Ventura piers. Williams pledged to handle 90 percent of the work himself. “He’s the best!” concluded City Manager Harry Peacock. “The real McCoy,” added Mayor Joan House.
W-K’s bid was the lowest, at $30,000 compared to bids of $35,000 and $38,665 submitted by the competition.
Once a contract with the city is finalized, Williams said he expects a business plan to be completed within 14 weeks.
W-K will evaluate the optimum uses for the pier. According to Williams, “The uses will have to be a blend of what will satisfy the community and what will do the job and with a minimum of financial, liability and operational risk to the city.”
Williams explained that one option to consider is San Francisco’s “Pier 39 model,” in which there is a single master developer lessee that controls the entirety of the pier. “The city does nothing but cut the grass and collect the rent,” he said. On the other hand, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz have maintained more control over their piers. Williams asked, “Should the city be aggressively involved in redevelopment or should the city deal with one or two lessees?”
House said she wanted to make sure that the business plan took into consideration the problem of parking around the pier, which she said is bad enough already.
City Treasurer Peter Lippman said, “We don’t know how big to build in order to make a profit.” He asked that the plan include minimum and optimum square footage for the buildings, which Williams agreed to provide. The existing pier currently supports four buildings, a boat launching ramp and a two-ton jib crane.
Approximately $4.22 million has been allocated for the pier’s reconstruction: $2.9 million from the 1992 Proposition A bond measure, through the Regional Park and Open Space District; $700,000 from the county, through the 1996 Parks and Open Space Bond issue; and $620,000 from the state. The city still must negotiate the conditions for release of the money.
The county is still asking that $125,000 be set aside for patrol and maintenance of Surfrider Beach, Lippman said. The county also asks the city “to put proceeds in a sinking fund, to create a reservoir of money for maintenance and repair of the pier,” said Joel Bellman, Yaroslavsky’s aide.
Lippman added that state money will not be released unless an agreement is reached with the county first. “I’m sure the money will be available but I’m not sure when and under what conditions,” he said.
High-tech campaign video produced at low-tech cost
A nationally known political consulting firm produced the video that figured prominently in the outcome of the last City Council election, and that campaign filings indicate was produced for a fee a source says is substantially lower than what is customarily charged for such a service.
The Road Worriers, the political action committee that campaigned heavily against former Mayor Jeff Jenning’s re-election bid and for freshman Councilman Tom Hasse’s election, hired the consulting firm, Goddard Claussen/First Tuesday, to produce the video. The PAC then distributed the video to Malibu voters.
Malibu-based Goddard Claussen/First Tuesday, whose main clients are major trade groups and large corporations, achieved prominence in the political consulting world after producing the folksy “Harry and Louise” television commercials, which are widely credited with helping defeat President Clinton’s proposed national health care plan. The series of commercials, which ran in 1994 and were paid for by an alliance of health insurance companies, featured a husband and wife sitting at a kitchen table or on a living room sofa fretting over various elements of the ultimately doomed health care reform plan.
The firm also produced campaign commercials for Russian President Boris Yeltsin and is currently representing casino operators in Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., in their attempt to defeat an initiative on the November ballot that would authorize gambling on Indian lands in California.
According to campaign statements filed with the city clerk last month, the Road Worriers paid approximately $2,600 to the firm for its services in producing the master videotape. That service typically includes the writing of the script, which on the Road Worriers’ tape was read by actor Jack Lemmon in voice-over, the score, shooting of original footage and editing. The original footage in the Road Worriers’ video included panoramic views of Malibu, traffic on PCH and, for ominous contrast, congested streets in the heart of Laguna Beach.
The PAC also paid another $4,200 to other companies for the recording of the voice-over, dubbing, duplication of the videotapes and packaging for the videocassette.
A source with extensive experience as a political consultant for a major interest group, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, expressed disbelief that the services provided by Goddard Claussen/First Tuesday would cost $2,600, as the campaign filings indicate.
“There is no way it could have cost only $2,600, unless it was shot at someone’s house using only a camcorder,” the source said. The high-quality video in no way resembles a home-video. The source said that he would have expected the firm’s fee to have been $15,000. The approximately $4,000 paid for dubbing, duplication and videocassette packaging is consistent with what is customarily charged for those services, the source said.
Remy O’Neill, chair of the Road Worriers, refused to answer any questions regarding the services provided by Goddard Claussen/First Tuesday or the production of the video.
“The Malibu Times is not an unbiased paper,” she said. “I won’t comment because of [Publisher] Arnold [York’s] bias.”
Representatives of Goddard Claussen/First Tuesday also did not return calls seeking comment.
The Malibu Times reviewed the Road Worriers’ campaign filings, and from the information provided estimates that approximately 2,000 copies of the videotape were made. Based on expenditures the Road Worriers made for special envelopes in which to mail the video, it appears that close to 800 of the tapes were mailed and the remainder handed out. O’Neill and other supporters of the Road Worriers were seen at public events prior to the April election distributing copies of the video.
City Attorney Christi Hogin would not comment on whether the costs associated with the production of the video, as reported in the filings, are part of her investigation of whether there was a violation of the local ordinance limiting campaign contributions to $100 per person.
“I don’t even want to go into it,” she said.
Hogin will report the results of her investigation to the City Council. She is currently on vacation until Sept. 1.
Report shows decrease in sales tax receipts for first-quarter 1998
In what should come as no surprise to local merchants, the city last week reported that sales tax receipts for the first quarter of the year fell sharply from those reported for the same three-month period in the previous year.
Bad weather and road closures in January, February and March drove down the tax receipts from Malibu’s retail operations 11.8 percent over last year, according to figures released by City Manager Harry Peacock.
“Mr. El Nino had a bit of an effect, especially on the restaurant and hotel business,” said Peacock.
