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Devoted to the Courts,Real Estate, Finance,Industrial Activities,and Publication ofLegal Notices

Visit our Web site atwww.tacomadailyindex.com

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editor@tacomadailyindex.comPublished Since 1890

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 Vol. CXXIV, No. 24

Article By Todd Matthews, EditorPhoto Courtesy Tom MorandiForty years ago, a young sculptor was commis-

sioned by the City of Tacoma to create a piece of public art that might liven a run-down, two-block stretch of downtown Tacoma.

It could have been an exciting time for the 32-year-old artist, Tom Morandi, who earned an MFA in sculpture at Ohio University in 1971, and had only one other major public art commission on his resume -- an arched, sleek, stainless steel sculpture originally commissioned by the Carn-egie Library in Pittsburgh, Pa.

It could have also been an exciting time for Ta-coma, which would soon see the construction of a 25-story, 338-room Sheraton Hotel near the cor-ner of Broadway and South 13th Street, just steps from Morandi's new sculpture.

The high-rise hotel would help announce the city as a destination for travelers, and Morandi's sculpture would announce Tacoma as a city that embraced public art.

What happened instead was a � t of public up-roar that cast a long shadow over Morandi's "Sun King," a three-ton, 15-foot-tall, 22-foot-wide steel frame sculpture wrapped in a silicon bronze skin (pictured).

"The sculpture was controversial from the be-ginning," Morandi recently told the Tacoma Daily Index from his home in Corvallis, Ore. "To my mind, it was never consid-ered a point of pride with most Tacomans."

Sun King Dethroned Can Tacoma ever appreciate

this piece of public art?

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Page 2 Wednesday, February 5, 2014 ● Tacoma Daily Index

According to newspaper articles archived at Tacoma Public Library's Northwest

Room, one of Tacoma's daily newspapers stoked much of the animosity. A columnist who followed the story at the time described the sculpture as "giant dinosaur droppings." The columnist's ob-servations weren't so much informed critiques of public art, but more like the work of a hyperactive, mouth-breathing teenager who had been given a typewriter and free reign over the opinion page of his high school newspaper. It was the kind of be-havior that encouraged a public pile-on.

"I believe that most of these so-called sculptors are hiding mediocrity and trivial talent (if any) behind a facade of junk that is purportedly be-yond the comprehension of ordinary folks," wrote one Tacoma resident. "So I urge this little band of self-styled art 'experts' to gather at one of the lo-cal wrecking yards where they can cluck endlessly over the merits and true meaning of a rusted-out 1962 Chevrolet."

Still, some people came to Morandi's defense."Are you implying it would be better to have no

works of art in Tacoma?" wrote one local resident in response to the columnist. "I'm glad that some-body cares enough about Tacoma to do something

downtown. What have you done lately for down-town? Anything is better than nothing. And noth-ing is what gets done if you criticize everything that's new or different."

"We're delighted about the Broadway Plaza sculpture," wrote a married couple living in South Tacoma. "We're glad we live where people care enough to save downtown instead of in New York or Detroit, which are slums downtown."

In the end, a nine-member panel chosen by the Tacoma-Pierce County Civic Arts Commission awarded the federally-funded, $35,000 commis-sion to Morandi in 1974. He was one of 47 artists who applied for the commission, which was part of a $270,000 Broadway Plaza renovation proj-ect. Morandi spent two years creating the three-piece sculpture before it was strapped to the back of a � at-bed truck and hauled from his studio in LaGrande, Ore., to downtown Tacoma. It was in-stalled in late-March of 1976, eight years before the Sheraton Hotel opened its doors (a brief news-paper article announced it was "ready to be cussed and discussed by the critics of modern art in Ta-coma -- everybody!").

Morandi seemed unfazed (and even amused) by the criticism.

"I'm delighted over the controversy," he told a

local reporter at the time. "It's spice in the pie, and it doesn't change the quality of the piece. The at-tacks generate interest. People will start thinking about it. Even those who call it 'giant dinosaur droppings' are thinking about it. If it is giant dino-saur droppings, it was from a very tidy, very per-ceptive dinosaur."

