In 1991 , Tunberg won the Veteran 's Memorial Competition of the City of Santa Monica for his memorial design '' Promises Kept '' , which was to be installed in Palisades Park . The design consisted of a locked and barred door surrounded by a fence ; a window set in the door contained an eternal flame . Tunberg stated that " I want people to see the monument , and say , ' Whoa , that is heavy ! ' . . . My idea was to express my true feelings , an honest assessment of what the veteran has done for the country . " Selected by a city-appointed panel of three jurors from a field of eleven proposals , Tunberg 's design was reproduced as a model and placed on public display . Juror Woods Davy , a sculptor , described the proposal as being the one " that had the most feeling to it ' , and fellow juror Thomas Rhoads , director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art , regarded it as " the most interesting and . . . thought-provoking of all the proposals " . Described by former City Councilwoman Christine Reed as " that jail-door thing " , the design caused a political firestorm in the Santa Monica City Council , despite support from panelists and after much uproar , the memorial was abandoned . 1993 brought Tunberg 's first religious commission . Bel Air Church in Los Angeles commissioned a inlaid hardwood cross . When the 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred , the '' Los Angeles Times '' reported " The 300-pound cross , barely anchored to the floor , did not topple , nor was it touched by the water , though everything around it was ruined . " In 1996 , The Presbyterian Great Vision Church in Los Angeles commissioned an inlaid hardwood cross . In 1999 , Wilshire Boulevard Temple , Irmas Campus , Los Angeles , commissioned a sculptural Ark of the Covenant made of hardwood and marquetry
1994 Northridge earthquake
1994 Northridge earthquake
William Tunberg (artist)