brown and garrett: examining public art tirade from an artist's view - street light price

Caitlind Brown and Wayne GarrettWe loved reading the review storm about the new public art-
Superstudio and artist del Gister and bowford tower in Patricia Leton.
As an ACAD graduate and a local artist, it took us a little time to write an open letter.
In Calgary, two recurring questions about public art are: "Why spend so much money" and "why didn't local artists get this commission" the first one is easy to solve: public art spends so much money because it is regarded as an infrastructure.
Even the blue ring "(
Line light)
Street lamps and public sculptures that are required to reflect standards at the same time.
It must serve both functions and must be embedded in the Bridge (
This may be the main reason for the seemingly high price).
This artwork on the TransCanada Highway is reasonably priced compared to international public art standards.
This is also a reasonable cost compared to the entire capital project (
Highway exchange $71 million).
Public infrastructure is expensive, public art, though included in this regard, is relatively cheap.
It does not withdraw money from homelessness, health care, education, etc.
More than any other city.
There is a misconception that Calgary is pouring gold coins into the pocket of a wealthy artist in New York City.
Believe me, artists have little income in this area.
Most of them are manufacturers, project management, engineering, installation, contractors, specialist fees, heavy equipment, raw materials, strict testing and any number of intangible ancillary structures.
In fact, most of the public art money is spent in our city and on the workers who help build and install these projects.
This is a big bang for bucks!
The second question is more complex: the Calgary Public Arts Council is always open to local artists and sometimes only to local talent.
The group consists of various groups including professional artists, community members and community stakeholders.
Local artists did apply for commissions, but most of them are also open in the world.
The same is true for public art committees around the world (
We applied in person and received an international commission. )
We have reason to support local talent, but we must recognize that we live in a globalized art community and that it is important that Calgary has space for international sound and expertise.
Although Calgary public art is trying to engage with local artists, few people are interested or have the ability to leap from small to large
Large scale project
Public art of scale.
Maybe they were turned off by the bureaucracy.
Maybe they value freedom.
Maybe they don't want to be killed by the media.
Perhaps the medium they choose cannot be transformed into public art.
Working as a public artist needs to be more
Tasks between concepts (
Core of work)
Transform design into a complex level of communication, material experiments, environmental considerations, and politics of what can exist in public spaces.
This is overwhelming.
We are now experiencing a series of endless compromises, some of which may undermine the concept.
We have developed a new level of appreciation for anyone who makes anything cool in public space.
We would love to see Calgary continue to focus on more interesting questions about public art.