A Design Garden

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June 16, 2006

Solana Beach Arches

By Amy Carson ~ Union Tribune Community News Writer

SOLANA BEACH –– The two colorful arches depicting 8,500 years of Solana Beach history at the entrance of the Coastal Rail Trail are nearing completion.

Del Mar artist Betsy Schulz is finishing the artwork on the last of the four supporting pillars. The work should be finished by June 30.

The words “Solana Beach” and “Coastal Rail Trail” hover above the arches in yellow block letters attached by thin strips of metal that are nearly invisible at a distance. Both the words and the arches are made of aluminum.

Each pillar, made of steel and concrete, stands 14 feet tall and portrays a period of the city's development through a colorful mosaic of artifacts and three-dimensional ceramic tiles.

“It has an overall feeling and texture from a distance, but so many details when you get up close that it can really pull you in,” Schulz said. “It forces you to involve yourself in it. And when that happens, I think it becomes truly public art.”

Schulz, who designed the mural on the walls of the public showers at La Jolla's Kellogg Park and co-designed the Del Mar Library Wall, was given $30,000 from the city of Solana Beach to cover the cost of the arches, including engineering, construction and artwork.

City safety regulations required Schulz to spend more money than expected to meet safety requirements, leaving little left for the art component of the piece.

Rather than ask the city for more money, Schulz raised the additional funds by selling donor tiles for $350 each. She sold 65 tiles in a year and raised about $20,000.

The leaf-shaped tiles, about twice the size of a person's hand, contain brief inscriptions by individuals, couples and families from Solana Beach. The messages memorialize loved ones and express affection for the city and its environment.

Some of the inscriptions read, “Surf, love, sun,” “We love Solana Beach,” and “Enjoy.”

Schulz worked with Schmidt Design Group to engineer and construct the arches beginning in February 2004. Schulz began adding art to the columns after the the bases were erected in August 2005.

The artist worked closely with the Solana Beach Civic and Historical Society to research the city's past, reaching back to when the San Dieguito Indians inhabited the area.

“When I first started, it was going to be very abstract, a simple representation of Solana Beach's history,” Schulz said. “But after visiting with the historical society, I realized that it needed to be much more complex to do it justice.”

The first of the columns depicts wildlife common to the region before agricultural development, including deer and rabbits, and a variety of plants and flowers.

The second pillar portrays the first wave of Mexican immigrants to La Colonia, now known as Eden Gardens, and the third shows the arrival of Ed Fletcher, a community leader and developer, and the introduction of irrigation to the region.

Schulz and a few students shared the job of sculpting, drying, painting, glazing and firing each of the ceramic tiles in the work.

“Each clay tile was touched by human hands at least five times,” Schulz said, “and there are over 1,000 tiles in the piece.”

The representation of Fletcher's face, along with the other faces in the work, were silk-screened onto the tiles from old photographs.

Schulz is working at home on the artwork for the fourth column, which will consist mainly of the faces of community members who have contributed to the city's progress and beautification since 1965.

“It took a long time, but it was my choice to do it,” Schulz said. “I wanted something that matched the Rail Trail, something very colorful and harmonious with the natural environment. I hope that I did something to make it interesting. After all, it will survive longer than I do.”

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