I went over and snapped some pictures. It was interesting to watch them piece it together. While this will be a ‘neat’ sculpture, I still think that the $2.6 million spent on this project could have have been put to better use doing HUNDREDS of art and beautification projects all over Sioux Falls, hiring local contractors, landscapers, artists, artisans and craftsman. Instead we spent it on a fabrication shop in Colorado. At least the artist was from South Dakota. As I have stated in the past, this is just a monument to egos.

safe_image.php precious-americana-dutch-boy-paints-lw1gb-433x600

People’s choice award, a house paint logo image. Maybe I should submit an Aunt Jamima or Pillsbury Dough Boy sculpture?

I often chuckle about the people who make the public art selections in this (boom)town.

Remember this People’s Choice winner from Sculpture Walk 2014 (created by Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby)? It will soon have a new home in the Washington Pavilion’s main lobby as you walk up to the VAC. Thank you City of Sioux Falls – Municipal Government and SculptureWalk!
http://sculpturewalksiouxfalls.com/…/2014/worlds-her-canvas/

 

There is a sucker born everyday, and probably 2 or 3 in Sioux Falls. I also find the irony of the ‘Dutch Boy’ (Girl? Boy? Transgender?) actually painting a REAL painting and not a house to be funny. Do you think that Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby (the artists) are having a little joke with us? Nah. They are not that clever.

I don’t think this was a mistake, I believe with all the Downtown development, they kind of want the wall to go away, but a bad way to go about it;

But the maintenance has been sparse since the last segment of artwork was installed in 2009. And time is taking its toll.

Creators of the mosaic believe vibrations caused by the demolition of the nearby River Ramp in 2012 caused many of the tiles to loosen. Ice melt and other chemicals applied to the adjacent road in winter splashes up on the mosaic and contributes to a leaching that is staining the tiles.

“Having that type of wall next to a busy street with our winters just makes it problematic,” said Sue Quanbeck Etten, director of central services for the city.

But chemical splash isn’t the only issue here. The wall sits along a triangular piece of land that the city believes is prime for redevelopment. It’s trying to gauge private interest now in building on that site. Depending on the interest, the city wants to expand the River Greenway to that side of the Big Sioux much the same as has been done next to Cherapa Place and the Hilton Garden Inn on the east side.

No surprise though, like most things public art wise in Sioux Falls they mis-manage funds to support it, and when they do get it right they fail on maintenance. I think the Statue of David jinx us years ago.