Tax receipts from restaurants and hotels, which accounted for 30 percent of local sales, were down 6.7 percent.
Receipts from service stations fell more than 14 percent, but were consistent with the dip in receipts across L.A. County.
Despite the tumble in sales at some types of businesses, strong sales at Malibu’s apparel and specialty shops and lumber and hardware stores pushed up receipts from those business groups.
An accounting adjustment removed Hughes market from the list of the city’s top 25 producers of sales tax receipts. (See chart.)
At the same time that sales were off at many of Malibu’s businesses, the state and much of Southern California posted gains for the first quarter. The state Board of Equalization reported sales tax receipts for the state were up 5.5 percent. Tax receipts from across Southern California averaged a 4.2 percent increase. Complete figures for L.A. County were not available.
Malibu’s Top 25 Sales Tax Receipt Producers for first quarter 1998 are:
(in alphabetical order)
AM PM Mini Mart
Charlie’s Unocal
Chevron USA
Coogie’s Beach Caf
Coral Beach Cantina
Cosentino’s
Country Club Fashions
Duke’s Malibu
Fisher Lumber
Geoffrey’s Malibu
Granita
Malibu Masonry Supply
Malibu Texaco
Marmalade
McDonald’s
Monroe’s
Pacific Coast Highway Unocal
Paul Gross and Associates
Pierview Caf & Cantina
Planet Blue
Sand Castle
Sav
- on Osco Drug Stores
Trancas Chevron
Trancas Market
Wherehouse
Source: The HdL Companies
E is for egregious
Your editorial this week really hit the mark. Before we read it, we had watched the meeting. Our reaction was identical to yours. Their behavior was astonishing, and seems to constitute a wonderful video record for a subsequent lawsuit.
We’d like to email each of the council members about our dismay at the way they acted, and comment as well on the remarkably uncivil atmosphere they have created. We cant find any email addresses. If they have email addresses, could you let us know?
Barbara Bick and Jim Forrester
Roundtable still in business, still studying proposed business license
The city’s Business Roundtable was not disbanded along with most of the city’s other study groups last month, but it was reconstituted as an advisory group to the City Council. In their new status as independent consultants, members of the roundtable are no longer appointed by the council, and they are no longer subject to the open meeting laws applicable to public officials.
The following are some of the matters the roundtable is currently working on in conjunction with the city staff:
A Visitors’ Information Center
The roundtable has this year been pushing to establish a visitors’ information center, located in the vicinity of the Civic Center. Members say the northeast corner of Webb Way and PCH is the most desirable location for such a center. That parcel, the site of the annual crche, is owned by L.A. County. Roundtable members had hoped that the county would offer to sell the property to the city for a bargain, but in an offer that was sure to go nowhere, the county said it would only sell it for its fair market value of approximately $300,000.
In the latest development, City Manager Harry Peacock told members at the roundtable’s August meeting that the county may offer to lease the parcel to the city for a nominal amount of money.
“The county staff seems receptive to a lease,” said Peacock.
If established there, the visitors’ center would be housed in a portable building. Roundtable members want the center to provide information on city businesses, like restaurants and lodging, and on parks and recreation.
Roundtable member Craig Peeples said he would contact the state parks department to see if it had any interest in jointly staffing a visitors’ center.
An Economic Plan for the city of Malibu
The city applied for, and was recently awarded, a $24,000 community development block grant from the county to prepare an economic plan for the city. If the City Council accepts the grant, the money would be used to hire a consultant to work with the roundtable to perform an economic study of the city and develop an economic plan.
Roundtable members say an economic plan for the city would identify new and alternative revenue sources for city programs and services that would preserve and enhance the quality of life in Malibu. It would also provide a long-term blueprint for the city’s fiscal future.
“The economic study will provide a deeper, wider and broader look at raising funds,” said roundtable and Chamber of Commerce member Mary Lou Blackwood.
With the grant, no additional money from the city’s general fund would be needed for the study.
A Business License Program
A subcommittee of the roundtable is studying whether to recommend that the city adopt a business license program. The subcommittee plans to recommend, at the very least, that the city take over the licensing of those businesses in Malibu currently licensed by the county — restaurants, service stations and retailers who sell liquor. Mark Olson, subcommittee chairman and past president of the Chamber of Commerce, said previously that the subcommittee is leaning towards recommending that the city, on an annual basis, charge most businesses approximately $50 for a license.
Even the suggestion of such a regulatory program generated controversy among members of the roundtable and in the community in general.
The City Council has asked the roundtable to complete its study by the end of October.
Endangered privacy
Re: Tina Forde’s letter [“Sign off,” Aug. 6.]
If the Coastal Commission and the state can erect huge, ugly brown signs on PCH, private beach owners can put up signs on their property. Signs get the message across.
There is a private beach here in Malibu; it began as one huge private beach. The state has managed to force people out by condemnation and the coastal by reciprocity. Taxes are paid on the sand which is another word for land.
Environmentally sensitive would mean learning no trash or dog excrement. The public fails miserably here.
Some people just do not “get it” and think the beach is meant to dominate instead of appreciate. The beaches belong to themselves. Some of the sand has been deeded to form lots or property, which is then sold and owned by people
The law does state that people can stroll across but not sit on private beach. They can be at the mean high tide line and that in itself is a mean debate.
Isn’t there something called the American Dream? That’s where you work hard to buy yourself a piece of the pie. The pie in this case is the beach. Why begrudge beach owners? Appreciate what you have, not what you can’t have. I’m always hearing about the rights of the public. What about the rights of the private property owners? What about privacy? It’s happening everywhere to private property owners. If you have a stream or a trail or a view, the public wants access.
It’s privacy that is endangered.
S. Ellis