The public art for Veterans Memorial Park has been shaped by community input from the beginning. The city offered several opportunities for residents and veterans to get involved at key points in the process:

Phase 1: Understanding community values (summer 2023)
Before selecting an artist or developing any concepts, the city asked the community what themes, values and ideas the public art should reflect. This early feedback helped shape the call for artists, resulting in 35 submissions and the selection of Gordon Huether Studio.

Read the Phase 1 public input summary report to see what ideas and priorities the community shared during this early phase.

Watch a short video to meet Gordon Huether Studio, the team selected to create the public art for the future Veterans Memorial Park.

 

Phase 2: Feedback on preliminary design concepts (spring 2025)
Gordon Huether Studio developed three proposed design concepts based on the input received during Phase 1. The city then invited the community to review the concepts through a public survey and meetings with local veterans groups.

The artist also presented the concepts at the May 1 Arts Commission meeting, where commissioners shared their feedback to help inform the final design.

Watch the meeting recording to hear the artist explain each concept and listen to the commissioners’ discussion.

Read the Phase 2 public input summary report to see how community feedback influenced the final recommended design

Aug. 7, 2025: Arts Commission recommendation

At its Aug. 7 meeting, the Arts Commission reviewed the final public art design concept for Veterans Memorial Park and voted to recommend its approval.

Read the staff report for details about the final concept.
Watch the meeting recording to hear the discussion and recommendation.

The City Council is approved the final public art design concept on Oct. 7, 2025.

On the upper plateau of Veterans Memorial Park, a separate permanent public art piece will be installed at the highest point of the park, following the city’s Art in Public Places guidelines. As a site-specific piece, the public art will serve as a truly special piece to honor those who have served our country.

To help guide the public art for this space, input was gathered from the community and included in the Call for Artists issued in August 2023. A copy of the public input report can be viewed here.

A national Call for Artists Qualifications was released on Aug. 31, 2023, to recruit potential artists or artist teams to create the public art for the upper plateau of Veterans Memorial Park. The deadline for submissions closed on Oct. 24, 2023.  

To help guide the selection of an artist for Veterans Memorial park public art, the Cultural Arts Division formed a public art advisory subcommittee, in alignment with the city’s Art in Public Places Program.

The subcommittee met twice to complete the review and selection process:

Meeting #1 - Evaluating artist submissions
On April 25, 2024, the subcommittee evaluated 35 qualified artist submissions and narrowed the field to four finalists.

Watch the April 25 meeting
View the April 25 meeting agenda packet

Meeting #2 - Selecting the artist
On June 12, 2024, the subcommittee received presentations from and interviewed the four finalists, ultimately selecting Gordon Huether Studio to design the public art for Veterans Memorial Park.

The interviews focused on qualifications, experience and alignment with the goals of the project, not specific design proposals.

Watch the June 12 meeting
View the June 12 meeting agenda packet

About the subcommittee
The subcommittee was formed based on guidance in the city’s Art in Public Places Program and is made up of:

• An arts professional
• Carlsbad residents who are veterans or family members of veterans
• Members of the Carlsbad Arts Commission

Voting members

City of Carlsbad Arts Commissioners
Angela Ferone
Frances Carrillo

Arts professional
Heath Fox 

Carlsbad residents
Donald Armento
Jen Belnap
Michael Danforth
Jerry Paranal

The selected artist, Gordon Huether Studio, will work with the Carlsbad community to develop a vision for the artwork that honors those who have served while complementing the natural setting of Veterans Memorial Park.

Gordon Huether Studio has created hundreds of public art pieces across the country and internationally. Known for artwork that reflects the character of a site and the people who use it, the studio emphasizes collaboration and storytelling. At the June 12 Public Art Advisory Subcommittee meeting, members noted the artist’s thoughtful approach to sensitive subjects and experience creating meaningful work for public spaces as key factors in the selection.

View the artist’s resume and portfolio

The city’s Art in Public Places Program began in 1985 and was the first public art program established in San Diego County. It’s tied to the city’s Capital Improvement Program budget and plan, which follows a set of policies and procedures that designated 1% of the overall project value that guides the entire process, from artist selection through to final installation of the work. 

Carlsbad Municipal Code 2.18.110 (Appropriations for arts) allocates 1% of the total cost of certain construction projects to fund permanent public art. The overall construction budget of the Veterans Memorial Park Capital Improvement Program Project No. 4609 allows for $350,000 to be put toward the permanent public art budget.

Veterans Memorial Park, near the intersection of Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road, will become Carlsbad’s largest park once completed. It will also become a place to recognize and honor the nation’s veterans, the first such location in Carlsbad. 

The park has been designed based on community input, with places for quiet contemplation as well as active uses like the city’s first bike track and a nature inspired playground. 

Take a virtual tour of the site of the future Veterans Memorial Park. 

Designed based on community feedback, the Memorial Plaza at street level will be an accessible space to honor veterans, individually and through small gatherings. In this area, the different military branches will be recognized and opportunities to honor service members will be available, such as naming opportunities on glass wall panels.

The city gathered input on specific Memorial Plaza elements to recognize veterans at the future park through an online survey and focus group conducted in 2022. The feedback gathered on the Veterans Memorial Plaza will be incorporated into the design and construction plans for the park. 

Some of the initial features of the Veterans Memorial Plaza, shown on the sample renderings, include:

• Flagpole and raised platform at center of plaza for educational presentations and veterans events
• Illuminated glass panels with images etched that could reflect different military branches and representation of different roles, genders and time periods
• Nearby parking lot to make the area easily accessible for people of all abilities
• Educational opportunities
• Benches to provide a place to sit and pay respects
• Several locations where commemorative plaques or elements honoring veterans could be integrated
• Ornamental landscaping and trees to provide shade and add natural elements