Having welcomed visitors to Twentynine Palms since 2009, the metal 29! sign has recently been subject to recent debate over its location. Last month, the PAAC presented two options for the sign at a Twentynine Palms City Council Meeting: one being to restore the sign in its current location on the east side of Donnell Hill, and the other to move it to a different location within the town. The PAAC’s Anna Kemp noted that the committee had decided on a recommendation between the two options.
“Our advice to the city council is that it indeed does move, because that was only temporarily placed on that hill, and the artist Chuck Caplinger doesn’t want it to stay there. We would like it to go someplace else.”
The sign’s current location along Highway 62 has received criticism for being not only dangerous, but inaccessible for fans of public art.
“When it was placed on Donnell Hill, Instagram and selfies didn’t totally exist at that time. Now, everybody wants to go there and stand in front of the 29! and get their picture taken, but it’s very dangerous to get to that. And it also is not ADA accessible, and public art needs to be available to everybody, not only people who walk on two legs.”
The PAAC plans to present the City Council with their recommendation for the sign at a future meeting. You can listen to Gary’s full conversation with Anna Stump by downloading the Up Close Show as a podcast.
