Overview
In 2003, the first year of the Port of San Diego’s “Urban Trees” arts program, Betsy Schulz’s design was one of the 30 selected. Her tree consisted of a metal pole encased in light-weight concrete in the shape of a surfboard, with bright red and yellow seaweed tiles surrounded by green and blue tiles and concrete. Built at Hans Tegebo’s studio in Harbison Canyon, the tree was completed three days before San Diego’s Cedar Fire burned a large part of southern San Diego County, including most of Harbison Canyon. Tegebo’s studio and home were destroyed and the completed tree was severely damaged, with many tiles detached from the surface and the remainder blackened. With less than a week until the scheduled installation, Schulz and local artists worked feverishly to reassemble the surfboard tree. Rechristened the “Cedar Survivor,” the tree was exhibited on the San Diego Embarcadero for one year, and then was purchased for the Wolfstein Sculpture Garden at the Scripps Memorial Hospital.
| Name: | Surfboard Cedar Survivor |
| Artist: | Betsy Kopshina Schulz and Hans Tegebo |
| Medium: | Handmade sculpted and mosaic tiles, found burnt objects |
| Size: | 12’ high / 40 sq. ft. of tile |
| Duration: | June–October 2003 |
| Location: | 9888 Genesee Avenue, La Jolla, CA |
| Client: | Port of San Diego |
| Thanks: | Port of San Diego, Hans Tegebo, Irene de Watteville, Christie Beniston, Judy Burks, and Carolyn McHenry |
