After years of painstaking erudition and artistry, the Carpinteria Cultural Foundation (CCF) had enough.
So, on Sept. 28, while — once again — presenting its community-funded 10-panel mural to the City of Carpinteria, CCF board member Mike Damron said, “I’m going to make this real easy: We are withdrawing our application.”
The announcement abruptly ended CCF’s nearly three-year odyssey to gain city approval.
The project would have provided a pictorial history of the Carpinteria Valley with each richly colored panel created by local artist Rick Sharp.
The academic heft would come from founding CCF board member Jim Campos, a respected educator, 2025 Carpinterian of the Year, and a historian who co-authored Carpinteria.
Part of CCF’s largesse included a complete refurbishment of the city’s crumbling town center. The aesthetic upgrade would have been transformative.
More than 60 prominent families — if Carpinteria had royalty, these folks would be part of it — provided the funding, and audio histories were accessed through QR codes embedded in each panel.
The panels each represented “contributing” ethnic groups, including the Mexicans, Dutch and, of course, my favorite, the Italians.
As Leo Martinez, founder of the Chicano Positive Movement, wrote: “Carpinteria’s history doesn’t belong to one family, culture or generation. It’s made up of many stories.”
Public art is never easy and it will never please everyone; witness, Richard Serra’s steel sculpture Tilted Arc.
But here there was broad outreach, hundreds of supporters and overwhelming approval from multigenerational Carpinteria families, the Carpinteria Unified School District, Carpinteria Masonic Lodge #444, Rotary Club of Carpinteria Morning, Rotary Club of Carpinteria, Carpinteria Lions Club and the Carpinteria Arts Center.
Mayor Natalia Alarcon and Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano admitted as much in a June newspaper commentary, writing “the question is not whether … the CCF’s proposal reflects genuine community support. We believe it does.”
Shouldn’t that be where representative government ends?
In the face of wide support, however, there were personal dynamics at play as well. You see, Alarcon and Solórzano were once CCF board members.
Today, neither is part of CCF’s leadership and in the March 2024 election, CCF’s now passionately devoted vice president, Adriana Gonzalez-Smith, ran against incumbent Alarcon.
The history was so deeply problematic that in July, originating CCF board member Jesus Gonzales wrote: “Because of their previous involvement with the CCF, the mayor and vice mayor should voluntarily recuse themselves … (to) help avoid the appearance of a conflict and strengthen public confidence in the decision-making process.”
With each new hurdle and request, CCF became more convinced that it would never be given a fair shake.
For example, it wasn’t until July that the 61-year-old city felt the need to pass a public artwork policy. The city’s finances are a disaster yetm according to Damron, the 17 pages of drivel cost “in excess of $20,000.”
As a recovering attorney, allow me to summarize the nearly 5,000 words: “The city retains the right to determine, in its sole discretion, what public artwork will be displayed.”
One executive who understands that the perfect should never be allowed to extinguish the good is Carpinteria schools Superintendent Diana Rigby. The district, not the city, owns its buildings and would simply need district board approval to display the mural.
Rigby told me she has been “working closely with CCF’s leadership to find a suitable location” and was “thrilled by the educational possibilities.” Brava for Plan B!
In July, CCF board president Rich Medel wrote “there comes a point when process begins to overshadow progress.”
And therein lies the issue.
It’s the small thinkers, the naysayers — those who clutch to the past because they are too fearful and process-driven to imagine a more abundant future — who are the problem.
These technocrats hide in the shadows of policy rather than listen to broad swaths of their constituency.
So, the next time you walk past the decaying city center and bone-dry fountain, think about what could have been and, in November, whether Solórzano deserves to retain her District 1 City Council seat.
