UPDATE: So a foot soldier asks me yesterday, “Is the artist familiar with the weather conditions in Sioux Falls, apparently not, because something built out of crystals, glass, moving lights, seams, etc. will all fail in the weather no matter how good of maintenance.” He also mentions that it would be a much better indoor display because it won’t last long outside.
I never thought about it, but he may be right, not to mention vandalism.
———————-
No surprise that the Pavilion follows suit with the city and just picks public art with NO input from the public or an open jurying process.
I was initially told that this artist was chosen because of her specialty in outdoor installation art, but if you look at Lewin’s art (which is absolutely FANTASTIC) you will see that it is very similar to other public art installations throughout the country that were created by thousands of different artists.
This isn’t some specialty like building a skatepark, it should have went through an open jury process.
I was also initially told that since the artwork is being donated by a private donor ($400K) and the maintenance is covered by an endowment in coordination with the sculpture garden that they didn’t have to treat it as public art.
I disagree. Bigly.
First off, once the piece is donated to the Pavilion (actually the city) we own it. It is also sitting in a public space that the public can view and is not in a private gallery setting or within the building’s galleries (as I understand the original management agreement with the Pav, any art inside the building IS controlled by the Pavilion, which is fine.)
Public art, on OUTDOOR public property, must go thru a public process.
While I love Lewin’s work and think it will look fantastic, it didn’t go thru the best process, but that’s how things roll in Sioux Falls. Pay your taxes and STFU!
(c) Copyright Jen Lewin Studio 2023 • Images taken from SOC address.
