Discussion:
What is the name of your state? CA
This recently came to my attention. There are several ironies beyond the obvious, such as the artist is protected by state law from changes(corrections) in their work without their consent, where commissions of public art is conserned, thus in this case not only must the artist consent but they must be paid to correct their mistakes!


Library's artist should have checked out a dictionary 11 of mosaic's 175 famous names misspelled
- Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, October 8, 2004
A colorful mosaic gracing the entrance of Livermore's new library is of a genre known as naïve art because of its whimsical design and childlike nature.
Maybe that explains why 11 of the 175 names and words on the piece are misspelled -- from "Eistein" and "Shakespere" to "Van Gough" and "Michaelangelo."
The $40,000 project now will cost the city a few thousand more because it must pay the artist to fly from her Miami home and correct the mistakes.
The misspelled mosaic has pitted art advocates against language purists. Some argue that artistic expression allows the artist to spell "Gaugan" (the painter known to those who can spell as Gauguin) however she likes, and others say such mistakes do not belong anywhere near the city's home of knowledge and literacy.
"It hurts to look at it," said Carola Williams, a retired translator who visited the Civic Center Library on Thursday to check out a book and was sidetracked by the errors.
"Before you put it in cement, you really should double-check everything."
A divided City Council voted 3-2 on Monday to pay artist Maria Alquilar $6,000 -- plus expenses -- to correct the errors because state law bars the city from removing or changing public art without the creator's consent.
Before the contentious vote, city officials debated leaving the mistakes alone and turning them into a "Where's Waldo?"-like game in which library visitors try to spot the blunders on their own.
"If a misspelling of a word happens, it drives me nuts," said Livermore Mayor Marshall Kamena, who majored in English at UC Berkeley and voted against repairing the piece. "But I don't use the same standard for art. ... There's some censorship going on by saying, 'Three or four people don't like this so we want you to do your art over again.' "
An image of the tree of life sits at the center of the 16-foot-diameter mosaic and is surrounded by icons representing science, art, literature and history as well as windmills and vineyards that depict life in Livermore.
The city's public art committee selected Alquilar in 2000 to develop the mosaic outside the new $26 million library based on her written proposal. Alquilar later submitted sketches of her design, but the drawings did not include any of the words that ultimately appeared in the piece, library director Susan Gallinger said.
And it wasn't until the mosaic, firmly secured in place with concrete, was unveiled when the library opened in May that the errors were noticed.
"The most egregious is Einstein," Gallinger said. "That's the worst one."
A tile image of the scientist's face, complete with his famous bushy hair, sits next to a symbol of an atom and the word "Eistein."
It's a particularly egregious blunder in Livermore, which is home to several hundred nuclear physicists who work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
And while Alquilar couldn't spell some names any fifth-grader could recognize, she got Tonantzin (the Aztec goddess of motherhood), Tutankhamen (an Egyptian pharaoh) and Archipenko (an American sculptor) right.
Embarrassment aside, Gallinger says the attention, which includes interview requests from CNN and other networks, may not be such a bad thing.
"It has drawn so many people to us to see the new library," she said. "In some ways, there's no such thing as bad publicity."
City officials said Alquilar was paid in installments while the mosaic was in progress and then -- despite the mistakes -- was given a larger check when the work was completed.
Alquilar, who lived in Santa Cruz before moving to Florida, could not be reached for comment Thursday. A message on her studio answering machine said only "non-polemic" phone calls would be returned.
However, she was unapologetic about the blunders when she told the Associated Press that others present when the mosaic was installed should have caught them.
Besides, she said, it's art.
"The people that are into humanities, and are into (William) Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she said. "In their mind, the words register correctly."
City officials who pointed out the errors to Alquilar said she seemed to have no idea the names were spelled incorrectly.
Albert Rothman, a retired scientist who visited the library Thursday, laughed as he pointed out the errors to others who came to observe -- and also laugh at -- the now-famous mosaic.
"I'm close to a perfect speller," he said. "This is sort of embarrassing to Livermore. It's just plain sloppiness."
E-mail Cecilia M. Vega at [email]cvega@sfchronicle.com[/email].
The misspelled mosaic words
Misspelled Correct Description
Beckman Otto Beckmann German chemist
or Max Beckmann German painter
Corn Katchinas Kachinas or Katsina Mexican dolls
Eistein Albert Einstein German physicist
Gaugan Paul Gauguin French Impressionist painter
Luca Della Robia Luca Della Robbia Italian sculptor
Michaelangelo Michelangelo Italian Renaissance artist
Nefertite Nefertiti or Nofretete Egyptian queen
Schuman Clara Schumann German composer
Shakespere William Shakespeare English playwright
Thesues Theseus Greek hero and king
Van Gough Vincent van Gogh Dutch Impressionist artist
Source: Livermore Public Library, verified using the Oxford American
Dictionary

