Spelling isn’t her strong point

An artist who created a mosaic of misspelled words returned to Livermore, Calif., this week to fix her much-maligned display outside the town’s new public library.

Last year, the Livermore City Council paid Miami artist Maria Alquilar $40,000 to create an educational mural -- and got a colorful, 16-foot circular mosaic of famous names riddled with spelling errors.

Alquilar said that “art” had chosen the 175 historical names and cultural words she included and that city officials should have noticed the spelling errors while she was on her hands and knees laying out the installation. Last fall, she refused to return to Livermore, saying she was treated as a “sacrificial goat.”

But after the City Council agreed to pay her $6,000 plus travel expenses to fix the 11 misspellings. “Eistein” was corrected to “Einstein” and “Shakespere” amended to “Shakespeare.”