Vermonica was a public art installation initiated by artist Sheila Klein in May 1993 and uninstalled in November 2017. The sculpture is named for the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in East Hollywood. Some of the artwork's 25 lamp poles date to 1925, the year Los Angeles's Bureau of Street Lighting opened. Placed in front of a Rite-Aid, the lights glow to illuminate the mini-mallparking lot it is located in at specific times during the night. Sheila Klein cooperated with Los Angeles businesses, bureaus, departments and neighborhoods to erect what she describes as a "formal composition" and a "drive-in museum" of street lighting. Vermonica was envisioned initially as a temporary installation with borrowed poles from the nearby streetlight yard on Santa Monica Boulevard. The sculpture was so popular, however, that it was kept installed. Vermonica precedes Chris Burden's Urban Light by 15 years.
Work destroyed
On November 21, 2017, artist Sheila Klein was informed by a member of the public that her artwork had been removed without her knowledge. The elements of the work had been moved to the front lawn of the Bureau of Street Lighting, and reinstalled in a curved line. In a statement, Sheila Klein announced that the reinstalled work is not Vermonica. But an assistant director with the Bureau of Street Lighting said the move is not permanent and was necessitated by construction work in the parking lot where the sculpture was originally located. "Our sense of urgency was to protect and preserve the streetlights so that they wouldn't be damaged or removed by someone other than us," Assistant Director Megan Hackney told The Los Angeles Times.
City emails discovered, petition launched, restoration announced
On June 6, 2019, artist Sheila Klein launched a petition seeking restoration of Vermonica in light of newly discovered emails from Bureau of Street Lighting staff that show that BSL intentionally dismantled Vermonica to create a new city staff designed work they called "Virmonica". On January 1, 2020, artist Sheila Klein announced on Instagram that an agreement had been reached with the City of Los Angeles for her to restore Vermonica.
