Art

Artist Roberto Salas has been riding an emotional roller coaster. A graduate student at UC San Diego, Salas received a nomination from the San Diego Unified Port District’s Arts Advisory Board for his proposed palm tree sculpture for near Spanish Landing. But the Port District’s Board of Commissioners has failed to endorse the public art proposal, questioning his ability to bring it in on the budget he presented.

While Salas awaits the the Board of Port Commissioners’ final decision, the other shoe dropped on another of his public artworks. Salas painted “San Diego Under Conestruction” earlier this year on a gas station billboard. Now the station is slated for demolition, and Salas’ beach scene billboard for “deconestruction.”

Salas has launched a search for a new home for his endangered artwork.