I’ll have to put out a ‘hat tip’ to Jay K. at the Argus Leader for following up on the  SculptureWalk juror issue. As you may or may not know I wrote a letter to the editor of the Argus asking why the SculptureWalk juror names were secret and after Jay did a story for the 2007 SculptureWalk, they decided to release them. And of course NOT because I brought it up. They say they only release the names AFTER the jury process is over. Which is peculiar because the names have never been released in past years. They claim their identities are to stay anonymous because they didn’t want the jurors to be bothered by the artists, conflicts, etc. Lame excuse.  Like artists have time for that shit.

Anyway, after reading the list, I’m puzzled how these people are qualified to be on it, here’s my review, and of course opinion on the matter:

Chairwoman: Janet Brown, chairwoman of the Performing and Visual Arts at Augustana College
This one is bizarre. Usually chairs don’t bother with being a juror, do they have time? Usually they are the final say. They’ll look at what a jury picks, then tell the jury if something can’t be shown due to conflicts of interest, etc. But to actually sit on the panel. Very weird. But of course this is a woman who gave her HUSBAND art grants while she ran the SD Arts Council, so no surprise.

Mary Groth, artist
Mary may be the ONLY person qualified to sit on this jury. She is the only full-time artist on the jury, even though she is a painter and not a sculptor. In conversations w/Mary, she seems to be obsessed w/ saleability of art, and this worries me. As someone said to me last night, SW reminds them of the Franklin Mint.

Lynne Byrne, artist, Byrne Companies and VistaComm
Lynne is a photographer and married to a multi-multi-multi-millionaire. I’ll give Lynne credit, she has an amazing eye and her photos are very beautiful, but if you and I had time to travel all over the world and take pictures of exotic places, you would probably have a knack for it to. Lynne sits on the jury because her husband and her give lots O’ money to SW.

Lyle Parks, artist and CCL Label
Lyle is the only sculptor on the jury. Lyle is very talented, and I enjoy his work.

Paul Schiller, artist and co-owner Lawrence & Schiller Inc.
The co-founder of South Dakota’s largest ad agency, and photographer is also very qualified to sit on this jury, but like Groth, he is more concerned about saleability (worked in advertising for uptine years!) then about aesthetics. Ever seen his photo’s? Anne Geddes w/o the kids.

Anne Scherschligt, Howalt-McDowell Insurance
Huh? Besides being related to a wealthy family involved in the Insurance industry, I’m trying to figure out her qualifications. I always call my insurance agent and shoot the shit about art, don’t you?

Chris Schiltz, Koch Hazard Architects
Co-owner of an Architect firm. Again, please explain qualifications? Besides being connected and wealthy.

Michael Bender, Bender Commercial Real Estate
This one makes no sense. You could replace Micheal with a school janitor and be better off.

Mike Hall, city of Sioux Falls
This selection makes sense, but in ways is ironic. Since SW is public art, it is good to have a representative from the city as a juror. But, SW seems to always say they are mostly privately funded, so why would they need Mike on the jury? They don’t care about my opinion, a taxpayer, why should they care about his?

Steve NyHaug, city of Sioux Falls
Steve is the ONLY juror that makes sense. Ok, you ask, what the fuck does a police captain know about art? Well sometimes it’s good to have Joe six-pack sitting on a jury, because they will give a different perspective, but more importantly it’s a public safety issue, you don’t want some sculpture made out of knives in SW, do you?

Jim Clark, Xcel Energy
This one is extremely peculiar. I guess if you are the founder, you deserve the right to sit on the jury. Jim, you are soooooooooooooo modest!