CITY'S PRICEY ARTWORK OFTEN GOES MISSING.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A $10,000 needlepoint portrait of George Washington hangs on the wall of offices of employees of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo - along with many other valuable art objects.

A watercolor with a replacement value of $20,000 titled ``Heather Reef'' by Morten E. Solberg adorns the office of Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn.

A metal sculpture of giant crumpled dollars titled ``Dollar Bill Man'' stands near the accounting office in the downtown headquarters of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency.

Those are some of the untold millions of dollars worth of artwork - often purchased with taxpayer money - decorating the walls and offices of local government workers, in many cases beyond the view of the general public.

The practice has gone on for years with unfortunate consequences: Hundreds of pieces of city-owned artwork are missing, an audit has found. And a police detective is on the case.

``There is speculation that when staff retired or moved to different offices that they could have taken paintings with them,'' said Felicia Filer, director of the public art division for the city Cultural Affairs Department.

``I suspect there are many department heads who frequently commissioned artworks and didn't add them to the city's art collection.''

Since the city audit, Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Unified School District have started taking inventory of their collections out of concern that many pieces they own are missing as well.

Over the years, the city, county, Metropolitan Transportation Authority and LAUSD have purchased or commissioned countless works of art or been the recipients of donated collections.

The city launched an inventory of its collection - valued at more than $20 million - after the 2002 audit revealed hundreds of pieces were unaccounted for.

The bulk of the city's artwork is adorning city offices or public spaces, Filer said.

``Of 2,000 works in our collection, only 500 remain in storage. Three- quarters of the works are out in offices or public buildings. There are a lot in libraries and offices.''

Some officials look askance at having so much publicly owned art in locations where it is viewed by relatively few members of the public.

Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom was aghast to find as much as $500,000 worth of abstract contemporary art, including a $40,000 painting by Los Angeles artist Lari Pittman, decorating his downtown headquarters when he was appointed last year to head the Community Redevelopment Agency.

``If we are going to use this money to have art available, I think it ought to be available so the public can see it. I don't think it belongs in the back halls of the redevelopment agency.''

Ovrom ordered most of the artwork donated to local museums, but hasn't been able to find takers for many pieces - including the ``Dollar Bill Man.''

``This art is ... ugly,'' Ovrom said. ``It's just a crumpled-up waste of money.''

``The idea is to enhance public buildings and make them more attractive places for the public and the people who work there,'' said Jessica Cusick, a public art consultant.

``The art is generally not placed in executives' offices. The art is generally placed in public hallways or lobbies. It's not intended for private decoration, but public enhancement, in spaces the public has access to, even if it's not in the kind of place you might choose to go to every day.''

Los Angeles' art collection consists of thousands of unique pieces, from oil paintings to bronze busts.

Former Mayor Richard Riordan commissioned a mural of the city's skyline for his office. It's now located behind Mayor James Hahn's desk.

Los Angeles County government, which has never before taken an inventory of its extensive art collection, is currently undergoing a survey of its 36 departments and 5,000 buildings to determine what it has and what it's worth.

On the eighth floor home of the Board of Supervisors at the Hall of Administration, nearly a dozen fine art paintings from the early 1900s line the dark-stained oak walls - part of a revolving exhibit on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The extensive collection at LACMA is a mix of donated and purchased works.

An armed guard controls access to the corridor, which is frequented mainly by government workers, lobbyists and insiders.

The walls of Board Chairman Don Knabe's office are covered with paintings provided by the Palos Verdes Art Center, depicting beach panoramas and the San Pedro Harbor and its commercial fishing fleet.

In an unusual arrangement, workers in his office have sold more than 150 paintings to visitors since the 1980s. The proceeds go to the artists.

The MTA is known for the artwork at its 62 subway and rail stations.

The transit agency also garnered attention in 1996 after it opened its $176 million downtown headquarters building - which critics dubbed the ``Taj Mahal'' for its exotic Italian stone exterior and elaborate murals - when workers complained about a large mural featuring photos of a man's exposed derriere.

The MTA covered it up with a black plastic sheet. The covering was removed after the American Civil Liberties Union condemned it as an act of censorship.

The LAUSD is conducting an inventory of its 85,000-object collection known as the ``LAUSD Treasures.'' The collection is valued at $30 million to $40 million, including a large number of California landscape plein-air paintings purchased with funds from student body fund-raisers in the `20s, `30s and `40s.

``Some schools have them in storage to keep them safe, and others have them displayed in administrative offices,'' said Richard Burrows, director of the LAUSD arts education program. ``Our artwork is hung in offices, hallways and auditoriums. Some of the artifacts are architectural features of the buildings. Many of the works are stored at the Pico Building while we unpack and examine the works.''

The 2002 audit by city Controller Laura Chick found 300 to 360 pieces in the city's art collection - including one valued at $150,000 - missing.

LAPD Art Theft Detail Detective Don Hrycyk said he's still investigating and attempting to track down what happened to the art.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Cultural Arts Planner Julie Silliman examines the man made of money at the CRA's offices in Los Angeles.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer