As she strolls through Sausalito, admiring the many public art pieces, Lucina Vidauri can’t help but notice what’s missing.
There are statues of elephants, a wood carving of a gold miner panning for gold, and a sea lion sculpture, to name a few. The works are popular among tourists and locals alike, and they represent, for some, Sausalito’s longtime identity as an artists’ colony, where craftiness is valued and displayed.
But Vidauri, who lives in Sausalito, says the city is lacking a monument to its early inhabitants: the Coast Miwoks. She wants to change that.
“They’re so underrepresented in Marin County,” she said. “They were here for so long, and everywhere, so let’s honor them.”
Vidauri, 59, traces her lineage back to the Coast Miwok people who lived in Marin County for centuries, she said. In the coming months, she plans to talk with city officials in hopes of installing a statue in Sausalito. She’s already commissioned an artist who has made a mock-up of the design. If Sausalito turns the idea down, she’s willing to shop it around to other cities and towns in Marin.
The design, created by the Monterey-based sculptor Will Pettee, shows a silhouetted family of three looking into the distance. A young woman in the design, wearing a grass skirt, carries a basket of acorns and mussels. Her mother is shown with an arm outstretched. They’re “looking hopeful,” Petee said.
Vidauri, who solicited artist designs without being specific about the details, said she instantly fell in love with Petee’s mockup. She knew when she saw it that Petee was the right artist for the job.
“I’m honored to be part of this, to help preserve a legacy and preserve a history,” Pettee said.
Vidauri has launched an online fundraising campaign at bit.ly/2KfVQEs to pay for a maquette of Pette’s design. The miniature model will represent what Vidauri hopes will eventually be a life-sized, bronze statue.
More than $2,000 of the needed $6,500 has been raised so far through the online effort. Vidauri said she will eventually kick off another fundraising push to pay for the full statue, once she’s identified a site where it can be placed.
Sausalito Mayor Joe Burns said Vidauri will need to seek permission from the city’s Arts Commission. But he said the idea may be a good fit for Sausalito.
“It’s part of our history and part of our culture,” he said. “It’s definitely something that the community can discuss.”
The Sausalito Historical Society broke ground this year on a renovation project at the Ice House Plaza. The society plans to install a timeline of Sausalito history etched into the ground, which will include information about the Coast Miwok people, according to Jerry Taylor, the society president.
Taylor said the idea of public art that honors Sausalito’s early inhabitants seems like an important initiative for the city.
“I’m encouraged that somebody has stepped forward who can be a champion for this,” he said.
Vidauri holds a treasure trove of stories in her head about her ancestors and owns several family heirlooms that have lasted through the centuries, including trading beads, arrowheads, a basket and more. She’s donated some of those artifacts to the Anne T. Kent California Room, a special collections archive of the Marin County Free Library, so they can be preserved.
“Let’s not keep sweeping this part of our history under the rug,” Vidauri said. “We can bring it out of the shadows and into the light.”
https://www.marinij.com/2019/04/07/sausalito-woman-campaigns-for-coast-miwok-statue/
2019-04-07 18:57:06Z
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