“Spirit of Healing,” a hand-cut tile mural by artist Jesse Treviño on the wall of San Antonio Children’s Hospital, is one of his best-known works.
San Antonio artists are sounding the alarm about a tip for investment in public art from one of the city’s proposed 2022 bond measures.
The suggestion came from a network committee reviewing the drainage and flooding segment of the bond package. Members said every penny deserves to be spent on those projects, as flooding is a public protection issue.
“It’s a slippery slope,” said Bill FitzGibbons, an artist who has created public art projects around the world. “If you take public art out of the drain, why the streets?”
The City Council is launching a $1. 2 billion program that will pass to the electorate in May. It will fund streets, parks, housing and other amenities, as well as drainage projects. Community committees have met since October to talk about how the money will be spent. .
FitzGibbons is the driving force behind a crusade to combat the imaginable loss of funds. He said he agrees that drainage is important, but the arts are also important.
He and his fellow artists write and call on council members to express their support for public art and inspire others to do the same. They also plan to attend an assembly on January 12 where the recommendations of the network committees will be presented to the City Council.
“I dream that we all go out and protect public art so that it is recorded in the city archives that all those other people have protected public art and artists,” said artist Kim Bishop, who is lately running a project.
At a drainage committee meeting on Dec. 15, some of the members said the amount allocated in the bond was not enough to meet the city’s needs. Instead, they asked that the $2. 5 million earmarked for public art under the measure be used for drainage projects.
The recommendations of the network committees are part of the procedure of creating bonds throughout the city. For the $1. 2 billion package by 2022, the committees reviewed city recommendations allocating $165 million for drainage, $273. 5 million for parks, $477 million for streets, $134 million for city amenities and $150 million for housing.
“The procedure is not over,” said Krystal Jones, acting director of the city’s arts and culture department. “The board can settle for the recommendations (of the committees) or it can replace the recommendations. They are the last word.
The measure’s budget includes cash for public art.
A city ordinance passed in 2011 requires that one percent of the budget for all investment projects be allocated to art. The 2022 bond measures bring the amount up to 1. 5 percent, a substitution that was made at the request of Jones and his team.
“There’s a sense that this is the best time to start talking about making one more investment in art, especially since art has allowed us to get through the pandemic,” he said.
Jones added that paintings about public art have continued the crisis of public fitness.
The City Council will vote to approve the list of projects on Feb. 10. Bail is expected to be delivered to the electorate on May 7.
Public art funded through the Percentage of Art program will have to be close to the allocation where the cash comes from, Jones said, explaining that this means it will have to be visual from the assignment site.
Public art created from drainage projects includes George Schroeder’s “Tribute to Freedom,” a 75-foot-tall piece of aluminum and metal that can be discovered at 6982 W. U. S. 90; “Bloom,” Leticia Huerta’s giant flower installation at McAllister Park; and “Leon Creek Crossing,” the illuminated aluminum sculptures by Barbara Grygutis crossing a bridge at 6624 W. Hausman Road.
Former Mayor Phil Hardberger supports the effort to keep the percentage of art in place and the proposed increase. He said that public art improves the quality of life and is also a point of promotion and possible transplants.
“If we need other people to come to San Antonio, if we need new business here, make it nice,” Hardberger said. you may not know what to do with them.
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