We are familiar with that px building at Main & Pacific across from the dog park. What about that column supporting the corner of the building? A bronze column with female figures emerging from the surface. In plain sight, but hard to see.
The 14 ft. high, 12 in. diameter sculpture “Emergence” is by prominent California painter and sculptor Ruth Cozen Snyder (1918 – 2019). Ruth Cozen was born in Canada and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1922. She attended UCLA and Otis Art Institute.
Her sculptures, modeled in clay and cast in bronze, are found at several southern California institutions. Typically empathetic female figures - dancers, runners, and moving women that are powerful and fully emerged into the world. The corner is a difficult site for public art, although it probably helped that Snyder owned the building.
In 1911, four 1-story cottages (140, 144, 146 & 148 Pacific) are built along the south side of Pacific Street between Main and Neilson.
The four cottages are still there in 1918 - but by 1950, the cottage (148 Pacific) on the Main Street / Pacific corner is gone, and the two lots on the corner (146 & 148 Pacific) are combined.
In 1988, approval is obtained to demolish the cottage at 146 Pacific. It is replaced with a 2-story mixed-use building (2200 Main St) covering the entire lot with a 2nd floor, 2,650 Sf of artist studio / residence over ground floor retail, and covered parking.
In 1990, a variance is obtained for 2200 Main St to convert the 2nd floor residential space to commercial use. This change to commercial use means that the required parking goes from 6 spaces to 12 spaces. To accommodate the additional 6 spaces, a hydraulic parking lift is required in the covered space.
2200 Main St is Santa Monica zoned Mixed-Use Boulevard Low (MUBL). A Tier 1 MUBL zoned project has a maximum height of 2-story, 32 feet high, and a FAR of 1.25.
The adjacent 144 Pacific St cottage has been recently demolished to make way for a 2 story single-family residence (under construction). The last of the four cottages, 140 Pacific St, on the corner with Neilson, remains.