2020 Art in Public Places Award Winners
The Julie Mayer Award, named in honor one of Anaheim’s most dedicated proponents of public art, is AIPP’s highest award. It exempli es all that art can bring to individuals by touching both heart and soul through visual beauty. The 2020 Julie Mayer Award was presented to the JW Marriott, Anaheim Resort. Opened in the summer of 2020, the JW Marriott, Anaheim Resort welcomes their guests into an environment designed as a salute to Orange County’s diverse agricultural history. Anaheim’s equestrian and farming past radiates throughout the property. A thin steel sculpture in the form of a harvester planting a seed adorns the front entrance and plays tricks with the eyes as portions of it disappear depending on the angle of the onlooker.
Just outside the lobby the theme continues with a fully functioning succulent and vegetation garden. The harvest is incorporated into the property’s food and beverage programs providing a seed to table experience from the Resort’s culinary team. The JW Garden features an innovated augmented reality sculpture garden that brings an inspiring Secret Butterfly Garden and Digital Forest to life on top of three steel sculptures by design studio Heavey. This first of its kind digital garden transports guests into a serene space to plant their own seeds of imagination and personalize their fantastical trees. Inside this virtual garden, guests can play among digital caterpillars and butterflies and experience the Zen-like sculptures that tell a narrative of a magical plants evolution from seed to sapling to tree. During their stay, guests can grow their virtual tree to amazing new levels. It is a whole new art medium that has to be experienced as well as seen.
The AIPP Impact Award, chosen for its visibility and exposure to the general public, was presented to the MUZEO sculpture on the busy corner of Anaheim Blvd. and Broadway in downtown Anaheim. The structure comprises letters made of metal, each featuring different components including one housing living succulents. Artist Chance O’Neil was commissioned by the City of Anaheim Community and Economic Development Department in 2014 for the project. The MUZEO is located at 241. S. Anaheim Blvd.
The AIPP Campus Beautiful Award went to the Loara High School art students for the completion of an exhibit featuring 1000 aluminum butterflies which were each carefully hand painted and mounted on the school’s fence bordering Euclid Avenue. The campus address is 1765 W. Cerritos Avenue. Under the direction of art teacher David Sporn, the exhibit took nearly four months to complete and was installed on February 21, 2020. A sign next to the installation reads “Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly.”
North Net Training Center, located at 2400 E. Orangewood Ave. , received an award for a five-story 911 memorial mural on the center’s burn tower. This vibrantly colorful mural can be seen from the 57 freeway and Santa Ana river trail reminding us all of the bravery of our first responders. Artist Thomas Comer designed the work which was installed by ICU Print / ICU Wrap, a company specializing in vinyl appliqués on interior and exterior surfaces. Owner Giovanni Rodriguez and his daughter Janine completed the installation in 11 days.
The AIPP committee also recognized “Vigilance” a monument at Olive Hills Dog Park honoring the Anaheim Police Department’s canine unit. This beautiful bronze statue by nationally renowned artist Susan Bahary, was the second in the City and was imaged after canine officer “Bruno” who died from injuries sustained in the line of duty in 2014. This original monument “Valor” is located at La Palma Dog Park. Both statues were funded by a grassroots effort led by city leaders, businesses and individual citizens.
The colorful and whimsical Love Mural on the Center Street Parking Structure received a 2020 AIPP award. In partnership with the City of Anaheim, the mural was completed by members of the Vineyard Anaheim Church under the direction of artists Brian Peterson and Damin Lujan. The volunteers were astonished and pleased when several recently married couples, leaving the nearby County Clerk’s office, paused to have their photos taken in front of the mural. In the times of COVID-19, when ceremonies are few and far between, this beautiful art installation provides a perfect background for a couple’s new beginnings.
The AIPP committee also awarded two 2020 Honorable Mentions. The first goes to 18 Folds restaurant in the Packing House District. The installation features a floating heart made of red lanterns among several lines of red lanterns across the outdoor patio and garden. The design is credited to artist TEK.
The second Honorable Mention goes to STC Gardenwalk, winner of a temporary installation award last year. STC has made a grand effort to create a series of ceiling and wall murals, featuring images from sky to sea, throughout their property. Providing their guests with the opportunity to take an imaginary undersea journey.