Mosaic Spells Trouble for Livermore Library
The Miami artist who created a mosaic for the Livermore (Calif.) Public Library’s new Civic Center library that was riddled with spelling errors has agreed to correct the mistakes. Maria Alquilar originally refused to fix the misspellings because of the “nasty messages from people who don’t understand art,” according to the October 9 San Francisco Chronicle. After receiving angry phone calls and over 1,000 e-mails about the errors, she told the newspaper she’d prefer that the city destroy the work, for which it paid $40,000.
However, the Chronicle reported October 15 that Alquilar had agreed to return to Livermore to correct her work—for an additional $6,000 fee, plus travel expenses—but not until her critics have calmed down, probably sometime next year.
The circular mosaic, measuring 16 feet in diameter, includes 175 historical names and cultural words. Among the 11 misspellings are “Eistein,” “Shakespere,” and “Van Gough.” Alquilar told the Chronicle the names were correct on her sketches, but she misspelled them while executing the piece. She said she noticed “Einstein” was misspelled but went ahead anyway: “I just wasn’t that concerned. None of us are particularly good spellers anymore because of computers. When you are in a studio full of clay, you don’t give it much thought.” Earlier she told the Associated Press, “The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake’s concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words. In their mind, the words register correctly.” The mistakes went undetected until the mosaic was unveiled at the library’s opening in May.
The upside to the controversy is that the publicity has prompted a boost in visitors to the library. “People are still dropping by to see what all the fuss is about,” Library Director Susan Gallinger told the Chronicle.
Answer:
bump**************.
Answer:
Well, doc, you know how tempermental these "artistes" can be.
Posted on Wed, Aug. 10, 2005

Artist fixes Livermore library mosaic mistakes
The Associated Press
LIVERMORE, Calif. - An artist who created a mosaic of misspelled words returned to town to fix her much-maligned display outside the town's new public library.
Last year, the Livermore City Council paid Miami artist Maria Alquilar $40,000 to create an educational mural - and got a colorful, 16-foot circular mosaic of famous names riddled with spelling errors.
Alquilar said "art" had chosen the 175 historical names and cultural words she included, and that city officials should have noticed the spelling errors while she was on her hands and knees laying out the installation. Last fall, she refused to return to Livermore, saying she was treated as a "sacrificial goat."
But after the city council agreed to pay her $6,000 plus travel expenses to fix the 11 misspellings, "Eistein" was corrected to "Einstein" and "Shakespere" amended to "Shakespeare."
In front of a steady stream of onlookers Tuesday, Alquilar toiled in the sun under a broad-brimmed hat slicing replacement tiles. When reporters requested an interview, she threatened to throw a rock at a photographer from the San Francisco Chronicle.
"No pictures of me!" she yelled, the newspaper reported. "If I'm in it, I'm going to sue you."
Assistant City Manager Jim Piper said city officials spell-checked Alquilar's new tiles.
"We certainly believe they are spelled correctly," he said.
Library patron Jarod Vash, 17, said that while he thought the misspellings were embarrassing, "everybody makes mistakes."
"Not this bad," said 13-year-old Eric Smyth.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle
Answer:
Thanks for the update, obviously this hadn't happened yet when I posted.
More irony
""No pictures of me!" she yelled, the newspaper reported. "If I'm in it, I'm going to sue you."
I wonder if we'll see her on here posting questions about her lawsuit as if it wasn't enough that she got paid $6,000 of tax payers money to correct her errors. I wish someone would pay me for all the spelling errors I have made here
Answer:

I wish someone would pay me for all the spelling errors I have made here
My response:
You'd be a lot richer than me, that's for sure!
IAAL
Answer:
My response:
You'd be a lot richer than me, that's for sure!
IAAL LOL! I knew you'd like it!
Well if you can negotiate it I will be more than happy to split it with you! Then you would still be richer than me! That's $545.45 per word.
I checked the latest news on this story, not only was she paid $6,000 she was paid, expenses also.
Now is that bank or banc?