Even Sodapop THINKS the city is silly.
When I read this story and got a H/T from a DaCola foot soldier, I said to myself, tell me it is not true. I mean, the city spends money on some pretty stupid shit (just recently they bought a film projector for a private non-profit). But this takes the cake;
The City of Sioux Falls has hired a firm to maintain nearly 40 pieces of artwork.
The California Company has been signed to a three year contract at $25,000 a year to maintain the city-owned artwork throughout Sioux Falls.
Oh, but this explains how the city got roped into this boondoggle;
The California firm is also working with local Sioux Falls artists to take care of the city-owned art.
So let me get this straight, the city had to hire an out-of-state contractor, to contract local artists to clean sculptures with soap and water? And that is the crux of this. Bronzes are used in outdoor sculptures because of there durability, and if you don’t like a little bird shit on them, you simply get out the hose and a scrub brush, something a city parks worker could do very easily. But for some reason the city seems to think (or got suckered) into thinking they need to pay $625 per year, per sculpture to essentially check welds and give a bath to sculptures.
I did my research (even though I already knew the answer);
One of the wonderful things about bronze sculptures is that they need little care or maintenance and will last for hundreds of years.
The best cleaner for bronze sculptures (now get ready) is plain soap and water.
Maybe we should hire a private firm to maintain the amount bullshit coming from City Hall, of course that would take more then $25,000 a year. CALL FEMA! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION!
I have often thought the city was getting the shaft on SculptureWalk. But not financially, to be fair, SW funds most of the project each year privately, the city provides space, some liability insurance (I think)Â and purchases a couple of sculptures each year (even though SW could probably raise this money privately and gift the sculptures to the city). My beef has never been with the money or even the sculptures themselves. I have never agreed with the fact the jurying process has been closed to selected individuals by SW, though SW uses public funds. And now those funds are apparently going to California to buy Ivory dish soap. Go figure.
UPDATE: The contract was approved at the October 9, 2012 Council Meeting in the consent agenda. It only took the city 10 months to make a formal announcement about it. (DOC:Â art cleanup) scroll to the bottom
I’d love to see the RFP for this, assuming the city bid this out. “Must have a minimum of six years’ experience using dish soap and soft-bristled toothbrushes in a cleaning environment…”
No one ever cared a bit about David for years and years. Well some people were concerned about his bits, but he was mostly ignored for a long time.
Amazing the job had to be outsourced to CA, is no one in Soo Foo not qualified to mind the sculptures?
I’m guessing the bid for maintenance was put out there… and they were the lowest bid. They will probably outsource the job to a local company which will pay some high school kids $9 an hour in the summer to pressure spray them and scrub them down with the same soap used in car washes.
$625 per sculpture?
Hell, I’ll do it for $500!
Yeah, as I understand it, they are subcontracting out the work to a ‘local’ person. Still think someone at Parks and Rec could have googled how to clean them and figured it out. But that is what our city is famous for, contracting out the work. I know a few years ago Staggers requested a spreadsheet on what the city pays for outside consulting and I think it came to around $19 million a year. The engineering department was the biggest user.
And, the City actually held a news conference to announce this:
Outdoor City-Owned Art Stays Beautiful Through New Comprehensive Maintenance Program
At a news conference today, Sue Quanbeck Etten, Director of Central Services for the City of Sioux Falls, announced that the firm of Rosa Lowinger & Associates has been hired to maintain the City’s outdoor art collection.
“The City of Sioux Falls will benefit from Rosa Lowinger’s years of experience in art conservation,†said Sue Quanbeck Etten. “Art contributes to our quality of life. I am very grateful that the City has acquired these pieces, and they need to be properly maintained so they can be appreciated for years to come.â€
The City owns 39 unique and interesting pieces of art that have been placed outdoors throughout the city. An interactive map at http://www.siouxfalls.org/cityownedart shows the location of each artwork and information such as the name of the artist and photographs of each piece.
The City of Sioux Falls issued a request for proposal last year to find the best vendor to maintain the City’s outdoor sculptures. According to Quanbeck Etten, the proposal from Rosa Lowinger & Associates fit the bill perfectly. Rosa Lowinger & Associates, based out of Los Angeles and Miami, has more than 30 years of professional experience in the care of outdoor sculptures and other works of art. Rosa Lowinger is a recognized leader in the field of public art maintenance and conservation and has coordinated conservation efforts for more than 20 similar collections.
Rosa Lowinger & Associates began the work several weeks ago, conducting an object-by-object survey of all the pieces. This work is done in order to assess priorities and provide the City a comprehensive picture of the collection’s needs. The survey was followed by an initial project to clean, conserve, and protect bronze sculptures throughout the city, working together with local sculptor Darwin Wolf and bronze fabricator Rick Haugen.
