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A SAMPLING OF LETTERS TO ALDERMEN:
Dear Alderman Shiller:
Please vote AGAINST the proposed changes to the Ordinance regarding the Public Art Program on JUNE 13.
The proposed changes remove public forums enabling citizens to have a say in the choice of public art. The proposed changes will add to your burden and ask you to conduct meaningless, non-binding and probably divisive forums in your Ward at your expense.
What could be less desirable for you than to conduct "public art discussions" in which you have no authority but all the responsibility while the real decisions are made in private without any accountability? Chicago artists want and deserve open access to public art commissions. And you deserve more respect for your time and efforts.
The proposed Ordinance changes eliminate the opportunity for open, democratic competition for public art commissions in Chicago by ending public voting forums conducted by the office of the Commissioner of Public Affairs. The aim is to streamline the commissioning process but in fact it simply enables unaccountable decisions that stifle the likelihood of getting the best art for Chicago.
As an established artist who has been awarded important public art commissions in Chicago (18th District Police Station, McCormick Place, plus temporary art: Cows on Parade, Cool Globes) I want to compete for public art commissions in the most transparent, fair way and not be subject to the whim of an unaccountable committee or favoritism.
Chicago is a great city and home to many nationally recognized artists. I'm sure you agree that we want to ensure that our city will attract and keep the best talent. The only way to do that is to let the world know that every artist here has an equal chance to compete and that our citizens have an equal right to help select the art for Chicago. That's how it's done in the world's best cities and that's how it should be in Chicago.
Again, please vote against the proposed Ordinance changes. Because we've had previous correspondence regarding ward issues and you have supported my requests for things like street and traffic signs, I know you want to do the best job for our city.
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As you know, the changes to the Public Art Ordinance were proposed by Mayor Daley and although I support our Mayor and am proud of his many improvements to Chicago, I strongly differ with him on this issue and ask you to help convince him that the quality and diversity of Chicago Public Art and the quality and diversity of Chicago artists must be protected by a revised Ordinance, and not harmed by a "streamlining".
Sincerely,
William Conger
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June 7, 2007
Re: Public Art Committee Ordinance
Dear , (sent to 2 alderman and the Mayor)
I am writing to encourage you to oppose the new Public Art Ordinance proposed by the Department of Cultural affairs. This new Ordinance attempts to “privatize” the selection of public art by eliminating all open meetings. The proposed Ordinance will remove transparency and accessibility from the Public Art program and art commissions. It eliminates voting, democratic process and public discourse.
Such limited and undemocratic process is unacceptable to Chicago-based artists, whose work is dedicated to building our cultural community. This type of closed decision-making process should not be acceptable to the City of Chicago either.
Under their proposed new ordinance, the finger-pointing will shift from the DCA to the aldermen because alderman will be asked to have ward forums to discuss art commissions in their ward. This will be an added logistical and financial responsibility for the alderman they may not want. The aldermen will be responsible to post notice of the forums (many don’t have web sites). They will have to pay for postage out of their own pockets. They will have to host and attend art meetings in their wards. They will have to put up with the potential for dividing their community over art issues.
The DCA’s Deputy Commissioner Greg Knight wrote, “Public art is a gift to the public from the government.” In fact, Public Art is a gift to the public, purchased with the public’s money, and therefore should include the public’s voice.
Please vote to oppose the new Public Art Ordinance at the upcoming June 13th vote. This will give the Department of Cultural Affairs, the City of Chicago, and the public the opportunity to develop an Alternative Ordinance for a Public Art committee that will truly strengthen Chicago’s rich cultural community.
Respectfully,
Jonathan Rhodes
Executive Director
ThreeWalls Contemporary Art Center
119 North Peoria #2A
Chicago, IL 60607
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Dear Alderman Fioretti:
I spoke at length recently with Elizabeth Kelley of the Department of Cultural Affairs about the City’s proposed ordinance that removes the public and artists from the selection, placement, funding and all decision-making for Public Art and Percent for Art. The most significant reasons for changing the current open system were that (1) it was difficult to have fully attended meetings by committee members, especially when the meetings were held on Friday afternoons, (2) the public input meetings took too long, and (3) there were too many artists applying for public art projects. These cannot be valid reasons!
