The popular 25-foot sculpture rolls back into town soon

 Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown News Editor

The popular “Kissing Statue” that stood tall and proud alongside the USS Midway Museum and the San Diego waterfront for almost five years before its departure in September, is making a triumphant return on Saturday, Feb. 16.

However, the one returning is not the same statue that made its grand exit last fall after being broken down into three movable pieces. This one will be here to stay, thanks to the USS Midway Museum and dozens of benefactors who rallied together last year to bring the sculpture back in a permanent fashion.

“Unconditional Surrender,” as the sculpture is officially known, is a 25-foot tall salute to the iconic photographs taken in Times Square on D-Day, August 14, 1945, of a U.S. Navy sailor who took a random nurse passing by into his arms and kissed her.

One of those photographs, taken by professional photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, found its way to the cover of Life Magazine and is protected by copyright. Another photo, taken simultaneously by Navy photojournalist Victor Jorgenson, is in the public domain. The black and white image of that kiss from any angle came to exemplify the nation’s elation regarding the end of WWII.

That moment in time became the original inspiration for artist Seward Johnson, said Paula Stoeke, Director of The Sculpture Foundation, a private, Santa Barbara operating foundation that focuses on providing artwork for urban and cultural centers.

Johnson, now 82, has sculpted hundreds of life-sized and larger-than-life sculptures over the years, many of which are installed around the world. Stoeke said Johnson recently gave all of his artwork to The Sculpture Foundation in support of their global mission.

“It was a very generous gift,” Stoeke said.

Johnson originally designed the prototype out of foam resin, which was used as a lightweight, albeit weather-sturdy, exhibitional prototype, using Jorgenson’s photo as a guide.

The statue stood on a temporary platform between the USS Midway Museum and The Fish Market, which is located at 750 N. Harbor Drive. The San Diego Port Authority had granted a local architectural firm the permission to raise funds to purchase a more permanent statue, but after several years of extention, those fundraising efforts failed, and the sculpture was rotated to a new location.

It was at this time the USS Midway Museum decided to get involved, said Scott McGaugh, director of marketing at the museum.

“That’s when Midway really became more aware of it and realized if there was going to be a permanent ‘Kiss’ statue in San Diego, someone was going to have to step in and help make that happen, and that’s when we got involved,” he said.

Once given the “green light” from the Port Authority to pursue funding, the Midway team got to work. McGaugh said they were given a year to raise the necessary funds, and did so in record time.

“We started the public campaign in the spring, after raising the first $700,000 by seven individuals … during the silent phase,” McGaugh said. “The Midway then went public and announced that we would match the first $100,000 that the general public donated.”

The general public responded quickly and generously: $232,000 was raised in just eight weeks.  With a total of $1.3 million raised between the private, the public and the Midway donation match, a permanent “Kiss” statue was now a reality.

The next step was to set the stage. McGaugh said Midway worked with the Port throughout the summer and fall on environmental reviews, permitting and site improvements. The initial grading for the sculpture’s permanent stand began the day after Christmas.

Not everyone was happy.  According to a story in U-T San Diego last March, two members assigned to a Port Authority Public Art Committee resigned over the Port’s decision to keep the statue, after their committee had recommended against it.

For McGaugh, the decision to bring back a permanent statue was a “no-brainer.”

“We think that it’s a great icon of the end of WWII,” he said. “It’s a great tribute to the greatest generation – the 16 million Americans who served and defended our country in WWII.

“We think the location is ideal along the ‘Greatest Generation Walk’ that the Port is developing alongside the USS Midway, [an aircraft carrier] that was born of WWII.

“What [the statue] has come to represent – the sacrifice and peace – together with its location here in Navy Town USA we just think it’s a natural fit.  … In time, a permanent installation will truly become one of the defining features of the Downtown waterfront.”

Stoeke said the permanent statue, “made of patina polychrome with pigment added on top,” is ready for its trek across the United States. It will travel from its New Jersey birthplace in one piece on the back of a flatbed truck and roll into San Diego on or around Wednesday, Feb. 13.

“Spirit of 45,” a national WWII service member alumni organization, will be in San Diego from Feb. 14-17 for their National Leaders Conference and participate in the public unveiling, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16.

For more details about the statue, the USS Midway Memorial or the unveling, visit midway.org. To learn more about the Spirit of 45 organization, visit spiritof45.org and to learn more about The Sculpture Foundation, visit sculpturefoundation.org.