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Kiss Statue's (Final) Final Weekend

After months of controversial wrangling over its future, “Unconditional Surrender,” the 25 foot recreation of a World War II era sailor kissing a nurse, appears to be finally approaching its final days on the San Diego bay front.

Following several years’ worth of extensions on a loan of the artwork that originally expired in 2008, the Port of San Diego announced plans in February to remove the statue by month-end. Numerous protests seeking to keep the work sprang up, including a “kiss-in” staged by an Ocean Beach photographer and a fund-raising drive seeking to replace the traveling piece (next slated to visit a sculpture garden in New Jersey) with a permanent installation.

The Port says that work to deconstruct the art and prepare it for transport will begin Wednesday, May 30, with work to be completed by the following day.

The USS Midway Museum, which is spearheading the drive to raise $1 million for a permanent bronze replica of the piece, will give an update on fundraising efforts at a free veterans’ remembrance ceremony on the ship’s flight deck this Saturday.

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After months of controversial wrangling over its future, “Unconditional Surrender,” the 25 foot recreation of a World War II era sailor kissing a nurse, appears to be finally approaching its final days on the San Diego bay front.

Following several years’ worth of extensions on a loan of the artwork that originally expired in 2008, the Port of San Diego announced plans in February to remove the statue by month-end. Numerous protests seeking to keep the work sprang up, including a “kiss-in” staged by an Ocean Beach photographer and a fund-raising drive seeking to replace the traveling piece (next slated to visit a sculpture garden in New Jersey) with a permanent installation.

The Port says that work to deconstruct the art and prepare it for transport will begin Wednesday, May 30, with work to be completed by the following day.

The USS Midway Museum, which is spearheading the drive to raise $1 million for a permanent bronze replica of the piece, will give an update on fundraising efforts at a free veterans’ remembrance ceremony on the ship’s flight deck this Saturday.

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Unconditional Surrender Statue to Depart Bayfront

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