Rosa Lowinger said, “We are delighted to be working with the City of Sioux Falls, and we are impressed by the quality and breadth of the collection.â€
Also, see photos of the work being done in today’s AL on-line.
http://www.siouxfalls.org/cityownedart
I bet that hot air ballon rock plaque is going to be a bear to clean. LMAO!
Darwin must have needed something to do after he finished his Pettigrew statue 🙂
I could see how this went down.
MMM is out for a morning job and runs past the Goose-Angel-Reading a book sculpture and sees bird crap on the book.
MIKE: ‘Sue, who is cleaning these sculptures?’
SUE: ‘Mother Nature?’
MIKE: ‘Wrong Answer. Shouldn’t we have someone scrubbing them down?’
SUE: ‘Well, I guess if they weren’t made out of a material made to last hundreds of years, that would be a good idea, but you know, the rain probably does a pretty good job.’
MIKE: ‘Ask David what he thinks of the rain. Every thing needs to look NICE in this city. Put out an RFP for a bronze cleaning company.’
I can pretty much guess how it went down, Darwin Wolf, a former VAC member(?) probably approached the VAC about it. I hardly think the VAC and city concocted this by themselves. Heck, the only time they ever cleaned David was right before they re-installed him in Fawick Park, after he sat in a Parks & Rec storage yard for a couple of years.
Why is the central services director coordinating this? Why not the parks director?
Central Services = I.T., Facilities, & Media Services.
No wonder Sire is always down. No wonder city facilities aren’t getting their walks shoveled and branches trimmed. Instead of doing her job, she’s worrying about sculptures.
Typical Huether minion.
I just figured out what my new low investment yet high income business start-up is going to be.
Me and Associates will be up and running by 2pm today after I make a trip to Nyberg’s Ace for all of my supplies.
Toothbrush, check
Dish soap, check
bucket, check
SBA, here I come.
EN – I was just told by a city official that Central Services is responsible for the maintenance of all city property, that is why it is in their budget.
If you watch the meeting, there is ZERO discussion about the consent agenda, not even a mention of the art cleanup expenditure.
http://docs.siouxfalls.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1802&doctype=MINUTES
see AL on-line:
Keeping artwork in tip-top shape
Rosa Lowinger & Associates staff members are working together with local sculptor Darwin Wolf and bronze fabricator Rick Haugen on the project.
I thought this was kind of strange when I first heard about it. It’s amazing what the city has money for, but not for paratransit.
David needs a giant, bronze Loofah!
Love to get a picture of them cleaning his slingshot.
What out of state company will they hire to polish turds?
I heard Texas has some pretty good turd polishers. They actually promise to get the ‘Sh*t so Shiny’ you can see your face in it.
This is the same way that Reagan “privatized” California’s mental health system, and is a fine example of exactly how the conservative “shrinking government” schemes actually work.
. . . and I am the conspiracy theorist Ruf?
Why is there a parks department if the Huether company maintains sculptures. Put Soda Pop on scaffolding. His piss works best to clean off the bird shit.
Aren’t u glad we voted Soda Pop mayor. Huether represents felines. The type that ends up in chinese food or a subject of sex organ jokes.
I’m gonna get a citation. Prolly the whole book.
Funny, one of Sodapop’s favorite things to pee on is the SW stands. I have a feeling though, he isn’t the only dog that does it.
You can see the toothbrush in action in this video.
http://www.siouxfalls.org/central-services/multimedia-support/citylink/programs/regular-programs/city-news/cn-art-maintenance.aspx
Just watched the video……
They spent as much time scrubbing and polishing the quartzite stands as they did the sculptures themselves.
Consultants from California are now suddenly experts on SIOUX QUARTZITE!!??
Anyone ever seen someone scrubbing and polishing the quartzite buildings in this area?
Rosa Lowinger mentioned the two other cities in the U.S. they have MAINTENANCE contracts with are Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Guess maybe that’s why we decided to do this!!
I wonder what other snake-oil salesmen are going show up before the Council with their hands out??
I have feeling this wasn’t cooked up by Lowinger, remember, OTHER bids were submitted. I have a feeling Darwin Wolf was looking for something to do and hinted towards the VAC that they needed to cleanup the sculptures. Being a full-time artist in SF can be a bit lean. Do you think it was just ‘by chance’ he was one of the local artists subcontracted for the work? Notice what Rosa said during the press conference, “Your sculptures were in pretty good shape.” You think? McFly? Maybe it has something to do with them being made of rock and bronze? Jeez!