Sacramento paid for $750K rocket ship sculpture 4 years ago. Where is it?
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- Sacramento sued two artists over a $750K sculpture delayed nearly four years.
- City paid $615K based on progress updates; rocket ship remains undelivered.
- City demands completion after missed deadlines since 2021.
A $750,000 rocket ship sculpture meant to inspire awe in downtown Sacramento has instead become a yearslong source of frustration, with the city suing artist brothers for missing their deadline by nearly four years.
The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court last week, centers around public artwork intended for the corner of 13th and J streets at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center. In 2021, the City Council commissioned the rocket ship sculpture to be created by Einar and Jamex De La Torre.
The piece, made of fiberglass and concrete, was to symbolize California’s optimism and an appreciation for science. In renderings of the project, the rocket ship appeared to be blasting off with bronze flames and thick smoke at the bottom.
“The idea is to bring back that optimism,” Jamex De La Torre told The Sacramento Bee in April 2021. “Not a blind faith in science. But that science is key to saving the world, the environment.”
But nearly four years after their initial deadline, the De La Torre brothers have not delivered the project despite the city paying out $615,000 of the agreed upon money. Much of the funds were tied to completion milestones.
City spokesperson Julie Hall, in a written statement, said the brothers submitted “photo documentation and revised timelines that appeared to demonstrate progress.”
“The city relied on these updates and assurances in good faith, consistent with standard practice for public art projects,” Hall wrote in an email on Thursday.
The brothers, through their lawyer Norberto Cisneros, said the sculpture’s delay stemmed from inflation, difficulties in obtaining materials and work stoppages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brothers are working “on the final touches” and will be taking a “significant loss” on the project, Cisneros added.
“This is just unforeseen circumstances,” Cisneros said on Wednesday. “Believe me, they want nothing more than to make this right.”
The original agreement for the sculpture had a deadline of Sept. 30, 2021. The brothers did not meet that date and continued “years of excuses and missed, self-imposed deadlines,” according to the lawsuit.
In September 2024, the city sent the brothers a notice of default — a formal communication when there is a failure to uphold a term of a contract. The brothers missed additional extensions in December of that year and May 2025, per the lawsuit.
The De La Torre brothers, based out of San Diego, are Mexican immigrants who have worked together for decades creating blown glass sculptures and installation art. An online website for them highlights their previous work in museums across the country.
The brothers were chosen to create the sculpture in April 2021 following a “competitive selection process” by a convention and community theater public art panel, per the lawsuit. Their selection led to some complaints by local artists who felt the city should have chosen homegrown talent, according to previous reporting from Capital Public Radio.
At the time, the city had five new public art pieces planned for the SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts District. These projects were part of the city’s Arts In Public Places program, which requires 2% of large public project budgets go toward art.
All, except the rocket ship sculpture, have since been completed.
The city, in the lawsuit, requested the brothers finish and install the sculpture.
Cisneros, who has worked with the brothers since the 1990s, said he planned to call the city this week and hoped to schedule a day to install the art piece later this month.
“The work and the money have been spent,” Cisneros said. “It’s time to install now, and hopefully we can reconcile with the city, and the city is going to love it. It’s quite something.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
