In Owens Valley, They’re Skeptical of Angelenos Bearing Gifts, Including New Artwork

Los Angeles insists that it had the best of intentions as it erected the monument of granite and sculpted earth that is now rising from a dry bed of Owens Lake 200 miles to the north.

Department of Water and Power officials saw it as a gesture of reconciliation for taking the region’s water more than a century ago. The interactive artwork, to be unveiled this week, features a public plaza with curved granite walls inspired by the wing shapes of shorebirds. Sculptures of earth and rock have been made to resemble whitecaps. Scenic gravel trails wind throughout.