Citrus Heights has commissioned a $38,000 sculpture to adorn the entrance of its planned community center.
Designed by Yuba County artist Phillip Sciortino, the sculpture will be entitled "Celebrate Citrus Heights" and will feature a boy holding a banner depicting scenes from the city.
It will stand about 8 feet high and be made of white granite and bronze, according to a staff report.
The banner will show scenes from Citrus Heights' history, Sciortino said. In preparing the piece, he said he consulted extensively with experts on Citrus Heights.
The project was given a green light at the Citrus Heights City Council meeting Aug. 14.
According to the staff report, Sciortino's piece was highly regarded in an earlier public art competition for an installation on Greenback Lane.
City officials, however, felt the level of detail in the sculpture was too detailed to be properly appreciated by passing motorists, the report said.
The artwork didn't win universal praise from the City Council.
Councilman James Shelby said he felt the piece didn't represent the city.
"I don't think it's captured the essence of what we've done in Citrus Heights," he said.
Some of the details on the sculpture, such as Citrus Heights' history as a railroad stop, are lost on some observers, Shelby said.
"The average person doesn't know when the railroad came," the councilman said. "The past 11 years are really when the city came into its own and became a destination."
In 2005, Sciortino was commissioned for another public art project in Folsom's City Park, next to that city's library.
Call The Bee's Stan Oklobdzija, (916) 608-7453.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.