Morandi went on to a respectable career in art. He was an art professor at Oregon State Univer-sity in Corvallis, Ore., for more than 25 years. He created public art for the State of Oregon, Univer-sity of Portland, City of Aberdeen, Clark County, and Oregon State University.

The Sun King controversy died out over the next three decades.

SEVEN YEARS AGO, however, Sun King was snubbed again. The piece was placed in storage to make way for the glass-and-steel sculpture "Ori-zon" by Greek artist Costas Varotsos. The $700,000, 104-foot-tall sculpture was a signal of sorts for a new era: the former Sheraton Hotel was stylishly renovated and renamed Hotel Murano.

Two months ago, the City of Tacoma began to accept bids on a $25,000 pub-lic works project that would take Sun King out of storage

The publicly-owned bronze sculpture "Sun King" was created in 1976 by Oregon artist

Tom Morandi. It was originally installed out-side the former Sheraton Hotel in downtown

Tacoma (pictured top and above). Seven years ago, however, it was placed in storage to make way for a new sculpture. Sun King could be put on display again, this time at a park near Thea Foss Waterway (pictured

below and left).(IMAGES COURTESY CITY OF TACOMA)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014 ● Tacoma Daily Index Page 3

and place it in a park locat-ed at South 15th Street and Dock Street, near Thea Foss

Waterway (see "A new home for Tacoma's Sun King?" Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 3, 2013).

In December, Tacoma Public Works Project En-gineer Dan Cederlund cautioned that a timeline for installing Sun King was entirely dependent on the bids received. "If bids are reasonable (based on the $25,000 estimate), we plan on awarding just after New Year's," Cederlund told the Index. "The work window we want is for early spring, so grass can recover, but after the hard freezes are over. We want it open and � nished by late-spring. If bids are unreasonable, we can shelve the project, so it's not a done deal [until] we get the bids."

The bid deadline expired on Dec. 19.According to public documents on the City of

Tacoma's Web site, � ve contractors submitted bids: Lincoln Construction, Inc. (Spanaway, Wash.) -- $71,938; Combined Construction, Inc. (Mukilteo, Wash.) -- $47,358.75; D & D Construction 1, Inc. (Puyallup, Wash.) -- $24,502.36; Star Construction (Puyallup, Wash.) -- $54,410.25; and RCR General Contractors LLC (Auburn, Wash.) -- $26,006.25.

Cederlund said Monday that he wouldn't have an update on the project until next week.

ONE PERSON WHO would like to see the sculpture brought out of storage is Ellida Lathrop. Now 82 years old and still living in the area, Lath-rop served on the original commission that select-ed Morandi. She's as much of an animated booster today as she was 40 years ago.

"The artwork itself is signi� cant because of what Tom Morandi viewed as a re� ection of this particular area of the Paci� c Northwest," Lathrop told the Index this week. "Within the work itself is a mountain, wildlife, forests -- everything that sig-ni� es the natural area. It really speaks to this area in terms of what he was trying to say to describe our geographic location and the feeling about it.

"The fact that he called it 'Sun King,' I thought that was signi� cant because we rarely see the sun, and this work is bronze and it glistens," she added. "Even as the patina grew old, it still was a bright, bright spot. Whereas the downtown area at the time where it was placed was incredibly sterile."

Lathrop seems lukewarm on the proposed site near Thea Foss Waterway. "Wright Park would be so much better," she said. "Tom Morandi always in-tended that it be a walk-around, touchable piece."

She also believes that the longer it is locked away in storage, the more likely it is that people will forget about it. Lathrop notes that most of her colleagues on the original selection committee have passed away. Her message to Tacoma City Hall: "Put that thing out there before I die, or else

I'm going to come back to haunt you."As for Morandi, who is now 70 years old and a

professor emeritus at Oregon State University, he has gone online to see maps and pictures of the proposed site.

