Carlsbad panel selects Mario Torero to create Barrio traffic‑circle public art after community-focused presentations

The Public Art Advisory Subcommittee voted 3–2 on Dec. 19 to commission artist Mario Torero to design the permanent public artwork for the Barrio traffic circle at Pine Avenue and Harding Street.

Craddock Stropes, the city’s Cultural Arts manager who facilitated the meeting, told the committee the selection will proceed under the city’s Art in Public Places program and noted the Carlsbad Municipal Code requires dedicating a minimum of 1% of certain construction costs to public art. The subcommittee heard 15‑minute presentations from three finalists — CJ Chen (paper‑cut and community workshop approach), Roberto Salas (molcajete and volcanic‑stone gabion concept) and the Mario Torero team (community‑sourced portraits and neighborhood imagery) — followed by public comment and extended questions from members about visibility, safety and outreach.

CJ Chen described a hybrid engagement plan of in‑person workshops and an online portal to gather paper‑cut imagery from students and residents and said a livable street should “feel welcoming, safe, and accessible to all.” Roberto Salas presented a design that would use gabion cages filled with volcanic rock and an outreach idea that invited residents to personalize small stones. The team led by Mario Torero emphasized local history, portraits of neighborhood figures and partnerships with community programs, schools and the museum; Sarah Bellemondragon said the project concept was “making the invisible visible” by centering stories collected from residents.

During deliberations committee members praised elements in each proposal but differed on which best matched community input. Barbara Chung said Mario Torero’s team “clearly had looked at the results from the workshops and they had paid attention to what was important to people.” Other members praised CJ Chen’s robust school‑based and online outreach plans and Roberto Salas’s cultural motif; some members raised recurring technical concerns common to traffic‑circle art, such as preventing pedestrians from crossing into the roundabout and ensuring sculptures are legible from a distance. Artists proposed solutions including elevating elements, simplifying large forms, planting the ground plane to discourage foot traffic, and using durable materials or printed metal panels to meet installation and maintenance constraints.

Three residents spoke during the public‑comment period. Patty Corona, a community cooking‑program director, said the molcajete concept proposed by Roberto Salas “touched my heart” as a reminder of local culinary and family traditions. Laurie Boone, a longtime resident and local historian, urged artists to consult archives at the Carlsbad Community Church, which sits just across from the roundabout site; Jullan Lodge urged the committee to consider Mario Torero’s community research and ties.

After members exchanged final remarks, Nate Larson moved to approve Mario Torero as the artist for the Barrio roundabout; the motion was seconded and carried by a 3–2 vote. The subcommittee did not read a roll‑call vote by name; the clerk recorded the tally. According to the facilitator, the next steps are for city staff to execute a design agreement with the selected artist and to work with the artist team to develop a community engagement strategy and proceed through design and permitting.

The meeting closed with staff direction to ensure engineering and traffic‑safety constraints are coordinated in the design phase and to incorporate bilingual outreach and school workshops as part of the engagement plan. The subcommittee adjourned at 7:34 p.m.