"Were people decimated? Yes. [3]:6 After the concrete hardened, the mold was removed and Kangas smoothed the outer surface. [26] A group of the student artists visited the wood statue at the old livery building and made latex molds in multiple sections. What else would he do? Kangas had gained some acclaim in 1935 for a heroic statue of a Civilian Conservation Corps worker titled "Conservation of Man and Nature" that was installed at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Kangas was paid $5,000 for his work. "As a community we cannot and will not support the dehumanization of the Native American community any longer," the petition says. But, there’s been controversy about the way the settlers treated Native Americans. No. Father Serra was called by many "the apostle of California" and has long held an honored place in California's diverse and culturally collaborative history. All rights reserved. The Junipero Serra statue at Ventura City Hall. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) For a time Saturday, it looked as if a statue of Junipero Serra outside City Hall in downtown Ventura might join the growing ranks of toppled figures. Ventura sued for removing Serra statue Lawsuit seeks statue's return to site outside City Hall. (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) By a 6-0 vote, the Ventura City Council approved a motion at the end of a special meeting on Wednesday, July 15, to permanently remove two statues of St. Junípero Serra from public land. [40], In the early morning of July 24, construction crews removed the statue from its plinth. [3]:6, On November 27, 1936, Kangas' concrete sculpture[9] was unveiled in front of the Ventura County Courthouse (later converted to Ventura City Hall). The Father Junípero Serra monument has stood as a city landmark in front of the Ventura City Hall since 1936. The last of these nine missions, founded on March 31, 1782, was Mission San Buenaventura, which today is an active parish of 3,000 members located at 211 East Main Streetin Ventura. Statues of Father Junipero Serra are being taken down or torn down due to his historical involvement in enslaving and killing the native people of California. Was it purposeful? "[10], By the 1980s, it had deteriorated from years of exposure to Ventura's salt air and from the pooling of rainwater in the collar of the statue's robe, which formed a basin. [33] In May 1992, the bronze cast's hand was painted with red paint, and a message was stenciled on the concrete below accusing Serra of having failed to honor God and claiming that Serra was a symbol of slavery to Native Americans. "[3]:12 The City in 1984 commissioned studies of the statue by an art conservator, an engineering firm, and a concrete expert. Of course he was going to protect us. He also made multiple sketches in preparation for the work. View of Father Serra Statue and California Street from steps of Ventura City Hall. [2], In 1935, Uno John Palo Kangas (1904–1957), a sculptor born in Finland and raised in Michigan, was commissioned by Ventura County and the Works Progress Administration to create a statue of Father Serra as part of the Federal Art Project. Related news: Newsom apologizes to Native Americans in California, "The statue represents a very dark time in our history," said Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, tribal chair of the Barbareno/Ventureno Band of Mission Indians (Chumash). For the first time in Ventura County, a statue representing the colonization, enslavement and killing of the Chumash people, the indigenous people who lived on the land that today is called the City of San Buenaventura, will be removed. "Saturday's demonstration is to hear our voices that we want to have the statue of Father Serra removed," Salazar, of Ventura, said. He had free slave labor.”[38], The removal proposal was overwhelmingly approved by the city council in July. In 1935, Uno John Palo Kangas (1904–1957), a sculptor born in Finland and raised in Michigan, was commissioned by Ventura County and the Works Progress Administration to create a statue of Father Serra as part of the Federal Art Project. The wood replica was set in the atrium of the city hall for public display. The unveiling ceremony was attended by Kangas, Governor Frank Merriam, Mayor George A. Newell, Jr., and other notable persons. [31][25], In May 1980, primer paint was poured over the concrete statue; city workers sandblasted the paint from the statue. The bronze statue of St. Junipero Serra in front of Ventura's City Hall. Marieanne Quiroz, a spokeswoman for the district, could not be reached for comment. on Saturday, June 20, to demand that the statue of Father Junipero Serra in front of Ventura City Hall be taken down on grounds that he had committed atrocities against Native Americans, including the local Chumash. LaVere said releasing the statement two days before the rally was not an effort to steal the demonstrators' thunder or head off any potential vandalism. The statue of St. Junipero Serra is the latest to be either defaced or forcibly removed by people protesting against monuments that depict the country's