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TWO TOO MANY? FORMER COUNCIL CANDIDATE SUBMITS HIS OWN IDEAS FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL
Pasadena Weekly, CA
April 4 2013
By Nick Smith 04/04/2013
As members of a Pasadena committee prepare to unveil a proposed
memorial honoring those killed in the Armenian Genocide, an alternative
memorial design has been put forward by another group headed by former
City Council candidate Chris Chahinian.
According to City Councilman Gene Masuda, the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee was formed to explore ways to commemorate
the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks
between 1915 and 1923. The group, which has selected a work created
by Art Center College of Design student Catherine Menard, includes
prominent Pasadena architect Stefanos Polyzoides and former Pasadena
Mayor Bill Paparian.
According to Masuda, however, Chahinian, who ran against Masuda in
2010, broke off from that committee and formed the Armenian Community
Coalition (ACC), laying the groundwork for a separate memorial design.
The ACC met in March with city officials to discuss the design,
maintenance and upkeep of that memorial, which is expected to be
completed by 2015. Also at the meeting was the project's designer,
Vahram Hovagimyan.
According to Paparian, who chairs Masuda's memorial committee,
Menard's design concept was the first choice among 17 entrants,
which included Hovagimyan's work.
"The design Chahinian submitted is a warmed-over reject," Paparian
told the Weekly. "Basically, it's a memorial tombstone. We didn't
think it was consistent with the excellence and design standards that
we were striving for and we think we found with Catherine's design."
Menard's design will be formally unveiled April 15 at Art Center.
Chahinian remembers things differently.
"We had been working on this project for more than two years. City
officials were very cooperative with [the ACC]," said Chahinian. "We
should give credit to the ACC for their vision and commitment to
this project."
Both nonprofit organizations plan to pay for the memorials through
private donations. Masuda's committee hopes to place Menard's work
in Memorial Park in Old Pasadena.
In the end, the city will choose which design to erect, a difficult
task considering the sensitivity of the matter.
"I think the city will look at which organization did it the right way
[and] followed the process," Masuda said.
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/two_too_many/12017/
Pasadena Weekly, CA
April 4 2013
By Nick Smith 04/04/2013
As members of a Pasadena committee prepare to unveil a proposed
memorial honoring those killed in the Armenian Genocide, an alternative
memorial design has been put forward by another group headed by former
City Council candidate Chris Chahinian.
According to City Councilman Gene Masuda, the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee was formed to explore ways to commemorate
the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks
between 1915 and 1923. The group, which has selected a work created
by Art Center College of Design student Catherine Menard, includes
prominent Pasadena architect Stefanos Polyzoides and former Pasadena
Mayor Bill Paparian.
According to Masuda, however, Chahinian, who ran against Masuda in
2010, broke off from that committee and formed the Armenian Community
Coalition (ACC), laying the groundwork for a separate memorial design.
The ACC met in March with city officials to discuss the design,
maintenance and upkeep of that memorial, which is expected to be
completed by 2015. Also at the meeting was the project's designer,
Vahram Hovagimyan.
According to Paparian, who chairs Masuda's memorial committee,
Menard's design concept was the first choice among 17 entrants,
which included Hovagimyan's work.
"The design Chahinian submitted is a warmed-over reject," Paparian
told the Weekly. "Basically, it's a memorial tombstone. We didn't
think it was consistent with the excellence and design standards that
we were striving for and we think we found with Catherine's design."
Menard's design will be formally unveiled April 15 at Art Center.
Chahinian remembers things differently.
"We had been working on this project for more than two years. City
officials were very cooperative with [the ACC]," said Chahinian. "We
should give credit to the ACC for their vision and commitment to
this project."
Both nonprofit organizations plan to pay for the memorials through
private donations. Masuda's committee hopes to place Menard's work
in Memorial Park in Old Pasadena.
In the end, the city will choose which design to erect, a difficult
task considering the sensitivity of the matter.
"I think the city will look at which organization did it the right way
[and] followed the process," Masuda said.
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/two_too_many/12017/