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“The Spirit of Imperial Beach” 18-foot-tall Sculpture to be Installed Tomorrow

Monday, 24 November 2008
Contact: Marguerite Elicone (619) 686-6281 or (619) 787-6391

An 18-foot-tall sculpture that depicts the surf culture of the City of Imperial Beach will be installed on Tuesday, November 25.  "The Spirit of Imperial Beach," created by the late A. Wasil, was designed to honor the birthplace of surfing and the lifeguards who protect and serve.

Sculpted in cast bronze, "The Spirit of Imperial Beach" features a seven-foot-tall surfer and his long board.  It also includes two children building a sand castle, reminiscent of the popular "Sand Castle Days" event held on the beach each summer.  It will be installed near the ocean at the newly created Palm Avenue street end plaza, a $2.8 million public works project sponsored by the Port of San Diego, the City of Imperial Beach and the State Water Resources Control Board.

The sculpture will be arriving by truck from the Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, California sometime tomorrow morning.  Once offloaded, it will be set into its foundation and anchored with steel bolts to its location at the Palm Avenue street end.  It will be dedicated in a public ceremony on January 3, 2009. 

A. Wasil was a resident of Coronado and a graduate of San Diego State University.  He received a Bachelor of Arts from SDSU in 1978 and later earned a Masters Degree in sculpting.  He taught art at both SDSU and San Diego City College.  Examples of his talent are found throughout the world.  At the Vatican in Italy, a bust of Jesus Christ that he created is part of the collection of the late Pope John Paul II.  He also designed a sculpture for the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.  Another of his artworks graces the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Closer to home, he created cast bronze figures as part of the Stations of the Cross at Mission San Louis Rey in Oceanside.  The financial symbols of the bull and bear that can be seen in La Jolla's business district were also sculpted by him.  Probably his most well known local artwork is that of the late Jack Murphy, which is installed at Qualcomm Stadium.