As an artist and Public Art sculptor, I and most other Chicago-based sculptors find this change from open calls and open meetings with artist participation on the Public Art Committee to be abhorrent. The proposed ordinance has put the entire decision-making process in the hands of a few city employees in the Department of Cultural Affairs. Here are a few problems with the City’s proposed ordinance:
- It “privatizes” the selection of public art by eliminating all Open Meetings.
- It means the DCA does not have to post thorough information on their website about upcoming commissions.
- It will remove transparency and accessibility from the Public Art program and art commissions.
- It eliminates voting, democracy and public recourse on public policy and decisions.
I ask that you please listen to artist input, read the alternative proposal being submitted by Chicago artists and vote AGAINST the new Art Ordinance, or at least table the ordinance for further open discussion and compromise.
I and other members of Chicago Sculpture International would gladly meet with you to discuss this serious issue.
Sincerely,
Peter N. Gray
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Dear Alderman Solis-
My name is Brad Farwell, I'm an artist living in Pilsen (a neighborhood that I love). I'm a recent SAIC grad, and have been fortunate enough to have received a CAAP grant from the City of Chicago this year. I'm a practicing artist and teacher, and Chicago has been an amazing city for both those pursuits.
The new ordinance proposed before the city council would eliminate public oversight of the public art funding process. It would make it more difficult to find out about opportunities available to artists, and to pursue those opportunities. Public art is an often a contentious and messy process, but if we are to avoid cronyism and back-door dealings, if we are to preserve the possibility of Chicago's vibrant art community flourishing and developing, we must keep the public involved, not simply in token hearings, but with real input. We must keep the process clear and democratic, we must keep the meetings open.
I do not want my art determined by a couple of old conservative white guys in a back room, I want the diverse people of Chicago to have a voice in what our public art looks like, I want our public art to reflect the great city that commissions it.
This city has an amazing record of supporting public art. I've lived in the Bay Area, I've lived in New York, and nowhere does Public Art have such an impressive presence, and such an important community role, as here in Chicago. I implore you, do not let this ordinance take the public out of public art. It would be an incredible loss to both the arts community and to the city of Chicago as a whole.
I would also point you toward an alternative ordinance, drafted by a coalition of local arts groups, and urge your consideration and support. It may be found at:
http://www.artletter.com/html/ordinances.html
Sincerely,
Brad Farwell
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Dear Alderman Schulter,
I'm writing today to express my concern for an issue about to come up for vote on June 13 that will affect my work as a creator of public art in the 47th ward.
As you are likely aware, in mid-May at the request of the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs (Lois Weisberg), Mayor Daley proposed an ordinance to revamp the Public Art Program. Unfortunately, this proposed ordinance is bad government: bad for Chicagoans and particularly bad for the Chicago art community. In essence it wipes out public participation in the selection of public art. This is outrageous, and will not be tolerated by the Chicago art community.
Mayor Daley and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have proposed an ordinance to modify the Public Art Program. Their stated reason makes no sense: that the open meetings were cumbersome and unnecessary. That the previous ordinance existed for 25 years and that the City has an exemplary art collection in part because of these open meetings they deemed irrelevant.
We have proposed an alternative ordinance that will not be considered unless you act. We are the following groups: Punk Planet (an internationally distributed magazine also located in the 47th Ward), Bad at Sports, the Chicago Artists Coalition, Lumpen, Sharkforum, ArtLetter, and others to be named soon.
The issues comes up for a vote on June 13th, and I urge you to support the ordinance as we've rewritten it here: http://www.artletter.com/Public_Art_Ordinance_Amendments_as_of_06.03.07__clean_.pdf
This language, in comparison to the original ordinance and that proposed by the DCA, can be found here: http://www.artletter.com/html/ordinances.html
Chicago has a great tradition of public art. This is a process that should be opened to wider public participation, not shut down to members of the public. To that end, I’m asking you to support the Public Art Ordinance Amendments we’ve created.
Sincerely,
Anne Elizabeth Moore
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