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  • From: "Steve Wright" <swright AT townofchapelhill.org>
  • To: <chpac-staff AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Chpac-staff] text for CHPAC In News : 5-4-07
  • Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 11:29:58 -0400

Dear CHPAC,

I've pasted below the article mentioned in my previous email as the
Herald website asks viewers to join before showing articles.

-Steve

The Herald-Sun
May 3, 2007 7:41 pm
Public art has been around for a long time. The Arc de Triomphe in
Paris, for instance, was erected to celebrate Napoleon's victories and
dates from the early 1800s.

There shouldn't be, then, any doubt of the value of public art.

As almost everyone realizes, public art -- art that is outside and
accessible to all -- is a civic good and improves the quality of life in
a community, even if it is difficult to quantify that improvement.

For this reason, many governments -- particularly recently -- have gone
beyond the simple authorization of public art and been solidly pushing
for its creation and installation.

Many governments, across this nation, around the world and including
that of Chapel Hill, have implemented a Percent for Art policy.

Under the broadly applauded concept, which the town adopted in 2002,
generally 1 percent of public construction costs is required to be spent
on public art.

The town of Chapel Hill now is considering going significantly beyond
that requirement. The Town Council is looking into perhaps eventually
requiring private developers to have an element of public art in their
proposals and perhaps doubling the percent for art requirement to 2
percent for art.

That's a very big step and yet the benefit is not clear. Two percent
won't necessarily give us more -- or better -- art, but it will mean
more taxpayer money being spent. More than $400,000, for instance,
already has been spent on public art at the town's new operations center
on Millhouse Road; under a 2 percent mandate, that would have meant more
than $800,000. That's a lot of money for an isolated site that will have
few visitors.

And that's a lot of money when other town needs, such as housing,
recreation, police and fire staffs, are considered -- and when the town
may be looking at a property tax increase in the near future.

The town should do all it can to encourage more public art and to make
sure the public art we already have is well-tended and preserved. But
requiring such a large financial commitment from the government -- and
thus from local taxpayers -- seems excessive.

URL for this article:
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-844949.cfm






  • [Chpac-staff] text for CHPAC In News : 5-4-07, Steve Wright, 05/04/2007

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