colonial and racist past. Father Serra is credited with bringing Catholicism to California but many blame him for what they say were his efforts to do away with … [15] During the 1987 Ventura County Fair, the wood block was temporarily moved to the county fairgrounds where the carvers' work became an attraction for visitors. Merriam said: "A beautiful statue is about to be made visible, exemplifying the spirit of this pioneering priest – noble, brave and holy – a patriot of patriots. The last of these nine missions, founded on March 31, 1782, was Mission San Buenaventura, which today is an active parish of 3,000 members located at 211 East Main Street in Ventura. [4] The City planned to store the concrete statue until the completion of a planned farm implements museum, where the concrete statue was to be installed. Junipero Serra founded the city of Ventura in 1782 when he established the mission of San Buenaventura, and his statue has stood in front of the city hall since 1936. (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) The future of a statue St. Junípero Serra in the city of Ventura will be brought before the court of public opinion at a virtual community discussion to … However, a newspaper story from April 1938 suggests that the original clay model may have been loaned to a museum in Butte, Montana, for an exhibition on scale models of sculpture. The City had already commissioned through the art committee a series of murals reproducing local Chumash petroglyphs in the atrium. Junipero Serra founded the city of Ventura in 1782 when he established the mission of San Buenaventura, and his statue has stood in front of the city hall since 1936. [3]:2 The wood replica was installed at the atrium of Ventura City Hall on October 7, 1988. The Father Serra statues in downtown Ventura (Both outside and inside City Hall) are offensive and must be taken down by the City of Ventura, and Ventura Unified must move towards changing the names of Junipero Serra Elementary and Blanche Reynolds Elementary schools, immediately. It belongs where it was placed, by the community of Ventura and the generous fundraising efforts to replace the historic statue. The special public meeting will include the Ventura Mayor, City Council, and City leadership. Youths in Camp", "Fra Serra Clay Statue Finished by Sculptor", "Merriam Pays High Honor to Father Serra", "Buried Treasure: Original Statue of Father Junipero Serra Found in Scrap Yard", "Two meetings on fate of Ventura's Father Serra statue slated as emotions run high", "Transformation: Retired Cabinetmaker's Rendering of Father Serra Helps Resurrect a Statue Ravaged by Sea Air, Time", "Church Members on Mission to Get City's Serra Statue", "Father Serra sculpture being recast at COD", "Palm Desert Sculpture School to Cast Bronze Copy of Junipero Serra Statue", "Serra Statue to Be Shown Over Protests of 2 Groups", "Latino Catholics See Reflection in a Friar Set for Sainthood", "Junipero Serra statue to be moved away from Ventura City Hall", "California is confronting its ugly, racist past. [39] The council found that the bronze statue did not meet the requirements to be designated a historic landmark since the bronze cast had never been officially deemed as such after it replaced the concrete statue. 2 statues removed, one more in works. Father Serra is known as one of the founders of California’s historic missions. The statue is a designated historic landmark, the statement says. Father Junipero Serra Statue Mission San Buenaventura Ventura Ca - Buy this stock photo and explore similar images at Adobe Stock © 2021 www.vcstar.com. As deterioration of the concrete statue became a concern, a wood replica was created by local carvers and used to make a bronze cast. [46], The attention and damage to the statues of Junípero Serra was renewed during the George Floyd protests which expanded to include monuments of individuals associated with the controversy over the genocide of indigenous peoples in the Americas. Please do not move or destroy the statue of Father Junipero Serra. [13] A crane from OST had been used to remove the statue in 1989 and the statue was to have been temporarily stored at the OST yard. In 1936, the Federal Art Project (part of the New Deal) funded this heroic sculpture. "We have listened and we have heard the calls from those in the community and believe the time has come for the statue to be taken down and moved to a more appropriate non-public location," it says. NOTE: On June 18, 2020, the City of Ventura issued a press release stating that it plans to work with members of the community in moving the statue of Father Junipero Serra to a new, non-public location. "We've been seeing around the country and the world statues of racist and genocidal people being taken down and we think it's time that happens in Ventura," said Ben Leaños, 23, of Camarillo, one of the demonstration's organizers. [3]:3 In August 1936, the Los Angeles Times published on its front page a large photograph of Kangas posing with the clay sculpture. requesting that the City of Ventura remove the statue of Father Junipero Serra from its location near City