"I'd describe it as spare, but well-maintained and tucked away," Morandi told the Index. "How-

ever, pedestrian access all around suggests that it might be a more popular venue than it seems on a map.

"Any site that offers the public the opportunity to see the piece and, if interested, to study it more closely is a good site," he added.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Article By Todd Matthews, EditorPhoto Courtesy Tom MorandiIt has been 40 years since Paci� c Northwest

sculptor Tom Morandi was commissioned to cre-ate "Sun King" -- a three-ton, 15-foot-tall, 22-foot-wide steel frame sculpture wrapped in a silicon bronze skin. The piece is an interesting part of Tacoma's public art history. Initially the focus of much controversy, it sat outside the Sheraton Hotel, near the corner of South 13th Street and Broadway, until 2007, when it was placed in stor-age (and later restored) to make way for a new sculpture. A public works project under way at Tacoma City Hall could bring Sun King out of storage and back into public view near Thea Foss Waterway.

The Tacoma Daily Index recently contacted Morandi -- a professor emeritus at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., who has created public art for the State of Oregon, University of Portland, City of Aberdeen, Clark County, and Oregon State University -- for his thoughts on Sun King and Tacoma. Here are some of his observations, condensed and edited for publica-tion.

ON THE ORIGINAL SUN KING COMMIS-SION

As I recall, the original Request for Proposals talked about a Federal grant to revitalize a two- or three-block section of Broadway that would include large public sculptures at each end. Or perhaps it was a sculpture at one end and a foun-tain at the other. In any event, my piece was cho-sen for the south end and was, in fact, installed before the Sheraton was constructed.

ON THE DECISION TO PLACE SUN KING IN STORAGE

The sculpture was controversial from the be-ginning and, to my mind, it was never considered a point of pride with most Tacomans. So I was neither surprised nor disappointed when I was

told it was to be moved. 'Resigned' would be a better word. However, it does, in fact, belong to the city, and it's disposition ultimately resides with the city. I believe that, at the time, I was told that my sculpture needed to be relocated be-cause the footprint of the new hotel would not accommodate it. As I understand it, the restora-tion involved replacing the steel superstructure (imagine a 3D wire frame), that I was told had corroded, with stainless [steel] and, I assume, the sculpture was re-patinaed. I have had no communication with those who did the restora-tion.

ON THE PROPOSED NEW LOCATION FOR SUN KING

I've checked the site on Google Earth and I'd describe it as spare but well-maintained and tucked away. However, pedestrian access all around suggests that it might be a more popu-lar venue than it seems on a map. Also, based on [what I've seen], it seems that they have po-sitioned the piece with the prime view facing the waterfront rather than the main traf� c � ow. I wonder at that logic. Any site that offers the public the opportunity to see the piece and, if in-terested, to study it more closely is a good site.

An Interview with Sun King sculptor

Tom Morandi

The City of Tacoma announced this week it will accept bids from select contractors to restore the bronze Children's Bell sculpture, which has been located along Ruston Way near the shores of Commencement Bay since it was created by artist Larry Anderson in 2000. The public art piece, which can be rung by visitors, was recently removed and placed in Metro Parks Tacoma's Parks Maintenance Building to address needed repairs.

The project involves remounting the piece on a shaft foundation, painting existing support pipes, rebuilding gong strikers, and restoring the surrounding landscape to its original condition.

The goal is to have the project completed by May 1 or in time for the summer season, accord-ing to City of Tacoma staff.

The City will hold a pre-bid conference on-site at 3825 Ruston Way at 10 a.m. on Weds., Feb. 5 for Small Works Roster contractors noti� ed di-

rectly by the City of Tacoma. The pre-bid confer-ence will be followed by a visit to the bell, located at 3825 Ruston Way, at 10:45 a.m. at Metro Parks Tacoma's Parks Maintenance building, located at 5402 N. Shirley St., in Ruston. The project bud-get is $9,900. Bids will be received until 11 a.m. on Weds., Feb. 12.

More information about the project is avail-able online at cityoftacoma.org.

City seeks bids for Children's Bell sculpture restoration project