Polliwog Park Gazebo Gets 'Rainbow' Walkway
Oct 29, 2022 10:00PM ● By Jeanne Fratello
Gaggles of children gathered on Saturday morning to help paint a new rainbow walkway that encircles a gazebo in Polliwog Park.
The rainbow walkway, which the Manhattan Beach City Council had approved at the same time as a new rainbow crosswalk down at the Manhattan Beach Pier, is one of Manhattan Beach's newest public art projects.
"A rainbow is as you see it," said Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano before the painting began. "If you think it stands for LGBTQ rights, you're right. If you think it stands for inclusiveness, you're right. If you think rainbows stand for God's gift to Earth after the flood, you're right. If you think you just love beautiful colors, then you're right. And you know what? We don't have enough rainbows in our lives."
Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano with City Councilmembers Hildy Stern and Joe Franklin, along with artist Kate Tatsumi, Cultural Arts Manager Eilen Stewart, and members of Manhattan Beach's Cultural Arts Commission. Betsy Rubino of Manhattan Beach's Cultural Arts Commission thanked the city for working at "warp speed" to approve the project and bring it to life.
"We really feel very strongly that this was a point of bringing our community together," said Rubino. "We're not only promoting our LGBTQA individuals, we're also supporting the creativity of our community."
Funding for the project - as
with all public art projects in Manhattan Beach - comes from the Public Art Trust Fund, established through a dedicated 1% fee charged to developers that does not
impact the general fund.
Kids and Paint and...No Mess?!?
The artwork was designed and led by artist Kate Tatsumi, who is the
curriculum developer at Manhattan Beach Nursery School and who also
teaches ceramics classes in Manhattan Beach.
If you would have thought that a bunch of kids with paint and brushes would result in a giant mess...you'd have been wrong.
Tatsumi and volunteer helpers had set up the project systematically so that all of the rainbow stripes were taped and outlined. They laid plastic down on all of the color rings except the inner circle - purple - which the kids painted first. Then they rolled back the plastic to reveal the next ring - blue - which the kids then painted, and so on, gradually peeling back all of the rows of color.
Despite a few wayward footprints, the project turned out as planned. Tatsumi said that she would be returning on Sunday to fix the borders between the colors and do a small amount of touch-ups.
Rainbow Project Not Without Controversy
The rainbow crosswalk/walkway projects were not without controversy.
Manhattan Beach Cultural Arts Commissioner Joe Marcy had first introduced the rainbow crosswalk project to the city's Cultural Arts Commission in September 2020.
At
the time, Marcy said that a rainbow crosswalk would speak to Manhattan
Beach's values as a community because it symbolizes diversity, inclusion
and inspiration. It would also improve visibility and pedestrian
safety, Marcy said, and enhance public art in the city. Marcy said that
the California Department of Transportation has deemed rainbow
crosswalks safe because of white limit lines.
The
Cultural Arts Commission unanimously supported the project in October
2020, and proposed the location of Manhattan Beach Boulevard
and Peck Avenue.
However, in October 2021, after hearing concerns about potential safety issues with a brightly decorated crosswalk on a busy street, Manhattan Beach City Council members opted to move the rainbow crosswalk to the Strand, where there is heavy pedestrian traffic but less vehicular traffic, and to investigate possible locations near Polliwog Park for a rainbow walkway.
In April 2022, City Council approved the designs for two rainbow walkways - one at the Strand, and one at a Polliwog Park gazebo - for a total budget of $65,000.
The gazebo rainbow project was approved for a budget of $15,000, on a vote of 3-2, with Councilmembers Joe Franklin and Suzanne Hadley voting "no."
Parents, kids, and community members gather as the rainbow walkway takes shape.A formal unveiling of the gazebo walkway will take place on November 13 as part of the South Bay Community Coalition Against Hate's United Against Hate Week kickoff.
The city formally unveiled the rainbow crosswalk in front of the Manhattan Beach Pier back in June.
