How do you misspell 'art'?

Bay Area library embarrassed by mural After a $40,000 ceramic mural was unveiled outside Livermore's new library, everyone could see the misspelled names of Einstein, Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and seven other historical figures.

Reached at her Miami studio Wednesday by The Associated Press, Maria Alquilar said she was willing to fix the brightly colored 16-foot-wide circular work [for another $6,000 plus expenses], but offered no apologizes for the 11 misspellings among the 175 names.

"The importance of this work is that it is supposed to unite people," Alquilar said. "They are denigrating my work and the purpose of this work." There were plenty of people around during the installation who could and should have seen the missing and misplaced letters, she said.

The mistakes wouldn't even register with a true artisan, Alquilar said. "The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she said. "In their mind the words register correctly."

Grossly overpaid, hideous art funded by my tax dollars is one thing. But when it's grossly overpaid hideous misspelled art, well that's where I draw the line, missy.