Â Robert Baer’s public arts project "All

Roads Lead to Westwood" presents the names of several streets

leading to Westwood.

By Mary Williams

Daily Bruin Contributor

Even though it may not feel like it to the confused student,

lost somewhere in Hollywood and desperately trying to find a way

back to the dorms, all roads lead to Westwood.

That is, of course, according to Rod Baer, whose public artwork,

“All Roads Lead to Westwood,” offers some whimsical,

though not-so-helpful, directions to Westwood Village.

The artwork, installed in the north and south sidewalks of

Weyburn Avenue, between Westwood Boulevard and Broxton Avenue,

consists of tiles inscribed with the names of the many famous

streets which do, in fact, lead to Westwood. Alongside these larger

tiles are smaller one’s offering cryptic directions, arrows

that don’t necessarily point to anything, compasses, and

dice.

“The quote came to mind, “˜All roads lead to

Rome,'” Baer said about how he got the theme for his

project. “Obviously, “˜All roads lead to Westwood’

is a lot more silly, except that when you think about roads, if

they interconnect, then they all lead to everywhere.”

“So, that was my way of playing with something really

grand and putting it in a really small village scale,” Baer

continued.

The road to installing “All Roads,” however, was a

long one, with the process taking three and a half years. Public

funding for the art, totaling about $60,000, was the result of a

Los Angeles law that allocates 1 percent of funds spent on new

construction to public works of art. In this case, the new

construction was the parking garage of Broxton Avenue.

First, a panel formed by the city, which included curators,

architects and UCLA Art Professor Henry Hopkins, was asked to

choose a work best suited to Westwood from among many

artists’ creations.

“After an exhaustive period of hours and hours we settled

on this one work which was filled with whimsy and fun and

excitement, called “˜All Roads Lead to Westwood,’ which

was based on the idea of the Monopoly game,” said Ben Pick, a

member of the panel.

The work was originally intended for Broxton Avenue, but the

panel discovered that Broxton already had art that would conflict

with “All Roads.” After reviewing other blocks in the

village, the artist and panel settled on the Weyburn Avenue

location.

Â Photos by ANGIE LEVINE Tiles such as these are the public

artwork of Rod Baer titled "All Roads Lead to Westwood." The

project can be found on Weyburn Avenue between Westwood Boulevard

and Broxton Avenue. Implementing the project included further

muddling through the city’s bureaucracy.

“The city became involved with checking underground lines,

sewers and rights of way, and it took months and months and months

to get every department and building to just give their OK to have

the tile work installed on Weyburn,” Pick said.

The sidewalks were then cleaned and a contractor was hired to

install the artwork.

At present, the artwork still isn’t finished. Two dice

must be placed, and the painting and protective sealing work, have

not yet been completed.

To finish the installation, the panel is attempting to raise

$10,000, in addition to money already given by private donors, Pick

said.

“This has been a long, drawn out, arduous process that in

some ways is frightening, because it shows how difficult it is to

get even something that is beneficial for the community into

place,” Pick said

“In any case I’m looking forward to having this in

place in the next two months, raising the final $10,000, finishing

the work, and making it something that the people of Westwood, the

students of UCLA, and the visitors to our community can really

enjoy, have fun with, talk about, and ask questions about,”

he continued.

Having fun and stimulating the mind were two motives behind

“All Roads.” Baer designed the artwork to entertain

passers-by as well as helping Westwood Village.

“I wanted to do something that would be decentralized,

that would be diffused and that would help activate people walking

around,” Baer said. “I thought that instilling a sense

of play and fun and encouraging a kind of window shopping would be

something that would be good for the village.”

Steven Luciano, daytime manager of Enzo’s Pizzeria, said

the artwork has aroused many people’s curiosity.

“I think it’s just fun and a lot of people are

always questioning it and walking down the street looking at it and

following it around, and I found myself questioning it and

following it, too,” he said. “I don’t really

understand it, but it’s kind of cool.”

When asked about the cost to the city, Luciano said it was

justified because the art was beneficial to the village, and in

general, he felt that the world needs more art and culture. Many,

however, aren’t responding as positively as Luciano.

“I know that personally I’ve heard many positive and

negative comments,” Pick said. “People saying,

“˜What is all this? Who is doing all this?’ “˜Who

is wasting this kind of money?’ and I love this. I love the

negative reactions as much as the positive reactions because

it’s an indication of the involvement of people, suddenly, in

their own community.”

“All Roads” may serve as a precursor of future

city-sponsored art, eventually turning Westwood Village into a

cultural arts center.

“This will really be the forerunner to the regeneration of

the village in that it’ll be the first artwork on the

sidewalk, but we will then have a second and a third and a fourth

and a fifth, and that the sidewalks of the village will become

really an art school both for the students at UCLA, for the people

who live in the community and for Los Angeles as a whole,”

Pick said.

ART: “All Roads Lead to Westwood" is on

Weyburn Avenue between Westwood Boulevard and Broxton Avenue.