Tuesday, June 1,2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 7 Visiting artist criticizes bureaucracy in public art William Dennisuk looks to expedite art installation process By TOREHAN SHARMAN For the Daily Though Ann Arbor is adorned with sculptures and other art install- ments, one artist said the process of displaying sculptures is complicated by the red tape put up by the Univer- sity, the City of Ann Arbor and the State of Michigan. William Dennisuk, a visiting art- ist at the School of Art & Design, installed a public sculpture last week for display in Gallup Park but said he has had to contend with the bureau- cracy of local regulatory committees for the past few months to keep his 40 CSA From Page 1 also meat and dairy CSA programs, according to a CSA affiliated web- site. Wessel Walker praised the CSA sys- tem for offering people quality food at their convenience. "(Produce from CSA) is healthy, it comes from local sources, it's grown and made by people who cared and put a lot of love and excitement into their work, and it's super convenient," she said. "It's really easy, you don't have to scrub the dirt off the carrots because we do that for you." Members of Harvest Kitchen auto- matically become members of the Community Farm and receive a CSA- style supply of fresh fruits and vegeta- bles in addition to weekly meals from Wessel Walker and her eight-person staff. Last winter, Wessel Walker part- nered up with Rena Basch of Loca- vorious, a frozen food CSA that now provides Harvest Kitchen with fresh produce year-round, and Kris Hirth of the Old Pine Farm meat CSA. The new omnivore option made possible through Old Pine Farm was very suc- cessful in its first season, according to Wessel Walker. Wessel Walker said she gets most of her recipe ideas from her large collec- tion of cookbooks and over the years has developed a sense for what types of recipes will be successful. art intact. He said Ann Arbor's strict laws and regulations make it very difficult for artists to create and introduce their works to the public. "It took some time to figure out who the people were that I was sup- posed to talk to," Dennisuk "Even when you get all your ducks in a row you would still have to have a three- to-four-month period before you got something like this off the ground." The External Elements Design Review Committee for the City of Ann Arbor and the University's Presidential Advisory Committee for Public Art are two organizations, Dennisuk said, that have stymied the progress of artists looking to display their work publicly. The Presidential Advisory Com- mittee for Public Art was created to monitor and regulate public works of "This is (Harvest Kitchen's) fourth summer, (and) I feel like I've gotten more and more of a sense what's going to be good and what's not going to be good and what people are going to like," she said. The amount of food Harvest Kitch- en provides its members varies over the course of the season, Wessel Walk- er said. Meals become progressively larger over the course of the summer, starting in June. She added that it is difficult to estimate the longevity of a share, which depends on how mem- bers ration food. CSA food is most plentiful in August and September, Wessel Walker said. During a normal week last Sep- tember, members received two quarts of vegetable chili, one cup of basil pesto, one quart of eggplant dumplings, two quarts of coleslaw with apples, one quart of greens in peanut sauce, one gallon of salad and their choice of either a watermelon or a cantaloupe. Last week, members who signed up early for the June-November summer season received a special preview of this year's provisions - a seven-inch quiche, one quart of spinach salad with dressing and one cup of sour cream and onion dip. "It's only a good deal if you eat everything," she said. "If you are paying this money up front and then letting the vegetables rot in your refrigerator, it's a waste of money." In 2007, Harvest Kitchen sold seven shares. This summer, there are art by presenting a piece of work to the public, according to its website. The Presidential Advisory Commit- tee works in conjunction with the EEDRC to provide long-term solu- tions for public art displays. Dennisuk added he has been in talks with the EEDRC and the Presi- dential Advisory Committee for Pub- lic Art committees to help streamline the process for giving artists and sculptors clearance to continue with their installations. "I heard of artists who have come and tried to do short term things here and they just haven't because of all the red tape and bureaucracy," Den- nisuk said. In Finland - where he currently lives - Dennisuk said there are fewer restrictions on putting up public art installments. He said he would only need to get clearance from the town 35 shares available with 12 still up for grabs. The price of a whole six month share, including the price of the farm share, is 2,400 dollars for the vegetar- ian option and 2,700 dollars for the omnivore option. Members can also opt for a half share, which Wessel Walker said she recommends for indi- vidual customers or couples. Last Friday, Mark Schrupp stopped by the Harvest Kitchen location on Geddes Avenue near Oxford Housing to pick up his share. He said he and his family had already been members of the Community Farm, but they decid- ed to try Harvest Kitchen a couple of years ago because it offered a conve- nient way to enjoy local ingredients. Wessel Walker admitted that Har- vest Kitchen isn't for everyone, but after Shrupp left the kitchen with his food, she said "that's one family that it really works for." A membership to Harvest Kitchen might be too expensive for a student or someone with a tight budget, but according to Wessel Walker, if the other option is either eating out or at a hot food bar like the one at the Peo- ple's Food Co-op in Kerrytown, Har- vest Kitchen is "at least comparable, if not less expensive in the end." Wessel Walker said one gradu- ate student at the University, who debated joining Harvest Kitchen for a long time, recently decided to go for it because she was workingso much that she simply didn't have the energy to cook for herself. Dennisuk has installed three sculptures for public display in Ann Arbor. architect and the town gardener, and by that evening, his sculpture would be up for display. Dennisuk added that he hopes to take what he learned about regula- tory committees in displaying pub- lic wart in Ann Arbor and pass it on to students in the School of Art & Design. "(The visiting artist) would take people through the process, and they See SCULPTURE, Page 8 MARISSA MCC Mary Wessel Walker gives food to Harvest Kitchen member Mark Schrupp. "I did have the impression that it was going to be a budget stretch for her, but hopefully (it was) worth it," she said. Looking towards the future of Har- vest Kitchen, Wessel Walker said that she's not interested in providing food to institutions like the University din- ing halls or the University hospital, but she hopes to reach more individu- als and families. Wessel Walker added that she is considering creating a retail line simi- lar to the hot food bar at the People's Food Co-op to allow people to enjoy meals made with local food without having to take the "leap of faith" that comes with a six-month membership.