Fresno students create striking sculpture for Eaton Trail. Why isn’t it on display? | Opinion
It began as an ambitious class project dreamt by 20 University High School students and Fresno artist David Roberts, their teacher for intersession ceramics.
Together, let’s create a mural large enough for public display that showcases the native habitat of the San Joaquin River and present it to the powers-that-be for installation on the Lewis S. Eaton Trail.
What Roberts and his students came up with, over the course of a few months in early 2022, is a bas-relief sculpture that depicts a great blue heron against a marsh background holding two California poppies in its beak.
“Besides being the apex predator of their ecosystem, I think (blue herons) are elegant looking,” Roberts said. “I love the lines and curves that are created by their bodies.”
But instead of standing beside the Eaton Trail or a busy freeway, the striking blue heron remains packed in five boxes containing 350 individually wrapped pieces of glazed and painted ceramics stored in Roberts’ garage.
For more than two years, Roberts has tried in vain to get someone to install the piece. He met with officials from the city’s parks and public works departments – and even scouted out a potential site where the Eaton Trail extends north from Woodward Park across from The Compass.
He wrote to Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and multiple council members but received little support. He applied to Caltrans to get the piece installed along freeway 41 but was rejected in favor of out-of-town artists. He lobbied everyone from Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval to Fresno Arts Council Executive Director Lilia Gonzales Chavez to San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust Executive Director Sharon Weaver.
So far nothing has worked.
“I had no idea it would be so difficult to get this going,” Roberts said. “I’ve pushed and pushed and pushed but am getting no response.”
Money is the largest impediment. The blue heron sculpture is so large (8 feet tall and 8 feet wide) and heavy (Roberts estimates the tiles themselves weigh 800 pounds) that its installation will require a stemwall foundation built from concrete or cinder blocks.
Roberts believes the price tag would be about $75,000, including compensation to himself for installing and grouting the piece.
“It’s a great offer, but the offer comes with a caveat,” said Weaver, who runs the nonprofit dedicated to preserving the San Joaquin River Parkway and promoting its educational, recreational and agricultural uses.
Measure P money unspent
Hang on a minute. Isn’t the city flush with taxpayer funding designated for parks, arts and river parkway trails? A sculpture along the Eaton Trail near Woodward Park would seem to qualify for all three.
Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple. Because Roberts isn’t a nonprofit nor sponsored by one, he isn’t eligible for a Measure P arts grant. Nor does the ordinance contain any specific language pertaining to public art.
However, the city has tremendous discretion in how it spends Measure P funds specifically allocated to the San Joaquin River Parkway – or doesn’t. Its fiscal year 2025 budget shows nearly $1.8 million dedicated to the river parkway just sitting around.
Weaver said she has tried to convince city officials to make some of that money available, in the form of grants, to projects that benefit the river parkway. They’ve refused.
“The city has wanted to hold Measure P money very close,” Weaver said. “It was a struggle just to get the arts grants going, and besides the contract to the Fresno Arts Council (to administer the arts grants), everything else has stayed in house.”
Growing frustrated with the impasse, Roberts appealed to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission during its Nov. 18 meeting. By unanimous vote, commission members recommended that money to install the blue heron be included in the parks department’s 2026 budget.
“This is something that’s beautiful, it’s supposed to go on the Eaton Trail, the students took time out to do this,” PRAC chair Kimberly McCoy said. “They came up with something beautiful, and I think we should at least try to make a recommendation to the council to explore it.”
Based on the lack of interest he has received so far, Roberts isn’t getting his hopes up. He’s considering donating the sculpture to another city seeking submissions for public art.
“If it fails again, I’m going to take this somewhere else,” he said. “But it was built here. This is where it belongs. I’ve been very adamant about that. But there comes a time when enough is enough.”
Getting a beautiful piece of public art created by local students installed on the city’s signature walking and biking trail should not be this difficult.
Not even in Fresno.
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
