Comments on: Spreading public art throughout Oakland http://www.abetteroakland.com/spreading-public-art-throughout-oakland/2009-02-20 The Continuing Story of a City Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:25:42 +0000 hourly 1 By: Isaiah Toney http://www.abetteroakland.com/spreading-public-art-throughout-oakland/2009-02-20/comment-page-1#comment-75762 Isaiah Toney Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:22:11 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/?p=2330#comment-75762 Thanks!! I've always fantasized about having a great deal more art around town... -Isaiah Thanks!!

I’ve always fantasized about having a great deal more art around town…

-Isaiah

]]> By: V Smoothe http://www.abetteroakland.com/spreading-public-art-throughout-oakland/2009-02-20/comment-page-1#comment-75614 V Smoothe Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:07:58 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/?p=2330#comment-75614 It was my understanding that Ms. Weicker is the donor, although I'm not 100% positive about that. I would love to know why she decided to focus her philanthropy here. It was my understanding that Ms. Weicker is the donor, although I’m not 100% positive about that. I would love to know why she decided to focus her philanthropy here.

]]> By: Dave C. http://www.abetteroakland.com/spreading-public-art-throughout-oakland/2009-02-20/comment-page-1#comment-75612 Dave C. Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:04:12 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/?p=2330#comment-75612 Do we know who the Vermont artist is? Open Circle's website it lists Dorothy Weicker as a board member, and says that she's an artist who splits her time between California and Vermont. So even if she's not the donor herself, she seems likely to be the connection. It might be interesting for someone (a local blogger, perhaps?) to track down our benefactress and ask her about why she chose to use her money this way. Splitting the money seven ways seems like the right call to me. It's too bad that so much public art is so lame, and my hope is that if the allocation of the funds is less centralized, then we might be less likely to end up with art that looks like it was designed (or at least selected) by a politically-correct committee of city officials. Maybe that's unrealistic to hope for, but at least with 7 discrete processes, you stand a higher chance that at least a couple of them are artistically interesting. (Don't get me wrong -- I prefer any public art to no public art at all, but I think we can do better than a lot of the murals and sculptures that we have around the city now.) Do we know who the Vermont artist is? Open Circle’s website it lists Dorothy Weicker as a board member, and says that she’s an artist who splits her time between California and Vermont. So even if she’s not the donor herself, she seems likely to be the connection. It might be interesting for someone (a local blogger, perhaps?) to track down our benefactress and ask her about why she chose to use her money this way.

Splitting the money seven ways seems like the right call to me. It’s too bad that so much public art is so lame, and my hope is that if the allocation of the funds is less centralized, then we might be less likely to end up with art that looks like it was designed (or at least selected) by a politically-correct committee of city officials. Maybe that’s unrealistic to hope for, but at least with 7 discrete processes, you stand a higher chance that at least a couple of them are artistically interesting. (Don’t get me wrong — I prefer any public art to no public art at all, but I think we can do better than a lot of the murals and sculptures that we have around the city now.)

]]> By: David Huff http://www.abetteroakland.com/spreading-public-art-throughout-oakland/2009-02-20/comment-page-1#comment-75597 David Huff Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:40:26 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/?p=2330#comment-75597 Interesting post. I like the idea about distributing the grant money across districts. It's nice to hear that an artist in Vermont is stepping up to help make our city better. It's a little difficult to wrap my mind around. It makes me wonder what, if anything, people on a grass roots level can do to encourage benefactors far removed from their community. I'm looking forward to the Town Hall meeting tomorrow. Interesting post. I like the idea about distributing the grant money across districts. It’s nice to hear that an artist in Vermont is stepping up to help make our city better. It’s a little difficult to wrap my mind around. It makes me wonder what, if anything, people on a grass roots level can do to encourage benefactors far removed from their community.

I’m looking forward to the Town Hall meeting tomorrow.

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