In 1999, San Diego public arts administrators rejected a proposal for a sculpture built from boat scraps because residents thought it would be too weird for the proposed location downtown. So the artist, Nancy Rubins, took her work to a museum a few miles away, and it quickly became a hit. "it's been used extensively in articles and travel magazines. It has become a favorite image of the area," says Denise Montgomery, spokeswoman for the Museum of Contemporary Art in nearby La Jolla. The arrangement had mutual benefits for the public and the museum. But Robert Pincus, art critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune, is quick to point out why: "Now people don't complain about it. Part of the reason they don't is that it's on museum grounds. Museum can do what they want. But if it was out in public, they'd be outraged.