Out of Arkansas - Critic Schmidic

Our city government's orb is getting a little wobbly in an otherwise stable orbit around this town, so maybe we need a quick class in governing 101, and because we tend to give more weight to business, as opposed to residential concerns, let's use the model of a corporation.

The mayor is the Chief Executive Offer (CEO) who we, the stockholders, elect on the premise that the CEO is qualified to oversee the big picture of Public Health, Public Safety and General Welfare, and in doing so will, with the consent of the Board Of Director (the City Council) hire competent Chief Operations Officers (COOs) (department heads), to be in charge of day-to-day operations: Police, Fire, Public Works, etc.

In addition to these are commissions staffed by volunteers, amateurs who tend to recycle themselves before completing the learning curve, which has a significant effect on our town.

Hang on. We're shifting gears. There are untold amounts of public art nationwide. The key word here is "public," meaning folks wandering around, who accidentally see the art. They have no clue as to what they're about to see, until they see it.

Remember, everyone is a critic, and a painting is a visual language open to various interpretations, which brings us to the question of who is best qualified to translate visual language into words.

Keeping in mind that "public" is defined as open to everyone, people as a whole, or members of a community, then the answer is the elected government.

But which branch? See government 101, above.

Let's expedite this article by choosing the usual solution of most governments: an art committee or commission composed of knowledgeable people, hired or volunteers, who are appointed to the position and elected by the Council.

Oops. The Artery is already nearing that crossroad without establishing a suitable criteria for selecting public art, one that culls the amateurs from the professionals. The professionals earn money by painting, and they are painfully aware of what their market will tolerate.

For example, Claude Monet, touted as the father of Impressionism, made a boatload of money during the 1890s by painting haystacks. After his first haystack sold amazingly fast, and his agent was swamped by clients wanting more of the same, Monet refused to reproduce the same image, but, on his agent's advice, decided he could if he changed the light on the haystack, which then was translated to an investigation of light during different times of the day, not a haystack.

Folks, painting is a business, and it has always been a business. As for the criteria of the Artery, it's public art, therefore "safe art." It should be selected by successful agents who are in the business of selling art.