Anita Baldwin statue to be unveiled at Le Méridien Hotel in Arcadia
The Anita May Baldwin statue at the Le Méridien Hotel will be unveiled on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 at 11 a.m. Anita is the daughter of city founder, Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin. The statue will be featured on the opposite end of the Huntington Drive islands’ hotel property.
“We are very excited to be bringing Anita back to Arcadia,” said Mayor Sho Tay in a statement released by the city. “I would like to thank the Shen, Liu and Chen Families, Jeff Lee, the Dextra Baldwin McGonagle Foundation, Heather D. Gibson and Margaux L. Gibson, and the Arcadia Historical Society, for their generous donations.”
“On behalf of the Baldwin family, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Arcadia City Council, the Arcadia Historical Society, the Le Méridien Hotel and all those who have supported this effort to pay homage to my great-great grandmother, Anita May Baldwin,” said Margaux Gibson. “This magnificent statue of Anita will showcase a strong woman who was ahead of her time. I am proud to call Anita May Baldwin my great-great grandmother, and I am truly proud to be a part of this historic project.”
The Anita statue was sculpted by local artist and southern California native Alfred Paredes — who created the Lucky Baldwin statue on the corner of Huntington Drive and Holly Avenue — and is aptly named, “A Legacy of Charity” in honor of Anita’s contributions to life in early Arcadia and throughout California.
Artist Andrew Leicester, 61, has been chosen to design a bridge meant to be an iconic gateway to the San Gabriel Valley along the Gold Line Foothill Extension. The bridge will cost an estimated $20-25 million to build. Leicester, who is based in Minneapolis, plans to incorporate artistic traditions from the Native American tribes of the San Gabriel Valley (Chumash and Gabrielenos a.k.a. Tongva), and references to the region's native animal and plant life, into a contemporary structure.
"Blind Justice," an 11-foot tall tile mural at the police station dating back to the 1950s, will not be preserved when the new police station is built. The mural was judged not to have significant artistic or historical merit. The mural will be archived, with some element maintained for display in the new building.
Gold Line Foothill Extension Authority officials unveiled a San Gabriel Valley-themed design for a rail bridge honoring local wildlife and native cultures. The span of the 739-foot bridge will stretch diagonally across the 210 Freeway to Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia. It will be adorned by four basket-shaped columns and the bridge itself will have individual grooves resembling the scales of a snake. Andrew Leicester is the artist and designer.
On March 5, 2005, the city will hold a community art project to decorate 6 by 6 inch tiles that will be affixed to the northwest exterior wall of the Arcadia Public Library. The theme is "Arcadia is..." The project is limited to 200 tiles.
Plans are underway for "Peacock Corner" at the fountain and entrance at Arcadia County Park at Santa Anita Avenue and Huntington Drive. The bronze peacock will be 8 feet tall.
A statue to honor Anita M. Baldwin, daughter of Arcadia's founder Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin, will be built at the new Le Meridien Hotel, a luxury hotel in Arcadia. The artist/sculptor is Alfred Paredes, who also created the Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin statue.
A tile tapestry was unveiled on the northwest wall of the Arcadia Public Library on Friday, April 8, 2005. More than 200 individual tiles were painted by the public to depict life in Arcadia. A photo is included.