There's great public art...
Flickr photo by: iceman9294 - "Cloud Gate" a.k.a. "The Bean"
And there's Park Ridge public art...
Park Ridge Spokesman Oct. 2007 (.pdf) - "Celebration"
The photo of the "Celebration" statue above is admittedly of poor quality; our PRU Tech had a better photo at one time but couldn't find it for this blog post.
The PRU Crew was recently considering the issue of public art. We like it. We like some of it a lot. We don't like some of it at all.
What we profoundly concluded is, art appreciation is subjective and personal. Who knew!!??!!
Of course, "appreciating" anything as subjective and personal as art can lead to some big, BIG, disagreements when it comes to spending public money. And when already tight municipal budgets get squeezed even tighter, public art becomes a sort of cruel joke on taxpayers eager to see their streets paved, sidewalks fixed, sewers repaired, and parkway trees trimmed.
So! We thought we'd ask PRU readers for their thoughts on the subject...
11 comments:
Thank you for bringing this issue to the forefront. Yes - there is a movement by mayor frimark to seek a large sum of money - apprxo $20,000
of our tax payers money and funnel it into the pk ridge arts program called " art in the park".
Yes -also behind this mask of deception in rosemary mulligan's office with the support of gov. blago's hachet.
where are the funds being torn from you ask - give the mayor a call he will tell you.
Its a separte pipeline that frimark has and it all ok - in his mind to seek and spend - as long as its not our ( pk ridge money ).
thank you.
Ah, yes, the ol' "Its not you tax money" line. As long as its Federal Money or State Money, its not YOUR money (or Park Ridge tax dollars).
On the other hand, why should Park Ridge be the only pig to walk away from the trough? Instead of try to "do the right thing" and advocate for less wasteful spending, we might as well line up for our "fair share," lest the other piggies get fatter and fatter . . . .
Great issue, PRU.
Much as I like public art, concerts in the park, etc., the first duty of government is health and safety - which means infrastructure over statues and symphonies.
And it's also time to say "enough!" to those "private" organizations that immediately grab for taxpayer money because they can't or won't do the necessary fundraising to make themselves self-sustaining.
Bread before circuses.
Beans! Beans!
They're good for your heart!
Beans! Beans!
They're great public art!
The more art you see
The better you feel!
So admire the bean
Made from high-polished steel!
That is the best picture of The Bean that I have seen. Thanks PRU.
I understand there are always issues and arguments about spending tax money for anything. People never always agree.
I would hate for every public space in our town to be sterile without elements of public art, but I do think we should take care of basic maintenance before we spend tax money on beautification.
I guess I'm a little torn on this issue.
How about a statue of Mayor Frimark?
Why bother spending any public money to make anything look nice? Why put in annuals, for example? They aren't windbreaks or anything utilitarian.
The choice presented is a false one. You CAN have bread and roses--if you keep the politicians from paying Panera prices for Wonder bread!
Were sculptures & benches put in for the homeless to contemplate?
Anonymous June 16, 2008 9:31 PM:
No, you can't have bread and roses because the politicians will always pay "Panera prices for Wonder Bread" - at least unless and until our voters become more engaged, more informed and less gullible so that they won't fall for lies like how we can get "somebody else" to pay for things, whether that "somebody else" is the federal government, the state government, or the property taxpayers from new condo developments.
If you want flowers and public art, tell the City Council to take the money for it out of the budgets of those "private" organizations who always have their hands out for tax dollars because they can't or won't do the necessary fundraising - maybe because the public doesn't really care all that much about these organizations' pet causes.
I don't see how when you live in a town with such high taxes and they're paying for it.
I like looking at art and I like when the town looks nice. I saw a very good art exhibit of Maine South students. There is some talent in this town--they should conduct a contest and the winning art objects would be put on display. This would not cost the town much and would be a good opportunity for young artists. Paying $20,000 for art in this town when we still have alleys flooding every storm is ridiculous.
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