© 2006 AP (via Salon) http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8EVO38G1.html

By DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press Writer

January 07, 2006 | SAN MARINO, Calif. -- A plan to build a sprawling, classical Chinese garden at the renowned Huntington Library is in jeopardy because U.S. immigration officials have denied visas to 13 Chinese stonemasons needed to assemble ornate bridges and pavilions.

The artisans were expected to arrive this month to help create the first phase of the 12-acre garden. But the U.S. government refused to grant visas in September because they didn't consider the project an important cultural exchange program, library officials said.

"We'll have to close the project if we can't get them here," said Steven Koblik, president of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens east of Los Angeles.

The Huntington's case is an example of an ongoing problem U.S. cultural institutions face in trying to obtain travel visas for foreign artists since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Applications for cultural, arts or sports visas have had to pass through more screening due to security concerns.

Last year, 1,972 cultural exchange visas were approved, said Laura Tischler, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, a division of the State Department. Tischler said she did not know how many applications were rejected, because in many instances the refusals are overturned.

"Globally speaking, we issue well over 80 percent of the visa applications received," she said.

When the Portland Classical Chinese Garden underwent construction in 1999, up to 90 Chinese artisans came to Oregon to help build arching bridges and gateways, said the garden's executive director, Gloria Lee.

"That was another era," Lee said. Last year, applications to bring six Chinese musicians to perform at the garden were denied, she said.

The Huntington submitted applications last summer in hopes of bringing artisans from Suzhou, a city along China's central coast known for its beautiful gardens, to work on what officials hope will be a sprawling garden to complement its famous Japanese garden. The artisans have already chiseled stone bridges and pavilions in China, and were to spend several weeks assembling the pieces around a recently excavated lake.

During that time, the Huntington planned to hold workshops and seminars to introduce the public to the centuries-old art of Chinese landscaping, Koblik said. The garden is important because a venue is needed to explain Chinese history and culture to America as China emerges as a global economic and political power, he said.

A spokeswoman with the Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau declined to comment on the stonemasons' applications, citing privacy concerns.

"If a visa application is rejected, then it usually is because people don't qualify for the visa for which they applied," said bureau spokeswoman Marie Sebrechts.

On the Net:

Huntington Library: http://www.huntington.org/

Citizenship and Immigration Services: http://uscis.gov/

Staten Island Botanical Garden: http://www.sibg.org/cg.html

Seattle Chinese Garden: http://www.seattle-chinese-garden.org/