Durango City Council isn’t abandoning the newest addition to the city’s public art collection despite a howl of online protests from residents.
In the last week, hundreds of Durango residents have taken to the Internet to denounce – often in passionate and withering terms – the financial cost, existential value and aesthetic merit of “Arc of History,” a sculpture recently installed at the DoubleTree intersection of U.S. Highways 160 and 550.
But in what may be a rare instance of politicians exhibiting political courage in the face of broad and blistering public outcry, on Tuesday evening, city councilors defended the $28,000 public art project by artist Tom Holmes.
Councilwoman Christina Rinderle reminded critics that the sculpture won a public design competition in April in which members of the public could cast votes.
She singled out a comment from one naysayer writing on The Durango Herald’s online article that read, “Yes, us homies have no say,” as inaccurate.
“You homies had a vote,” she said.
Rinderle acknowledged that during the design competition, Durango residents’ votes did not actually count – ultimately, a committee decided on the winning design.
But Rinderle said Durango residents are besmirching the sculpture with more energy then they showed at the time when the committee was actively soliciting their input.
She nonetheless said the outpouring of public emotion at the sculpture was wonderful, signaling that Durango is “still a robust community.”
A recent Durango Herald story about the sculpture’s installation elicited about 300 comments from readers, mostly negative.
Mayor Sweetie Marbury assured the public that she was reading the comments.
From the infamous Mud Bench in Buckley Park to Tom McMurray’s downtown murals, public art has a long track record of initially alienating residents.
Rinderle said she expects “Arc of History” eventually will win the public over. She pointed to the biking sculpture at the Florida Road roundabout, initially derided, now beloved.
Councilman Dean Brookie likewise said the public should withhold judgment until the sculpture is entirely installed and landscaped, and said the public might develop a profound fondness once the concept of it becomes more clear.
Just months after the city battled accusations of largesse for throwing former City Attorney David Smith a $16,000 retirement party, City Manager Ron LeBlanc seemed caught off-guard by the way naysayers’ attacks focused on the sculpture’s cost.
He said criticisms of the sculpture’s $28,000 price tag lack perspective.
“The city’s total budget is 67 million,” he said.
“I think the point is if you get engaged in your community, we do listen,” he said. “I wish we had more engagement on the budget.”
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, councilors provided some assistance to the STEAM project, a long-shot idea with an estimated price tag of $30 million.
The STEAM project’s dream – erecting a gleaming, indoor-outdoor performing arts complex on the banks of the Animas River – became slightly less amorphous, as City Council unanimously voted to invest $37,500 investigating how the mirage might materialize.
Donations from private parties of $37,500 on top of the city’s $37,500 contribution means the STEAM Project can afford to conduct its $150,000 feasibility study because of a matching grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, which required a 100 percent match.
Councilor Dick White said the city already had committed $10,000 to the STEAM Park feasibility study.
Councilors agreed to write a bigger check after the STEAM project’s co-chairman Terry Bacon implored the city to consider the benefits promised by a “cultural center on the river” that would provide a new theater for Durango Arts Center, host music festivals and mightily burnish Durango’s appeal to tourists and residents alike.
After council took the vote, the crowd gathered in City Hall applauded.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
