One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
L.A.'s New Public Art Sculpture Billed As 'Statue of Liberty For The West Coast'
(Photo courtesy of the Farhang Foundation.)
Los Angeles celebrated the diversity of America this July 4th with the unveiling of the Freedom Sculpture, a brand-new work of public art in Century City. The Freedom Sculpture is a gift from the Farhang Foundation, an Iranian-American culture and arts nonprofit, and Mayor Eric Garcetti was among those on hand to celebrate its unveiling at the inaugural L.A. Freedom Festival on Tuesday.
"The Freedom Sculpture is a testament to the values we hold dear and we are honored to receive it," Garcetti said at the festival, which drew over 70,000 people to the sculpture's location on a bus stop median off Santa Monica Boulevard, a spokesperson for the Farhang Foundation told LAist.
Over one million people donated about $2.5 million to the Freedom Sculpture's crowdfunding campaign, with L.A. luminaries such as Elon Musk and Lynda Resnick lending support to the sculpture. The two vast, stainless-steel concentric cylinders that make up the Freedom Sculpture were designed by renowned architect Cecil Balmond, who drew inspiration from the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old Persian artifact often referred to as "the first charter of human rights."
"The Freedom Sculpture, is a 'Statue of Liberty' for the West Coast — It is an Iranian-American led, widely crowd-supported public monumental gift," according to the official website of the sculpture.
The sculpture's unveiling comes at a time of increasing unrest for L.A.'s Iranian community, many of whose members feel targeted by President Trump's revised travel ban, the LA Times reports. Iran is on the revised list of six Muslim-majority countries that will be affected by the ban; the Farhang Foundation's erection of a monument dedicated to diversity, in the heart of one of the most diverse cities in America, may be seen as a testament to the city's commitment to inclusion.
The Freedom Sculpture is at 10000 California Route 2, Los Angeles.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
