4B - Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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4B - Thursday, September19, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Each week we take shots at the biggest
developments in the entertainment world.
Here's what hit (and missed) this week.

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PUBLIC ART
From Page 1B
While it was the AAPAC that
partnered with the DIA to make
this all happen - deciding where
to put each piece and working with
business owners during installation
- it was not, in fact, the AAPAC that
funded the project. A Miami-based
organization dedicated to weaving
"the arts into the fabric of commu-
nities," called the JohnS. and James
L. Knight Foundation, was respon-
sible for funding one of the first
pieces of public art in Ann Arbor,
since the suspension of the Percent
for Art program by the Ann Arbor
City Council and the public art mill-
age's failure to pass in the Novem-
ber election. Both events - as well
as the InsideOut program, which
Ann Arbor residents may have
unknowingly deemed a tax-funded
endeavor - raised questions about
public art in Ann Arbor and how it
wasgoingtotake forminthe future.
The deathofpercent for art
In 2007, the Ann Arbor City
Council implemented the Percent
for Art program, which required
all Capital Improvement Projects
funded by Ann Arbor to set aside
one percent of their project con-
struction funds for public art. Per-
cent for Art also stipulated that,
though the art did not need to be
located on the site itself, it should
relate in some way to the capital
improvement funding source.
Originally, the AAPAC started as
the non-profit Art in Public Places,
an organization with the goal to
raise money for public art in Ann
Arbor.
"Some of the projects that were
started on that dollar were the
Fourth and Washington parking
structure ... and they also helped
manage some of the smaller proj-
ects that led up to the (creation of
the) public arts commission," said
Bob Miller, chair of the AAPAC.
But later, when the commission
needed a more systematic way of
funding public art, it turned to the
Percent for Art system.
To those unfamiliar with the
Percent for Art program or how
public art gets from the sketchbook
to your local park, here's a brief run-
through: The AAPAC has a public
art ordinance that allows it to over-
see public-art projects for the city
of Ann Arbor, and it is responsible
for the approval of all art projects
as well as selecting locations and
artists for those projects. Recom-
mendations for future pieces come
from the commission, though they
have also surfaced from city coun-
cil, city staffor resident suggestions.
When the commission approves a
project, it forms a task force made
up of the arts community, the rel-
evant neighborhood community
and city administration, consisting
of AAPAC members, among oth-
ers. The task force sends out a gen-
eral call to artists, and then reviews
their past work and proposed goals
for the project. Eventually, they

narrow the applicant pool down to
one. Once City Council approves the
contract, the artist can begin fabri-
cation, construction and eventually
implementationofthe piece.
The public-art millage proposed
in the November 2012 elections
would have created a three-yeartax
to go along with this program and
could have generated an estimated
$459,273 in public-art funding not
just for physical installations, but
for the performing arts as well. But
the millage lost- 56 percent against
- leading city council to suspend
the Percent for Art program until
spring 2013. At the time, the sus-
pension wasn't supposed to affect
public art funding in any immediate
way, as CIPs are usually scarce dur-
ing the winter. Yet, to date, the pro-
gram still hasn'treturned.
"There is no more Percent for
Art," Miller said. "The program is
suspended, and I don't think that it
will be resurrected any time soon."
The new program, which has
not yet been tested or implement-
ed, is supposed to extend the pro-
cess from two years to as many as
six, which has its benefits and dis-
advantages.
"The new funding mecha-
nism bakes in projects," Miller
explained. "As in, it incorporates
(public art) projects into the other
potential (Capital Improvement)
projects."
The city will assess potential
locations for public art on a more
case-by-case basis by evaluating
what future CIPs will benefit from
them.
"We will be getting that list in a
few months, and we will look at the
Capital Improvement Projects the
cityis lookingtoundertake," Miller
said, "and we will identify the proj-
ects that we think can or will ben-
efit from enhancement, and those
enhancements mean public art."
This buy-in time gives the
AAPAC an opportunity to raise
community awareness about
upcoming projects.
"The most important thing is to
allow the public to understand the
process of how artwork is brought
to the city."
On the other hand, "baking in"
projects also removes any guaran-
tee that there will be public art at
all.
"The downside for the new pro-
cess is that it is totally at the mercy
of the city administration and the
City Council to decide if art will
be placed anywhere," said Miller.
"And there are no funds allocated
to arts at all until they decide there
are."
Though much is in the transi-
tion phase, the AAPAC's attempt to
involve the community in the pub-
lic art process is one aspect of the
new program that is already bud-
ding. The Argo Cascades, one of
three projectsitesthatwasongoing
when the Percent for Art suspen-
sion was announced, has been the
commission's stepping stone for
these types of improvements.
"They're doing a lot of public
outreach," Miller said of the Argo
Cascades task force. "They've had

