August 2014

City’s manager of public art doesn’t have a frickin’ clue

l3wis August 2, 2014 1Comments

Well like most peeps who think they have a handle on public art in Sioux Falls, (the SculptureWalk ‘founders’ come to mind) our’s had this to say;

For example, Quanbeck Etten assumes the Helen McKennan and Edwin Sherman busts were given by founders of the city more than a century ago.

Huh? McKennan was just placed a few years ago by an artist who is alive and well, Martin Wanerski. As for the Sherman bust, it was created by J.K. Daniels;

John Karl Daniels (1875 – 1978)

Iowa State Fair Sculptor 1911 – 1912

Born in Norway, John Karl Daniels immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 9. He grew up in St. Paul and trained there in several art schools and with two different sculptors before setting up his own studio. He worked in stone, wood, and bronze. In the early 1900s Daniels started doing butter sculptures to make extra money. Daniels also created sculptures for the Minnesota State Fair. Several stone and marble sculptures of Daniels’ are on public display throughout the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Scares me a bit that the one that is in charge of curating our public art has done very little research. Wouldn’t the manager of Central Services have access to ‘the googles’?

I also had to chuckle, snort, and cry when I heard we needed an ‘iconic’ piece of art on the river. We have one already, a priceless cast of the Statue of David gifted to us by famous inventor Thomas Fawick in the early 70’s. Tom’s greatest inventions were the tractor clutch and the disc brake, but who is paying attention? If it was up to me, I would ditch the ‘arc of dreams’ concept, and place David at Falls Park in front of the tower overlooking the falls, let’s make it a true tourist attraction. Not sure people are interested in visiting places that make balloons and sell insurance.

I didn’t win

l3wis August 2, 2014 11Comments

No surprise. I spent about 30 minutes on my design and mulled over about 5 different designs and decided to submit one. I felt it was strong. I have been a graphic designer for over 20 years and an artist for my entire life, picking up a pencil when I was about four. I have learned that I don’t let my feelings get hurt when I don’t win. Life is not about winning, it is about doing good work. I try to do GOOD WORK. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I win.

Often, art is about an opinion of others, it is subjective, I am content with that. I have people buy some of my art that I personally don’t like, but I don’t fret. If it makes them happy, so be it.

If I have one regret about my design, I think I should have included more industry and technology. But I stuck to the rules and felt the simplicity of the falls and South Dakota’s unrelenting Sun was enough.

As for other criteria, I felt that the submissions should have been anonymous and based on the quality of the work. I have been in many juried shows, and most quality shows don’t allow the jurors to know the artists or their names. It is a matter of fairness.

I felt the winning design was based on bias of the jurors and I was kind of upset that a ‘local’ was not picked. I believe the winner is from South Africa. I have lived the ‘American Dream’ or lack of it in Sioux Falls and South Dakota most of my life. This town is in my veins, I know it.

Do I think some on the selection committee denied my design as a finalist because of who I am. Maybe.

Do I think my design would never get the favor of city leaders because of who I am. Maybe.

My heart is not broken, like most things in this city, especially in the arts, I have learned we tend to take the well connected low road instead of the respectable high road.

All is fair in love and war.

I think I will be submitting my design to the County Commission, but I am probably ‘to broke’ to make a model.