Controversial Public Artwork

Controversial Public Artwork
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Sculptures have been the main form of public art over the years, and the Tilted Arc by Richard Serra highlighted the problems associated with putting up artworks in pubic places. One of the contentious issues in public art is that they may interfere with public space, but since such works are site specific there removal or relocation is equally controversial. Since the public often funds for most of these art projects, the government officials have the discretion on how the funds are to be utilized. However, the role of the government is debated as opponents of such works view the government’s role as having too much power to invade public spaces and people’s choice. This paper focuses on the controversy surrounding Danzas Indigenas, role of public funding of art and compares the art work with Tilted Arc by Richard Serra.
The Public work entitled Danzas Indigenas in the Baldwin Park was a public work in a metro station in California by Judy Baca which sparked controversy after ‘Save our State’ termed the public work a disgrace and attempt to rewrite history (SPARC, 2005). The supporters of the public work stated that it was meant to celebrate the area’s past history of Native Americans as well as the role of Mexico before the area was integrated into the U.S. Opponents stated that the interpretation of the inscription meant that the organizers supported the land to return to Mexico and as such was seditious (SPARC, 2005). The contention was whether the art work was honoring past history of the park or it was simply anti-American, as there is no agreement on whether it was meant to downplay the role of Caucasians in the Park’s history.
The artwork was publicly funded and I support pubic funding of such works so long as it is not done to support a narrow viewpoint of the government officials. The government is not obligated to spend on public works, but the choice of funding ought to be beneficial to a community. In any case, messages being expressed in such art should not be demean or triviale one particular section of the society. As such, there is a need to get public opinion before commissioning a public...