in the Museum of Fine Arts in Bos-
ton.
Harries and Rosen-Queralt have
actually gone head to head before,
which is bound to happen to art-
ists who work within the same
medium, and who explore similar
themes in their art.
"Yeah, it's competitive," Harries
said of contending with Rosen-
Queralt. "I think in this case, Jann
is a great artist and I think we're
good artists, so you've got two great
artists who are going to think up
something great for the cascades."
Before starting work on their
proposals, Rosen-Queralt, Harries
and Heder were invited to visit
Ann Arbor and the Argo Cascades
to get a feel for the area.
"We did a little walking tour
of the downtown and the college

campus, and a little bit of the his-
tory and a review about our public
art," Kotarski said.
The artists also took kayaks
down the cascades before meeting
with residents for a meet and greet.
"(Residents) could give their
input about what they think should
go into the artwork and ask ques-
tions about their artwork or just
about the artist," Kotarski said.
Both artists were given a $3,000
stipend for their proposals and will
return in October to present their
designs to the public.
Harries wouldn't disclose any
specifics abouther plans for the site
or even the approach she was tak-
ing to the project, only comment-
ing, "I want to bring something
brave and specific that can happen
nowhere else."

walk-throughs. They've brought
the project to the attention of dif-
ferent committees within the city.
They've also brought people out.
to the site and they've had online
surveys. They're trying to gather as
much public input into that project
as they can before they make any
final decisions. Ithinkthatis avery
good way to move forward with
how we do projects: That's a good
model."
City Council member Chuck
Warpehoski (D-Ward 5), who in
the past has expressed a desire to
give Ann Arbor residents a louder
voice in the creation of public art,
likes the direction the AAPAC is
going.
"I saw one of the commissioners
down at the farmer's market with a
clipboard trying to make sure that
everybody knew about (the Argo
Cascades project) and make sure
everyone got a chance to meet the
artists," he said. "The art commis-
sion is trying to involve the com-
munity in making sure we've got
art that best reflects Ann Arbor,
best reflects our community."
Uncharted waters
The Argo Cascades, between
Furstenburg and Gallup Park, is
a popular tubing, kayaking and
paddle boarding spot for Ann
Arbor residents and tourists. In
April 2012, the AAPAC approved
the site for a public art project
with a budget of $150,000. While
the Argo Cascades is one of the
last three sites to receive funding
through the old mechanism, the
task force is trying to take a pro-
gressive approach to the process,
especially in terms of community
outreach. AAPAC Commissioner
John Kotarski recognizes that he's
navigating somewhat uncharted
waters.
"We're kind of rebuilding the
ship that's left port," he said.

Regardless of the funding tran-
sition, public art projects can often
encounter obstacles. One of the art
pieces tomost recently be installed
in Ann Arbor is the untitled water-
based sculpture by German artist
Herbert Dreiseitl on East Huron
Street. The work was proposed
in 2009, but wasn't fully func-
tional until July of 2012 because
of clogged water pumps and other
electrical problems.
But for the Argo Cascades,
things have been moving, more or N E V
less, according to schedule. When
the AAPAC sent out a call to artists
- including 48 local art organiza-
tions and over 48 regional art orga-
nizations - it received more than
50 submissions.
"It was the kind of outreach we
wanted to have happen," Kotarski
said. "And we took extra care to try
and attract local artists."
Since then, the artist count
has been reduced to two - Jann
Rosen-Queralt and a design team
consisting of Mags Harries and
Lajos Heder.
"We have two very quality art-
ists that are both nationally recog-
nized," Kotarski said. "They work
with natural materials and work
with sustainable water issues....
We look forward to seeing what
they come up with."
Rosen-Queralt has been active
in the art world since 1990. She
teaches at the Maryland Institute
College of Art and has won numer-
ous awards in and around Mary-
land.In 2011, she was the lead artist
for a large art installation at the
Brightwater Wastewater Treat-
ment Facility in Seattle.
Harries and Heder have com-
pleted more than 25 public-art
installations together, though
they're both accomplished indi-
vidual artists as well. Heder won
international prizes with his
design for Expo '96 in Budapest.
Harriess work has been exhibited

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In the midst of studies:
Taking a little time out for God?
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