[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 69 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E921-E922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SUSAN DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2002

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of 
Niki de Saint Phalle, a vibrant lady and an artist whose sculpture has 
made many areas of San Diego as well as the world more lively and 
imaginative.
  In 1983, her sculpture ``Sun God'', a bird soaring from 29 feet above 
the ground, inaugurated the sculpture garden on the campus of the 
University of California San Diego.
  In 1998, children and adults flocked to Balboa Park to enjoy her 
creative menagerie of larger than life creatures--elephants, camels, 
and spiders all composed of brightly colored mosaics and stones. 
Although most of them were eventually transferred to their intended 
home, a ``Noah's Ark'' art park in Jerusalem, some have remained to 
grace our park.
  Last October, the city unveiled a work by Niki de Saint Phalle, which 
was commissioned by the San Diego Unified Port District. The work 
titled ``Coming Together'' is a 37-foot-tall metal, ceramic and glass 
sculpture created in brilliant colors, which resembles two faces joined 
cheek to cheek.
  I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Niki several times both 
in her studio and as we toured a park in Mid-City for which I had hoped 
we would be able to commission her work. In the process, we visited a 
neighboring school where the children recalled seeing her animal 
sculptures in Balboa Park and responded eagerly with questions. She 
took great pleasure in having reached this enthusiastic young audience.
  While Ms. de Saint Phalle was born in France of French and American 
parents, we are fortunate that a career that spanned international 
sites for her major works--a kinetic fountain in Paris, the Tarot 
Garden sculpture park in Tuscany, and The Sprengel Museum in Hanover, 
Germany--ultimately brought her to make her home in La Jolla and to 
make her later works available to our community.
  As a self-taught artist, Niki de Saint Phalle is a wonderful role 
model for those who have

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a spirit, a dream, and the inspiration to express themselves 
innovatively. She celebrated women's freedom and power in her 
monumental works. Her generosity and spirit graced San Diego, and she 
will be missed.

                          ____________________