I addressed the city council tonight about public art approval.

They chuckled when I came forward (or at least the ones I drew cartoons about).

The debate about the commemorative plaque is priceless, especially when Costello doesn’t know what art is and Knudson goes into an emotional speech about a coffeehouse mural. I was in stitches.

Here is the video Link once available, get out your popcorn:

http://www.siouxfalls.org/Cityclerk/agendas_minutes.aspx

This is what I said:

I wanted to start out by saying I’m not here to tell you how you should vote on the plaque resolution tonight. That’s your decision to make, and I hope you make the right one.

I’m here to address bigger issues this plaque resolution has brought to light; the financing and selection of public art in Sioux Falls.

I want to start out by saying that private funding of public art projects corrupts our political system. Not just in Sioux Falls but the rest of our nation.

I have a great interest in public art, and I am a supporter, especially when the public benefits from it in awareness and education. Notice I use the word ‘Public’. That is who is supposed to benefit from public art. Private industry, people with deep pockets, or supporters of political candidates should not be the focus of ‘Public’ art.

I have closely watched public art programs in our city over the last few years including the Visual Arts Commission and SculptureWalk. In fact I have applied to be on the VAC twice. The first time my application got ‘misplaced’ and the second time it was confirmed by a letter that it was received. There have been two vacancies that have existed for over a year now. As far as I know, my application is still sitting in a file cabinet at City Hall, and I’m still willing to serve.

I have seen some pretty major issues with the way public art is approved in our city, but there is some very simple solutions:

First, Eliminate conflicts of interest
This is referring to the Visual Arts Commission. One member had already voluntarily resigned in the past due to conflict of interest, but only after it was pointed out by a citizen. Do other members of the VAC have direct conflicts of interest? For instance the chair, Jerry Hauck. He is either a owner or co-owner of a private gallery and foundry. Wouldn’t some of his VAC decisions benefit his business? And vice chair, Stacey McMahan, is employed by an architecture firm that frequently works on city projects, does some of her decisions benefit her employer? These are important questions to ask. It seems these conflicts only ensure ‘certain’ artists’ art gets displayed in our community. Eliminate these conflicts and you will have a fair advisory board.

Secondly, Eliminate the powers of Parks and Rec to approve ANY art, plaque or memorial on their own.
I think if you eliminate any jurisdiction they may have over public art you will be guaranteed that no more public art will slip through the cracks of the approval process. The VAC was purposely designed to be an advisory group to the city, let them do their job, not the Parks & Rec or any other city department.

And, Lastly, Eliminate private funding of public art, or tighten the restrictions on private donations.
Public art should be publicly funded to ensure accountability and transparency. I know that private money helps. The Washington Pavilion and SculptureWalk both benefit from private funds. I think they can still accept private funds, but there should be tight restrictions on the donating party, such as maximum donation limits, and what perks, schwag and kickback the donating party receives. Just because someone donates money to create a sculpture that will be put on public property, like at the Law enforcement center & County courthouse, doesn’t mean the public should be left out of the process of approval or that there shouldn’t be an open call for the art. Lets take the Downtown Library sculpture for example. Was that approved by the VAC? Who purchased it? The City? Private funds? How was that piece selected? It seems the donating parties are the ones choosing the art, not the public, as in the case of the mayor’s plaque and the pieces I mentioned above.

I want to finish by saying, You all have the power to make one OR all of these changes. I hope that you will closely look at instituting some of these changes, for the betterment of our community and for the sake of public art in Sioux Falls. I agree that Sioux Falls has the infrastructure, and the potential to become an arts aware community, but only if we include the community in that process.