Long Beach has few areas comparable with, say, Laguna Beach, where you can genuinely fantasize about the plein air masters sitting down to preserve scenes of crisp, fall mornings in oil paint on canvas.

Bluff Park Historic District, where scores of Craftsman-era homes and the similarly-designed Museum of Art co-exist, is one of those places: hazy and serene on all but the hottest days, with world-class Pacific Ocean views.

Now, its famous vistas and the composure of its mature residents have been sorely tested–some say shattered–by an unexpected visitor: a little old baby.

A little old, 16-foot-tall, bright yellow baby: a ceramic art piece by Cal State Long Beach graduate student Matt Wedel, whose Master’s of Fine Art show, “June in Fall,” coincidentally opens this Sunday at CSULB’s Werby/Gatov Gallery.

Wedel’s big little baby (the name of the work is Child) stands in the Ella Reid Rose Garden, facing north-northwest, away from the museum. It’s a temporary installation scheduled to stay six months to a year, and much of its lower half is masked by the museum’s landscaping.

You do see it’s a boy–that much is clearly obvious up close. But from across the street, or from a speeding sedan, you can’t tell. You see his enormous head and torso–and, of course, the color. That was enough to enrage residents, who were angry enough to circulate a petition demanding its removal after Child appeared Oct. 25.

“This is a historic neighborhood and it’s totally out of character in a historic neighborhood,” says Bluff Park resident Melinda Roney, the petition starter, whose home has a prime view of Child. “It totally offends it. The whole neighborhood is going berserk.” Well, except for her husband, perhaps.

“I like it. Art’s art,” says Roney’s husband, Walter Wojak. “This is one of those rare things we disagree on.”

“Isn’t any press good press? Maybe all this talk about it is a good thing,” says neighbor Mickey Flanagan, who lives in the 2300 block of East First Street. He adds jokingly: “People of First Street to people of Ocean Boulevard: ‘Get over it.’ ” But then, the people of First Street don’t see it every day.

“Everyone’s interpretation of art is different. That’s what we keep telling ourselves,” says Elizabeth Handley, 70, who lives on Ocean Boulevard and agrees with Roney. “My opinion is, I don’t like the color.”

University and museum officials are equally resolute in their support of Child, and Matt Wedel.

“He’s not some wild-eyed revolutionary kid,” says CSULB art professor Tony Marsh, whose own ceramic works have shown at the Museum. “All his artistic roots are very conservative. [This is] a simple nude. It’s just big.”

“The fact is that we are a museum, and part of what we need to do is display art,” says Ed Fosmire, the Museum’s Associate Director of Development. “Not everybody can like everything.” Not even educated, art-loving Museum supporters like Roney.

“I do believe in art and I believe in this art,” she says. “But it’s not appropriate for the neighborhood.” Handley agrees.

Tags: "Child", ceramics, long beach museum of art, Matt Wedel