'Surfing Madonna': Religious Art Or Graffiti?

SAN DIEGO - It's release to have a miracle to take the Surfing Madonna, according to an art agency hired to run tests on the illegal public mosaic that has been sparking debate about what should be considered graffiti.

Assistant conservator Andrew Smith of Los Angeles-based Sculpture Conservation Studio said Wednesday that his way will recommend officials in the beach city of Encinitas not alone keep the artwork - but take a program to protect it.

The artwork featuring the Virgin of Guadalupe riding a surfboard was put up under a rail bridge shortly before Easter by artists disguised as construction workers, according to witnesses.

Officials contend the man is graffiti under the law and must be removed. Still, City Council members know it is stunning, so they leased the art agency to get a way to consider it down without destroying it so the man could be displayed at a local business where the world can extend to see it.

Local businesses have been raising funds to encompass the city's expenses if the mosaic is moved, and various people have offered to buy the artwork.

But Smith said after examining the wall Tuesday that it would be pretty much impossible to take the project because it is affiliated with a combination of epoxy glue and a metal bolting system.

"It's on there very securely, and light of a miracle, it's not coming down," he said.

Smith said he expects to pass over a paper with his agency's recommendations to the metropolis by Wednesday evening. City officials did not now return calls seeking comment on the agency's findings.

The stunning mosaic has drawn dozens of visitors who have do to see it in the coastal city 25 miles n of San Diego.

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Encinitas Mayor James Bond has said the art is beautiful but leaving it in space would set a serious precedent and could advance more illegal art in the city, which has a strong art community. He said the mosaic's religious connotations also have drawn complaints.

Some say the artwork blurs the contrast between church and state; others believe it profane to have Mexico's patron saint pictured surfing.

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