ENCINITAS, Calif. — A unique sculpture of a cupid riding a hammerhead shark will sit on a column 15-feet in the air of Leucadia Oaks Park. It will also move slightly side-to-side in the wind. While it won't be installed until January, it's already starting a conversation amongst neighbors.
"Everyone likes a shark, baby shark," Encinitas Resident Katrina said. "We have a lot of kids around here, I think they will love it."
"It’s an interesting… concept," Resident Anh said skeptically.
It may not be exactly what you picture at a neighborhood park, but it definitely has a connection to the nearby ocean. The sculpture, called Neptune Jr., was built by Sergey Gornushkin.
"A little child on top kind of symbolizes a very important fact that we want to promote environmental protection and marine protection in the younger generations," Gornushkin said.
The artist's two-year-old son posed as cupid for the sculpture when it was built in 2021. Gornushkin said cupid's wings symbolizes hope for the shark he's riding.
"Cupid is a messenger of love and peace, and a hammerhead shark is one of the most gracious marine animals out there," he said.
Neighbors said it reminds them of another Encinitas statue.
"We've got the Cardiff kook, and people make fun of that for a long time, but it's become part of the neighborhood over there," Encinitas Resident Kurt said. "So maybe we'll have our version of the Cardiff kook."
But, Neptune Jr. will only live at the Encinitas park for two years. It's one of five pieces going up as part of a city art program where artists loan their work to be displayed in Encinitas. The City Council recently voted to accept Neptune Jr.
"It gives artists an opportunity to exhibit where they might not otherwise have been able to, it gives the city the opportunity to put things in at a very affordable way," Collete Murphy Stefanko, Arts Division Manager of Encinitas said.