I wasn't expecting to submit a travelogue, but maybe it's not a bad idea. My most recent trip was to Kansas City and San Diego. Before that, it was Massachusetts, mostly the Berkshire towns in western Massachusetts. Last year, I was in Asheville NC. So what do all these places have in common? And why am I wasting your time telling you about them? They all have public art programs, mainly public sculpture. I bring them up, because they're sort of informal, as these things go. Boston has public sculpture. So does NYC. In fact, so does Miami Beach. And San Francisco. But these are more upscale programs, in a way. Lots of money spent, for juried or commissioned pieces.
Kansas City has loads of public sculpture. It's really quite surprising, and it exists throughout the city and even in neighboring municipalities. Much of it was donated by private wealthy people. The bigger and better pieces are wonderful. But there are also very many pieces which are frankly modest in themselves. Some of them are not much different from some of the garden statuary you can find at various locations in Miami. But given a bit of care about placement and surrounding shrubbery, even these pieces look impressive. Not always for what they are per se, but for the fact that they're there. They're like the difference between a blank wall in your home and a wall with a picture on it. Do you have any pictures on your walls at home? Did you pay thousands or many thousands or tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for them at a prestigious art gallery or a high end auction? No? Oh, they're just pictures you happen to like, maybe even inexpensive reproductions or posters, and you like a bit of decor in your home? Right, some public art is just like that. There's lots like that in KC and environs. And bigger and more impressive pieces, too. I'm told KC has the second most fountains of any city in the world. Rome has more. Almost everywhere you look, there's something interesting. And beautiful. And the people of KC like it that way.
San Diego has less, but it's effective. There's one strip of sculptures along the wharf. No high art at all, but each piece interesting. And the aggregate is even better than the interesting pieces. Other pieces are scattered at various places in the city. There doesn't seem to be a concerted and pervasive plan, like there is in KC, but they certainly make their point.
Asheville is quite interesting. It's a relatively small and funky venue, and you sort of stumble onto things. The public outdoor sculpture in Asheville is distinctly funky. It's humorous and often unexpected. There's a real sense of playfulness about Asheville's sculpture. And there's more of it than you would think there would be in a town like that.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is a depressed city. They lost a huge employer in General Electric, and they never quite recovered. They seem to be working on it. They like their summer outdoor festivals, and they have overflow from the toney Berkshire crowd, but Pittsfield itself is distinctly blue collar, at best. High unemployment. So what on earth are they doing with so many pieces of outdoor public sculpture? Again, no high art. Just weird, sometimes funky, curious stuff, and it isn't all the same from one year to the next. You really want to drive through the center of downtown, just to see what they have this year. And you can't fully believe they take themselves that seriously. Or have quite that much pride. But apparently, they do.
And these are not the only places you find public art. We have some here. You know those huge fiberglass chickens that are painted in various ways? There's at least one on SW 8th Street. And other places. What, that's not public art? Says who? Of course it is. In the Berkshire towns, it's cows like that. And someplace else, I saw the same phenomenon, only sheep. OK, so it's not "high art." And your point is? It's diversity. It's intrigue. It's a kind of drama. Or it's cute, or funny, or charming. And it's interesting and engaging. It makes you want to look around, maybe wonder what's down the next street. It makes you think about the people. They like themselves, and the place they live. They have a special pride. They want life in their lives.
Now I couldn't prove this, it's just my impression, but it seems to me art like this adds real value to a place, too. Would I say to you that it specifically increases "property values?" No, I couldn't do that. I don't know if it does, or if anyone tried to study the question. But I will tell you that my reaction to the areas that want to feature public art is that they seem to have a special "value."
Right now, we in BP are sort of suffering a bit. Some of it is our own fault, and some isn't. The part that's not our fault is the foreclosures and bank-owned properties. No one even cuts the grass, and these properties are hurting. My own sense, and listening to what others say at Commission meetings and elsewhere, is that they're hurting all of us. What is our own fault is decrepit lawns, paint and other maintenance that isn't done, and miserable medians. I was on Planning and Zoning for a few years, and it's very clear to me that the policy-makers, and the enforcers, do not want to live in a run down environment. Neither do I. If anything, they want the Codes strengthened, and they want them enforced. We want to step it up, and have a neighborhood that pleases us and that we can be proud of.
We have a piece of public sculpture of our own. It's in "Griffing Park," just across 6th Avenue from the log cabin. But we're not limited to one sculpture. We could have as many as we want. As long as we're interested and willing to provide them for ourselves. We could have frequently occurring smaller concrete pieces, on every median, if we want, and/or we can have more attention-grabbing pieces, in large medians or any of our public places. All we need is interest, a certain amount of money, and a commitment from the Village to make the spaces available.
Have I sparked anyone's interest? I want to know about it if I have. I'm more than happy to help find pieces, collect money, and get us stuff. Or, the Foundation, if it raises enough money on a reliable and recurring basis, may want to begin a program of acquisition of public sculpture for us. Also, if we don't have enough money, many sculptors who make large and expensive pieces, will rent those pieces, usually for 10% of the purchase price per year. You can lease a piece for a year or two or so, then let it go and get something else. Or if we really liked something we leased, we could just finish paying for it and keep it.
So lemme know what you think.
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