Last night, the Traverse City Commission introduced a new policy on how the city seeks out pieces of public art.
Public art has been a touchy subject in Traverse City for years. In 2008, public outcry derailed plans to put a modern art sculpture called Time Myth on the shore of Grand Traverse Bay. Time Myth is a 30-foot-tall, angular, white sculpture that’s been displayed in a courtyard at the K-Mart headquarters in Troy.
The public conversation about Time Myth quickly deteriorated and the idea was scrapped.
Traverse City Mayor Michael Estes said a lot of people didn’t like the idea of a large sculpture blocking the view of Grand Traverse Bay.
“And there was a certain segment of people who thought it was a great piece of art and a great deal for the city,” said Estes. “(They) just sort of pushed that agenda forward.”
Dennos Museum Director Gene Jenneman was the one who negotiated with the owners of Time Myth to have the sculpture donated to Traverse City. He said no one was forcing the city to accept the sculpture.
“It was never the intent to say, ‘Here, you have to take this,’ it was … an opportunity, if you want it,” said Jenneman.
'Educating your eye'
Jenneman said public art – particularly when it’s modern art – is almost always controversial. That’s because when people see a 30-foot tall pyramid of angular steel beams like Time Myth – they might not “get it” right away.
“The first time I had a glass of dry red wine, I didn’t like it but I have come to enjoy a good glass of red wine,” he said. “That didn’t come from somebody standing in front of me, telling me what I should like. That came from me experiencing. For the public, in terms of appreciating art, it’s a matter of developing and educating your eye.”
Jenneman said a classic example of public art aging like a fine wine is the Alexander Calder sculpture in downtown Grand Rapids. Before the 50-foot long, bright red sculpture was finished in 1969, many residents of Grand Rapids were outraged. But these days, the sculpture is a strong part of the city’s identity.
The Downtown Development Authority is proposing this new process for public art. DDA Director Rob Bacigalupi hopes that if the proposal goes through, it will ease some of the controversy.
“What this new ordinance would do is create more of a proactive approach to public art, as opposed to the reactive approach that we have,” said Bacigalupi.
A more transparent process
The proposal calls for the creation of a new Arts Committee, whose first task would be coming up with a comprehensive master plan for public art in the city. The master plan would take into consideration the character of different locations throughout the city and set up some guidelines on what types of art would – and would not – be appropriate.
An arts selection panel would then be given the power to seek out and commission individual pieces. All of the meetings of the arts commission and the art selection panel would be open to the public.
Bacigalupi knows that any public art project is likely to ruffle someone’s feathers but he hopes that a more transparent and well-defined process will help ease public concerns.
“So the hope is that you have a clearer picture of what you want … in your community, those controversies can be avoided,” he said.
Bacigalupi hopes that if the experiment is successful, residents will begin to see public art as a part of Traverse City’s identity.
“Hopefully, in the end it will be like the Calder, where people might wonder why the city chose to put a piece out there but after a while they (ask) what would Traverse City be without this particular piece,” he said.
The Traverse City commission introduced the proposal Tuesday night. It’s likely to come up for a vote at the next commission meeting, scheduled for Feb. 2nd.