Doris Walker-Smith Tribute Art Display Recommendation Passes Unanimously

After a two-alarm house blaze killed  in October, the Dana Point City Council unanimously approved a tribute art design in her honor Tuesday night.

The recommendation from the Dana Point Arts and Culture Commission was tri-fold. It included approving the conceptual pop-up book art design by local artist Christopher Pecharka, approving funding for the display and designating the Heritage Park Compass Point as the “Doris Walker Overlook.”

Walker-Smith, best known for her books such as Images of America: Dana Point; Orange County Then and Now and Adventurer’s Guide to Dana Point reflected her love and passion for the outdoors as well as her hometown. Therefore, when deciding upon a tribute in her honor, it had to be regional in nature as well as biographically accurate. The design would tell a story, include quotes from her books, and follow a theme of romance.

In January, the Arts and Culture Commission created an ad hoc committee, which included Dana Point residents who were close with Walker-Smith, two commissioners Judy Henderson and Elizabeth Bamattre, and Walker’s sons Blair and Brent, to share insight into Walker’s vision and her life.

According to Blair, Compass Point was one of his mother’s favorite places to look out over her city. While fitting to rename it in her honor, Mayor of Dana Point Lara Anderson pointed out the irony: 

“One thing I really love…our town was named after an author, Richard Henry Dana [Jr.], and the statue of him in the harbor looks toward the overlook, and we’re talking about making it ‘Doris Overlook’ to look back at him.”

Upon reviewing conceptual design proposals from local artists Pecharka and Lance Jost, they decided on longtime Dana Point resident Pecharka’s design.

Pecharka’s career spans 30 years as a professional artist and he is best known for the Strand’s Vista Park Veterans Memorial display. While Pecharka submitted several sketches for the Walker-Smith tribute, he describes the winner as “spontaneously and organically arising from his imagination.”

According to Karin Schnell, the chair of the Arts and Culture Commission for the city of Dana Point, the top of the pop-up book design will be bronze, while the bottom will contain quotes from Walker-Smith's books.

“This will tell a story in its own right and honor what she wrote and preserved for all of us,” Schnell said.

The project will cost about $40,000, which includes bronze casting, construction of the base and artist’s fee. The goal is to finish the tribute by Aug. 18, which would have been Walker-Smith's 79th birthday.