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.

6 Thoughts on “$25,000 for Sculpture toothbrush cleaning, and zilch for mosaic wall

  1. Poly43 on May 20, 2015 at 10:03 am said:

    This story for me seemed to hit home. I’d never really given this mosaic a whole lot of thought over the six years it has been there, mainly because I’d never walked by it before and had the time to think about what it represents. Before about ten days ago anyway. I was walking my dog, Poly, along the bike trail from the falls to 26th street and back. Not so certain she enjoys the river so much, but she does enjoy seeing, and sometimes interacting with the geese and ducks. Oooops…I’m starting to digress. Anyway, on the way back we decided to cross the river at the Hilton garden inn bridge and try a little different route back to the car. Happened to walk by the mosaic. I was struck by the state of disrepair it was in. It reminded me of how proud Sy was when this project was completed and knew he must not like at all what’s happened. Then the article. Seems Sy has tried, but to what end?

    When you stop and think about all the unrest in this country when it comes to peace and diversity, (think Baltimore) this mosaic is important. But we seem to have a mayor and administration that is caught up in putting a roof on stuff and charging outrageous prices that the diversified population can’t afford. Peace and Diversity. A noble undertaking. City of Sioux Falls. Prove it.

    http://youtu.be/rhyiqGIJQus

  2. The Daily Spin on May 20, 2015 at 10:40 am said:

    Cleaning the wall and sculptures is cheaper than putting a roof over downtown. Must not be a Huether idea. 25k seems high. It’s a reoccuring expense. Maybe there’s no need for some of this. Especially anything next to the street or more exposed to the elements.

  3. debanoff on May 21, 2015 at 9:01 am said:

    It isn’t 25K to clean this wall … it’s 25 HUNDRED. The 25K refers to cleaning SculptureWalk, another project that came to be because of the support and sponsorship of the now disbanded Sioux Empire Arts Council. The mosaic wall was built with the blessing of then city officials who were far more supportive of our arts than the current administration. Grass roots activities produced the CommUnity Youth Mosaic Wall, not high-profile fund drives driven as much by self-aggrandizement as arts advocacy. Walking along the river is becoming more pleasurable all the time, through the efforts of many private ventures as well as city investment. I just hope that this first investment in the beautification of the river walk is no longer neglected, but rather cared for and celebrated in the manner promised to those hundreds of school kids who took part in its creation.

  4. l3wis on May 21, 2015 at 10:28 am said:

    Deb, that is what I said in the headline. The city spends $25K a year to clean the various sculptures throughout the city. My question is why wasn’t this city owned piece of art included in that budget (as you mentioned $2,500 to clean).

    My advice to anyone who helped get this piece of art installed. I would try to let the city give you permission to remove it in pieces (so it can be preserved) and place it in another part of the community, or on private property. It is pretty obvious that the city doesn’t give a rip about it, and once they get a fair RFP for that triangle piece of land, they will tear it down, just like the Orgami Swan sculpture on Phillips to the Falls.

  5. l3wis on May 21, 2015 at 10:29 am said:

    BTW, I wonder where that will end up?

  6. Taxpayer on May 22, 2015 at 1:25 pm said:

    Once MMM has eliminated the children’s art wall, the next thing on his agenda will be ANOTHER million dollar pedestrian bridge to nowhere.

    (similar to the existing bridge that leads FROM the Raven parking lot TO the Country Inn and Suites parking lot)

    When the Hilton Garden Inn was built, Lloyd and Hegg enlisted Councilor Erpenbach’s help to try to get the pedestrian bridge in front of the hotel replaced.

    Obviously, they were unsuccessful. Watch. They will be back again making the same request.

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