Bayfront Statue, Homage to WWII Photo, to Remain Until May

The iconic statue of a Navy sailor kissing a nurse, which was scheduled to be taken down at the end of the month, will remain on the waterfront at Tuna Harbor through mid-May, the Port of San Diego has announced.

"Unconditional Surrender," by J. Seward Johnson, depicts a famed 1945 Life magazine photograph taken in Times Square in New York when the end of World War II was announced.

It was first loaned to the port in 2007 for a term of one year, officials said. The loan had been extended a number of times and was set to expire at the end of the month.

Supporters of the sculpture attended the Feb. 14 meeting of the Board of Port Commissioners to urge another extension for the loaned sculpture.

Port of San Diego staff and the the Santa Monica-based nonprofit Sculpture Foundation, which owns the 6,000 pound piece of art, have agreed to extend the loan through mid-May, officials said.

Prior to its local installation, the sculpture was displayed in New York as part of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and then displayed in Sarasota, Fla., through the summer of 2006.

– City News Service