City of Redmond Installs Sculpture at Redmond Junior High
The mascot for Redmond Junior High is the GRIZZLEY. So it's fitting the city of Redmond installed a new outdoor sculpture called "Bear". "Bear" was installed on Thursday March 4, 2010. It''s in the front of the school. You can't miss it.
The artist, James Madison, was present, working with four members of the City of Redmond Parks Department instatllation crew. The piece will be at RJH until at least June 2011, in partnership with the Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition. This sculpture is the second installed at RJH through this partnership. Do you think the Bear has a Native American design look to it? Who is James Madison? Does James have a Native American Indian ancestry? Does he live in Redmond?
I ran past the school today and noticed this, I really like it!
ReplyDeleteThis is the type of thing I hope tax payers money wasn't wasted on. No offense intended to the artist but it's fairly 70's ugly. If this cost the town anything in the way of public funding I have to ask what benefit this brings? Dislike.
ReplyDeleteI think Madison's art is on a loner program and the city is not buying it outright. But, I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteThere is an iron art piece in the back of the school that will be there "forever". I heard it was put in the front origionally but no one liked it so it was moved back. Anyone know about it?
Ingunn - I love your site! I used to do that mountaneering stuff when I had good, young knees. Did you ever make it to Perrigo Woods trail? Rembember? It's call Asford Trail now and is wide open.
Although the sculpture is attractive, i'm uncertain of the purpose of it. And, once again, i'm confused about the use of taxpayer funds for art projects. This is likely funded through the Parks Department (City of Redmond) as are the other art pieces around Redmond -- but it is still my taxpayer dollars. Even if we didn't "pay anything" for the sculpture, the cost of the COR employees at the installation must have cost something...
ReplyDeleteArt is part of the fabric of our lives, and should be woven in at regular intervals. Perhaps the "purpose" of this piece is to get the viewers to consider the history of this place before they arrived. The artist used classic forms indiginous to this area but brings a fresh perspective using modern materials. Perhaps this piece of art could cause the viewer to contemplate what legacy he or she will leave behind. Will people in the future look back and be influenced by our current actions and creations?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely art is an appropriate way to spend public money when displayed in a public venue. Back in the Great Depression, government money was used for a variety of WPA projects, not the least of which was employing artists to create art. We now have a rich legacy of that dark period of time that lives on thru the murals, songs, and poetry of artists employed by public dollars.
I pity the society that DOESN"T recognize the need for art and the appropriateness of funding it publicly.