A bronze statue of a playful, pouncing fox meant to commemorate Erica Fox, the swimmer who lost her life in a shark encounter on Sunday, Dec. 21, was rejected for placement at Lovers Point Park by the Pacific Grove Beautification and Natural Resources Commission on Tuesday, May 12, but not without each commissioner's condolences and kind words about Fox herself.
"I know not just myself would like to offer our deepest condolences, I'm sure everyone on this commission, we do understand grief personally, many of us," BRNC Chair Jennifer Gorman said. "So my deepest condolences is not only to her family but her friends and her Kelp Krawlers group."
Fox was a co-founder more than 20 years ago of the open-ocean swimming group, Kelp Krawlers, which swam from Lovers Point every Sunday. They were swimming together on a regular Sunday when Fox went missing. Her body was discovered on Saturday, Dec. 27 along the shore south of Davenport in Santa Cruz County.
The statue was originally meant to be a birthday gift for Fox from her husband Jean-Francois Vanreusel, and Fox herself worked with the artist to design the statue before her death. Originally it was meant to be placed in the couple's backyard in Pebble Beach, but it wasn't yet completed before she died. Vanreusel says after her death he thought it should be in a public spot.
Although commissioners were sympathetic to the request by Vanreusel to place the statue in Lovers Point Park, they cited a number of concerns, including City policy that discourages accepting personal memorials, as well as issues with the statue itself, which depicts a fox, rather than a sea creature or an animal that frequents Lovers Point.
There were also concerns that if they allowed a memorial to Fox, others would come forward asking for memorials. Instead, they suggested a memorial bench—P.G. has a longstanding bench program—or a memorial tree in the park.
Artist Will Pettee, who designed the statue depicting a pouncing fox—the statue's title is "Pounce"—told commissioners that when he learned of the city policy against accepting memorials, he and Vanreusel made changes to wording on the base of the statue to create a tribute, rather than a memorial.
A number of Kelp Krawlers and P.G. residents spoke in favor of accepting the donated statue for the park.
Commissioners encouraged Vanreusel to come back with a different proposal before voting 6-0 against accepting the artwork.
Vanreusel says he has no plans as of yet of how to proceed.
"This was a little bit of a learning process for me," he says of the experience with the commission. He says the city ordinance discouraging memorials is probably the biggest challenge.
"I have to respect and understand the decision," he says. " I have to go back to the drawing board and see how to honor her in another way."
The statue is only partially complete, he adds. The mold is ready for sending to a foundry for the pouring of the bronze.