Ontario dedicates public art piece in Town Square

ONTARIO – The city on Tuesday unveiled a major piece of public art – a memorial bench and statue honoring the late writer Michael PonTell at the Ontario Town Square.

The privately financed art piece was designed by well-known Los Angeles artist Giorgio Tuscani. It features a lighted blue lucite modern contemporary sculpture made up of more than 2,400 pieces.

“I was pretty amazed myself when they installed it and the lights went on for the first time,” said Tuscani, who built a small-scale version of the sculpture before creating the individual pieces at his workshop in Studio City.

The sculpture follows a call to action by author Peter Kageyama during Ontario’s 2015 State of the City event last March. Kageyama, who wrote “For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places,” believes public art helps create a stronger sense of community by building an emotional connection between a city and its citizens.

“Art in public places enriches our community,” said Ontario Mayor Paul Leon. “This project is one of many planned for the City of Ontario.”

Tuscani, whose notable clients include William Shatner, said that in many ways, the stakes are higher with public art than pieces on display in individual homes.

“Public art is a whole different animal,” he said. “A commissioned painting for a client will be seen by family and friends and a few people. With public art, everybody is looking at it, experiencing it and critiquing it. It’s not just for one or two people, but for everybody.”

The unnamed piece is in honor of PonTell, who grew up in Ontario and founded Onlinbrary – a digital platform for undiscovered writers. He died in May.

His father, Steve PonTell, called the piece “a gift to a city that has played such an important role in our family.”

“Ontario was near and dear to Michael’s heart, and to be able to honor his passion – writing and the arts – with this inspiring piece of public art means so much to all of us,” PonTell said. “To have this, too, at Ontario Town Square makes perfect sense when you consider the role of public art. The whole purpose of Town Square is make friends, connect with family and feel at home.”

Tuesday’s dedication also included musical performances by Nick Palance and Lety Lopez.