Hall. At 4 a.m. on a Thursday last July — in the midst of nationwide turmoil about the heroes we create when we put statues in public parks — a large bronze statue of Father Junipero Serra was removed from a highly visible location in front of Ventura’s classic Beaux-Arts City Hall. [20] The wooden Serra statue was placed in a corner of the atrium with explanatory plaques. [41], Junípero Serra was a Roman Catholic Spanish priest and friar of the Franciscan Order who founded nine Spanish missions in California. [1] The statue, standing nine feet, four inches in height shows Father Serra standing with his head facing to the left and wearing a Franciscan cassock with cowl, sandals, and a rope belt (or cincture), a rosary hanging from the belt, a book in his left hand, and a walking stick (or staff) in his right hand. [3]:13[15], Based on the findings, Councilman Burns proposed the creation of a wood replica of the statue which could then be used as a model for a bronze cast to be put in place of the decaying concrete statue. The statue of St. Junipero Serra is the latest to be either defaced or forcibly removed by people protesting against monuments that depict the country's colonial and racist past. The Father Serra statue in Ventura, California, standing 9 feet, 4 inches, was displayed in front of Ventura City Hall between 1936 to 2020. "But I will acquiesce to it if it helps bring some healing to the present-day Chumash community. (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) (Credit Ken Lund/Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0) By a 6-0 vote, the Ventura City Council approved a motion at the end of a special meeting on Wednesday, July 15, to permanently remove two statues of St. Junípero Serra from public land. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Our news is free on LAist. Emily Morris 2020-07-31T13:51:49-07:00 July 30th, 2020 | A statue of Father Junipero Serra is removed from in front of Ventura City Hall on July 23. And I suspect that it's probably inevitable.". Meanwhile, a petition on change.org to have the statue taken down had gathered more than 5,200 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. 3 in 1974. [49], 1936 Federal Art Project in Ventura, California of Junípero Serra, Bronze cast in front of Ventura City Hall in 2009. In Ventura, the letter announcing the removal of the Serra statue was signed by Mayor Matt LaVere; Father Tom Elewaut, pastor at the San Buenaventura Mission Church; and … During the weekend, two statues of Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish priest who established several missions in California in the 1770’s and helped lead to the settlement of the state, were removed by protesters in Los Angeles and San Francisco. [4][29] The bronze cast stands on a concrete base with an outer layer of polished black granite from the Andes Mountains. The Junipero Serra statue at Ventura City Hall. The City loaned an initial sum of $15,000 to begin the process to be repaid by local boosters who raised more than $100,000 through the sale of limited edition 18-inch bronze replicas (hand-tooled by Charles Kubilos),[16][17] posters/lithographs,[18][19] and T-shirts, hats, and pins bearing the phrase "I Support the Serra Statue". A wooden version sits inside city hall. "We are calling for restorative justice and are petitioning for his statue to be removed immediately.". [3]:2 The carvers' studio was open to the public, and busloads of schoolchildren, senior citizens, and tourists visited the studio to observe the process. [3]:2 Kangas was paid $5,000 for his work. View of Father Serra Statue and California Street from steps of Ventura City Hall. LaVere said he, Elewaut and Tumamait-Stenslie plan to attend Saturday's rally. Serra is credited with bringing Catholicism to California in the 18th century when it was a Spanish colony. [3]:11 In 1983, Ventura City Councilman Russell Burns, a mechanical engineer, presented a report to the City Council describing the deterioration of the statue and concluding that the statue "in the not too distant future will fall apart. [48] The Mission San Luis Obispo also removed their statue from public display. [3]:6 Kangas gathered sand and gravel from the Ventura River,[4] which he used to make a concrete aggregate material that he poured on location into the mold. "Serra is not the historical hero people thought when this landmark statue to him was erected," the petition states. The Father Serra statue in Ventura, California, standing 9 feet, 4 inches, was displayed in front of Ventura City Hall between 1936 to 2020. One of the San Gabriel Mission on September 23, 2015 statue is designated... Probably inevitable. `` as City of Ventura 's City Hall on October 7 1988... Get all the latest East County cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks as. That became downtown Ventura June 14, 2020 / Conejo Joe Catholicism to California in atrium. Proposal was overwhelmingly approved by the City of Ventura City Council voted Wednesday... With layers of clay has stood as a City landmark in front of the was! 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