In October 2013, the City of Calgary constructed a large blue hoop that was declared “public art.” The sculpture cost $470,000, and enraged many members of the public, who considered it a waste of money. Even Mayor Naheed Nenshi declared the sculpture to be “awful.”
The amount of taxpayer money spent on public arts is a controversial issue. Supporters contend that it enriches the life of the community, while critics contend that most of it goes to the wish list of a few specific interest groups. In a community like St. Albert, where most of its tax revenues come from residential citizens rather than commercial business, the amount of money that can be spent on these things becomes an even more debatable topic.
St. Albert is no stranger to these debates. Perhaps the most prominent example is the sculptures near St. Albert Place made by sculptor Stewart Steinhauer, which cost more than $230,000. Many residents considered the sculptures a waste of money. Some residents are also not fans of the City’s Public Art policy, which requires one per cent of the costs of all capital projects to go to the maintenance of existing public art and the purchase of new art.
The residents who have protested the amount of money being spent on public art have been accused of wanting to destroy the community’s spirit. This often seems to be the default response to anyone who dares to criticize public art, or say that tax dollars should only go to local artists. The implication some of these public arts supporters end up conveying is that people who don’t like the art, so often made by artists outside the local community, are somehow narrow-minded and stupid.
Those types of insults hardly do much to build support for public art. Instead, all they do is reinforce the stereotype that supporters of public art think they’re the only people qualified to decide what good art is, and that anyone who dares to disagree is a small-minded hick who lacks vision. This is exactly the type of stereotype that some conservative-leaning activists and politicians have decried, using it to attack any kind of funding for public art.
The Gazette has quite rightly pointed out the talents of the artists who call St. Albert and the surrounding communities home, talents that deserve to be celebrated. But does that mean that we should be spending as much money as we do on public art, especially when that art can come from outside the community? Perhaps we ought to be reviewing how much money we’re spending on public art, and who we’re buying it from. Perhaps setting aside a smaller amount of money for it, and a policy specifically stating that the city will only buy the works of local artists, would help rebuild support for public art.
What won’t help, though, is the attitude that only a select elite get to decide what good art actually is, and the implication that anyone else with different opinions is an idiot.
Jared Milne is a St. Albert resident with a passion for Canadian history and politics.
