Letter: Arts Commission Should OK Pillar Art Restoration
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To the Editor:
I am writing in relation to your recent article covering the latest North Adams Public Art Commission meeting. I was disturbed to read that the commission had previously encouraged Mr. Oberst to submit a proposal to only then turn around and tell him that any proposal he makes will not be granted unless it is co-authored by Mass MoCA.
At its core Mr. Oberst and Mass MoCA are in a dispute, one which Mr. Oberst had no part in creating. Your article notes that Mass MoCA made other applications to the Public Art Commission properly but did not when they destroyed the work Mr. Oberst and local school children had been involved in. It is safe to assume they were worried that going through the commission would not give them the result they desired.
On that note I would challenge each member of the Public Arts Commission to let the public know how each of them would have approached such an application if MoCA had made it. I personally find it doubtful that the commission would have been able to stomach voting to destroy artwork that celebrated local history, enhanced the visual appeal of downtown, and was a collaborative community effort. On that note it might be worth reviewing the stated core principles for public artwork that the commission has published on its website:
- Enhance the community’s visual environment
- Promote awareness of the city’s social, cultural, and historical composition
- Encourage a spirit of collaboration
- Expand public knowledge of the visual art
Well the artwork Mr. Oberst is trying to restore certainly meets those core principles. The MoCA sound installation clearly does not. A new commission forgetting its core principles already is a sad state of affairs.
Also as a new commission I think they should be more careful of potential conflicts of interest. Mr. Kerns appears to have been the driving force behind denying Mr. Oberst's application. Mr. Kerns' business is a tenant at the Mass MoCA campus. Since the nature of what lies before the commission is a dispute involving his landlord Mr. Kerns should recuse himself from deciding on or influencing anything related to this application.
Common sense and decency should rule the day here. If the commission would not have granted the destruction of these works had they been approached then there is no rational reason to block or slow any restoration attempt. Additionally MoCA should face a consequence for purposely avoiding the commission in the first place. Be leaders and do what is right. Approve Mr. Oberst's application.
Joseph Smith
North Adams, Mass.
Tags: arts commission,
