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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Visual Art Naive at Best: Sell Washington's Public Art to Fund Low-Income Scholarships

Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 11:27 AM

HEY, RICH PEOPLE! So if we tear this installation off the walls of White Bluffs Elementary School in Richland, you'll buy it, right?

Courtesy Washington Art in Public Places
HEY, RICH PEOPLE! So if we tear this installation off the walls of White Bluffs Elementary School in Richland, you'll buy it, right?

This story in this weekend's News Tribune reports on the Washington state senator (Karen Keiser, D-Kent), who has proposed a bill that would sell public art to fund State Need Grants.

It seems the lightbulb came on in Keiser's head when she came across a Kenneth Callahan mural in a dark room.

This is the kind of idea that pops into a legislator's head because the voters in the state with the most regressive tax structure in the nation are bankrupting those in need. So, thinks a Democratic legislator, we shall sell some art and make some dough!

Has Karen Keiser ever seen any public art?

I'm trying to imagine the pitch to the prospective collector, hot on the trail* of something for the home.

How would you like to buy a 36-foot rain-collecting arch by an artist you've never heard of! No, no, wait—a ribbon of colored glass embedded in the windows of a junior high school by another artist you've never heard of!

Okay, okay, you want an artist you've heard of—how about this fenced-in grid of trees in giant planters by California Light and Space pioneer Robert Irwin? Oh, come on, you don't think the neighbors will like it?

Keiser is attempting to help everybody. She's seeing a win-win. But her vision of art is the vision of a person who doesn't know anything about how art actually works. Ignorance about art is a commonplace in American life, but that doesn't mean it doesn't drive me crazy. Public art is not a cash cow. Public art is not the pet project of the wealthy. Trust me when I say that the rich and powerful do not give a crap about public art, and will not be caught dead buying it.

Or don't trust me. Ask any art dealer in Seattle. They can barely sell the works they have on display—the ones that will fit above the sofa, the ones made by dead artists with established names (easiest to sell, and still hard to move). Woodside/Braseth Gallery has been open for 50 years, and here's what John Braseth had to say: "In short...a naive idea. Even if the art was highly marketable, and it's not. This would be the worst economy to sell it in!"

No, it's simple: If you want to pay for the poor, you have to tax the rich. Backflips involving yanking the windows out of middle schools isn't going to do it.

^{*As if any collector in the current market is "hot on the trail" for anything at all.}

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Your final paragraph says it all.

The only people that will welcome this are rich art collectors, getting another effective subsidy.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 21, 2012 at 11:33 AM

Speaking of ignorance...there is no state legislative district named "Kent".

There is the 33rd which covers some of Kent that is west of 104th.

And the 47th which covers East Hill...among many other areas.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on February 21, 2012 at 11:39 AM

SROTU, it's referred to as Kent.

Posted by Jen Graves on February 21, 2012 at 11:42 AM

#3

"What" is referred to as Kent?

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on February 21, 2012 at 11:46 AM

33rd District:

Cities in the district include Burien, Des Moines, Kent, Normandy Park and Sea-Tac...

http://seattlewebcrafters.com/wapolitics…

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on February 21, 2012 at 11:48 AM

@4 The area south of Renton and north of Auburn where bodies are periodically dumped.

Posted by Resident in the 47th on February 21, 2012 at 11:49 AM

It says right on Karen Keiser's own web page "33rd Legislative District, Kent." That's presumably what Ms. Graves means.

Posted by leek on February 21, 2012 at 12:05 PM

You know it's a good thread when six out of seven comments are by or about Will in Seattle or Supreme Ruler (and the seventh is about dumping dead bodies).

I agree with you, Jen: asset-stripping is a terrible way to fund the future. When you're done, you've funded one day of public schools, and you've lost all the art. This is a dope-addict move.

Posted by Fnarf

on February 21, 2012 at 12:19 PM

"How would you like to buy a 36-foot rain-collecting arch by an artist you've never heard of! No, no, wait—a ribbon of colored glass embedded in the windows of a junior high school by another artist you've never heard of"

Apparently you have no problem when the gub'ment buys this stuff.

Posted by Why don't u try and get an income tax? on February 21, 2012 at 12:22 PM

Public art is part of our heritage. Public servants don't get to pawn it off. I can't believe anyone would be so tacky.

It's like taking an inheritance that isn't yours, that has more sentimental than monetary value, and trading it for a few bucks.

Posted by Marph on February 21, 2012 at 12:30 PM

#7

Then both are wrong.

And both, presumably, are Democrats.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on February 21, 2012 at 3:21 PM

FFS, IT is ABOUT THE DUMBASS FROM KENT wanting to sell art. If she's not from Kent she is still a dumbass.

Posted by lauramae on February 21, 2012 at 6:32 PM

A democratic legislator should be advocating for the restructuring of taxes to pay for commonly needed services, increasing taxes on those best able to pay, and increasing creative and appropriate revenue streams to pay for the commissioning, administration and maintenance of more public art. We used to live in a world where such things were considered to be reasonable and desirable. To suggest any of these now is to be regarded as stupid and foolish. . .what has happened?

Posted by Justanotherelwood on February 21, 2012 at 7:38 PM