Arc of Dreams

Did Arc of Dreams try to get money out of City?

l3wis January 8, 2019 4Comments

Remember the promise Arc of Dreams made to the taxpayers of Sioux Falls? They would gift the structure to the city from private donations – NO PUBLIC MONEY.

Rumor has it that they asked the city for a $50K donation, and ‘MAY’ have been denied (at this point). I knew it would only be a matter of time when they asked the city to pony up.

Remember the project was ‘supposed’ to cost $1 Million and has skyrocketed to $2.4 million. The donation was to go towards transportation costs.

I still wonder if they will pay also to fix the sidewalk by the pedestrian bridge they crumbled while building the foundations?

Some may argue that maybe the city should put a little in. I would agree, IF this was a project that was vetted through the public, it was NOT. This was cooked up by a handful of elitists in Sioux Falls who needed to stroke their personal egos. They can pay for it.

As I have argued many times, if the city were to spend $2.4 million on DTSF public art, they could find a way to do hundreds of projects that employ local artists, craftsman and contractors.

I guess we will have to settle for the ‘Swords of Sioux Falls’.

Arc of Dreams behind schedule and $1.4 million over original budget

l3wis October 28, 2018 10Comments

While this isn’t a bad thing or a surprise, projects like this take a lot of time and a lot of money when businessmen cook up public art projects;

Jeff Hansen, media relations director for the SculptureWalk organization behind the project, said this week the group has commitments from donors that get the project all the way to its $2.4 million fundraising goal. Earlier this year, the group said it still had about $600,000 left to go.

“This summer we had a long way to go yet,” Hansen said. “But we hit the $2.4 million level, which pays for everything — construction and installation and the plaza area.”

While I think this project being privately funded is awesome, I question a few things.

• How did the original pricetag of $1 million suddenly jump to $2.4? Even with the design change I find it extremely fascinating that a project can be this over budget.

• One of the main arguments supporting the project is to have a tourist attraction for downtown. Really? What about Falls Park? SculptureWalk? Statue of David? All the fantastic bars and restaurants?

Like I said, I think it is great that private business people in Sioux Falls want to fund this very expensive public art project. But I still think the money is being misguided.

Instead of building one gigantic structure that is a monument to WHAT? the money could have been spent on hundreds of smaller public art projects downtown employing dozens of local artists, landscape architects and construction workers beautifying all corners of downtown with mini gardens, murals, and permanent functional sculptures and art. Instead, Arc of Dreams will occupy an area already crowded with Roman like greenway pillars and steps.

It will in turn be a monument to itself and an incredible waste of private dollars on public art. But certainly NOT a surprise in good old Sioux Falls.