Artwork Detail
Elaia
Artist: Garten, Cliff
Object Date: 2013
Medium: Bronze
Department(s): Parks and Recreation
Supervisorial District: 3
About the Artwork:
About the Artist:
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The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
The name of the artwork, Elia derives from the Greek word for “olive.” Sculptor Cliff Garten created a spectacular Sylmar-inspired artwork for the community center at El Cariso Park in Sylmar, CA. Sylmar was once the site of the world’s largest olive groves, hence the name “Sylmar” which means “Sea of Trees.” Moved by this historical connection, Garten designed three suspended, bronze sculptures of swirling olive branches for the main lobby.
Cliff Garten is a Venice-based artist and landscape architect who has created artwork for numerous public art agencies including the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Fort Worth Public Art Program and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los Angeles. Garten has also created public art master plans for the City of Calgary (Canada) and the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Department.
Garten received his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and his Master of Landscape Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Garten is the recipient of two Individual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bush Foundation Fellowship for Individual Artists, the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship and the Jerome Foundation Travelling Artist Grant.