Issue 12
The Battle for Monster Park
By Camille Lowry
The community of San Gabriel just put up a big fight, and won. These are the days when protests are largely ignored, and landmarks are often torn down. But the people from this Los Angeles suburb managed to save local sculptures from demolition by getting their voices heard. The sculptures are part of a beloved playground, known as Monster Park.
This jewel tucked in a subsection of Vincent Lugo Park, has the official name of La Laguna de San Gabriel. The whimsical playground, made not of swings or jungle gyms, but concrete sculptures, was born over 40 years ago from the imagination of Mexican artist Benjamin Dominguez. The importance of his art was only just realized as a result of the fight, which began when the city suggested the park’s structures were unsafe.
Within the tree-lined perimeter of the park, an octopus sits in the company of seals perched on rocks, slithering sea serpents and whales that spring from the playground sand. They are tinted in cheerful hues of red, green and periwinkle. As Eloy Zarate, the history professor who started the preservation effort, says, “The place is magical.”
Zarate and his wife, lifelong supporters of the park, formed The Friends of La Laguna to appeal to park officials through petitions, rallies and door to door neighborhood effort. Many parents, such as Rita Kennedy of nearby El Monte, visit regularly. Kennedy says the art inspires her children “to do more creative play.”
“For people who grew up there and now are taking their kids—it’s unimaginable that there would be consideration of getting rid of it,” Zarate says, adding that the story of Benjamin Dominguez “is incredibly significant in terms of immigration and the Mexican influence of art.”
In 1956 Benjamin Dominguez emigrated from Mexico at the age of 62. He brought his wife, seven of his 13 children, and the Mexican tradition of using concrete in public art. Dominguez’s sculptures are valuable examples of an important style of Chicano expression that has been largely overshadowed by muralist work.
How Dominguez, who spoke no English, was given a chance to create sculptures for the city is a mystery. But his cutting-edge work fits perfectly for cities that wanted their parks to be unique.
Dominguez created public art throughout the Southwest. However, La Laguna de San Miguel was Dominguez’s final project and greatest work. Only there was he was given complete artistic freedom. Dominguez chose sea animals in particular to sculpt for their flowing movements. Their curved lines were accessible, and could be turned into slides. Unfortunately most of Dominguez’s work has been destroyed. Monster Park, however, has been saved. Zarate’s organization has a written agreement from the city not to remove the sculptures. Now they are faced with fundraising for safety and accessibility renovations, and to get the park designated as a historical site.
But Zarate thinks saving the park is worth it all. “The value is so beyond what we thought it was, what the city thought it was. It’s not going anywhere.”