Memorial Park Mural Project

The Albany City Council will soon take up an important public art project:  the proposed installation of a new mural in Memorial park.

I have concerns about the location of the mural and the process by which it was planned, which I will explain below.

But first, I want to respond to a recent suggestion by a Patch commenter that I have 'nitpicked' the project by raising the issue of attribution of the work.

Here is the situation:  the muralist who has been selected for this project has two distinct public personae as an artist, with work shown on two different websites.  One persona (and website) is that of a child-friendly muralist.  The other persona (and website) features paintings of young children in highly sexualized settings - some nude or partially clad, and surrounded by male sex organs and sex toys.  

I think that many of us would prefer that the artwork identified with the second persona not be viewed by children (or by certain adults, but that is a different issue).   For this reason, I have suggested that if the project moves forward as planned, it be conditioned on attribution to the artist's child-friendly muralist identity, rather than to the 'edgy' fine artist. 

Is this a nitpick?  Perhaps if this work was to be displayed in a private home or museum it would be.  But since it is to be displayed and attributed on a public building, facing a children's' play structure in a public park, sensitivity is warranted about pointing children towards such images, even very indirectly.

To return to my concerns about the location of the mural, and the process by which it was planned: I happen to be a fan of the architectural style of the Veterans Memorial Building, with its references to the Spanish Colonial and Mexican history of our region.  I think it was a good aesthetic judgment and a wise investment to design the Friendship Club to harmonize with the historic building.  So I would like to see  any artwork that is placed on or near the Club's east facing wall, whose plain stucco surface topped with red tile reflects the Hispanic style, also be complementary to that style.  Unfortunately the proposed mural - a brightly colored fantasy landscape - just doesn't 'go' with the architecture, at least in my eyes.  

For this reason, I would rather see the mural placed elsewhere - perhaps on the interior walls of the Friendship Club, or perhaps as a replacement for the existing deteriorated mural that blights the maintenance building behind the bleachers just to the north of the proposed site.      

I recognize that aesthetic judgments about art and architecture can differ.  I am content to bow to the judgment of others when I am outvoted on something so subjective, after a proper public process has been completed.  

But the public process in this matter has been inadequate.  The private Albany Community Foundation seems to have chosen the only artist and the only location under consideration, despite the fact that significant public resources are involved.  No alternatives have been identified, much less analyzed by the appropriate city Commissions, for the benefit of the City Council, as directed by the City's Advisory Committee Handbook.    

The Albany Public Arts Master Plan, which recommended a rotating mural inside the Friendship Club building area, and not a permanent mural on an exterior wall, has simply been ignored.  Why do we pay experts with public funds, and get public input to develop plans, and then just shelve them?  

For all the foregoing reasons, I would urge a fresh start to the process by which this project came into being.  Let's engage the public, examine alternatives, and present the City Council with a robust report that identifies the pros and cons of all its options in the matter.  Perhaps the outcome will be the same.  But it will still be a healthy process for our community if those of us who prefer alternative approaches can at least be assured that our voices have had a fair hearing.