"ENCINITAS: Statue dedicated" - Encinitas, CA - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

Driving on the road, I didn't notice this. Only when I was walking down the street did I. Visited on 8-1-2020 and took some photos. The The sculpture features a young girl who is sitting on top a fence. She has flip flops on and a ribbon in her hair.

From the article, "Four years ago when members of the Downtown Encinitas Main street Association commissioned a bronze statue by nationally renowned sculptress Manuelita Brown to commemorate the business association’s 20th anniversary, they simply asked Brown for a figure of a child that would serve to welcome visitors to downtownEncinitas.

But once the statue of a little girl perched on a stone wall wasinstalled on the west side of the South Coast Highway 101 nearEncinitas Boulevard, city officials quickly realized that to some,it would become a touching tribute to a child who died decadesearlier.

“This statue means different things to different people,” saidEncinitas Mayor Dan Dalager on Friday afternoon at the statue’sofficial unveiling. He said when he looks at the image, heremembers young Paula Smith, who was hit by a car just up thestreet while riding her bike in April 1967.

“It was such a tragedy for the town,” Dalager recalled. Paulawas in her first year at Oak Crest (Junior High School) and diedjust two days before the Encinitas Boulevard freeway underpass wasopened, he said.

“Art has different interpretations for everyone, but I can’thelp but interpret this sculpture as our new little guardian angeldowntown,” Dalager added.

Paula’s brother Art Smith flew down from Seattle especially forFriday’s ceremony.

“I’m overwhelmed,” Smith told the group gathered on Friday. “Ihave been waiting 43 years for something to acknowledge her lifeand I am grateful to be asked to be part of this now. I know that’snot her, but it is her in a way.”

The Downtown Encinitas Mainstreet Association raised $28,000through private donations and grants to fund the public artproject.

“It’s not often that an artist gets an opportunity to make acontribution to their own community,” said Brown on Friday. “I hope(the statue) represents all of the children who are welcome here inEncinitas.”

The statue, called “Encinitas Child,” began as a discussion fouryears ago, said Brown. It then developed from a young,gender-neutral figure to that of a smiling young girl wearing flipflops and waving to passersby, her hair ribbons blowing in thewind.

“I wandered around town and saw a young boy with his parents,"Brown recalled. “I asked them if he would sit on the pylon so Icould take photos of how a kid that age would sit,” she said.

“Then I added the standard gear, the flip flops, the T-shirt---- I like bronze, because it does wear with time and improveswith age,” Brown said.

A former math teacher at San Dieguito High School and long-timeresident of Encinitas, Brown has created a number of high profilepublic art pieces in San Diego including “Triton” on the campus ofUC San Diego and “Almas de Mar,” a complex piece featuringmigrating dolphins, at the University Towne Center in La Jolla.

More of Brown’s artwork can be seen on her Web site:www.manuelitabrown.com."

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 01/29/2010 Publication: San Diego Tribune Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Arts/Culture

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