Maple & Main

art (art) n. 1. The quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

But put the word “public” in front of it, and it changes everything.

The words “public art” and “public debate” appear to go hand in hand more often than not.

It seems any time someone gets the idea to place a piece of art out in view of the general public, it spurs a swell of controversy.

Some might say that controversy is a benefit of public art- it gets people talking. Others would simply rather not have to deal with the issue.

Whatever your opinion on public art may be, there is one thing everyone may agree on- public art begets attention.

I was perusing one of my favorite local blogs the other day and my attention was captured by an article regarding the controversy surrounding the placement of an art piece outside of the Brookfield Public Library.

While stating he is a proponent of public art, Brookfield’s Mayor is not overly fond of placing it where everyone can see it.

Public art hidden from the view of the public?

Interesting.

Nevertheless, here we are once more in the stew of controversy over a piece of artwork.

Public art again lives up to its reputation.

So by now you may be asking yourself, “What’s the point here? Who cares that public art is such an attention getter?”

You know who cares…New York City cares.

They care to the tune of $15 million.

New York City is considering shelling out a $15 million check to Danish artist Olafur Eliasson to construct up to four waterfalls in various spots of the city as a display of public art.

You may be asking yourself why, because it sounds crazy, doesn’t it.  

On the contrary, the project could generate almost $55 million worth of tourism for the city.

$55 million for a $15 million investment.

Public art can do that? Who would of thought?

And before you go back to the “sounds crazy” statement, we need to look back at another public art project the City of New York supported a while back.

Artist Christo (I would like to wrap the planet in cellophane) and his wife Jeanne-Claude (I still love my husband even though he wants to wrap the planet in cellophane) erected a massive project in Central Park called “The Gates”.

The plan included a series of 7500 squared arches made of fabric that stood 16 feet high and lined 23 miles of footpaths in the park.

Weird, eh?

Here's what is not so weird, The project generated over $80 million for the city and created temporary work for many a jobless New Yorker.

So as I sit here reading "blog" after "Sound Off" after "letter to the editor" about how Waukesha's downtown needs more bar/restaurants to generate tourism dollars, I really begin to scratch my head.

Don't get me wrong, I think downtown could definitely benefit from the addition of more restaurants...

I said restaurants.

Not "restaurants" that are open until 2:30AM. That now takes on the characteristics of a bar.

And within a 1 mile radius of the center of downtown Waukesha, there are 27 bars- 8 of which I haunt on a regular basis because they are noble establishments.

But the 27 we have don't seem to be holding together the fabric of our downtown. They are not sustaining the economy down here in such a way that we need to litter the landscape with more. So what makes someone think we need more?

You know what's nice about public art?

It's quiet.

It sits where you set it and it doesn't make a sound. It respects its neighborhood and supports silence.

Put 27 pieces of public art down here and I'll bet it would catch a tourist's eye; maybe even make them meander the streets, stop for a bite to eat, perhaps wander into a store to shop, and possibly even pause in the end for a drink.

How about that.

Perhaps it is time we start looking at interesting alternatives for breathing some life into this downtown and embrace something unconventional.

You can say public art offends you and you can say you don't like it and you can say it's ugly. But there are plenty of things down here that do far worse.

And in the end, the art will do exactly what it is supposed to do; exactly what so many down here need it to do.

I think what Mr. Wigderson said in a blog response to Brookfield’s public art dilemma perfectly sums it up…

There haven’t been a whole lot of really exciting (or good) things happening downtown in the past few weeks.

We all know the hotel is underway. We all know new condos are being built on the river. We all know there are a multitude of renovation projects happening in the Business Improvement District.

So what’s a blogger to do when there is no real news happening for him to blog about?

He does this…

Say hello to Ed. Ed is my five year old Fox Terrier.

A few months ago, Ed was invited to a “dog birthday party”. Having little experience in this area, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, so Ed and I headed to the pet store for research.

I was surprised to find that dog birthday parties are not all that uncommon. It seems you can buy cards, gifts, outfits, and even dog cake and dog ice cream.

More on the dog cake later.

After a good hour of shopping at the pet store (Ed likes to look at the rats and guinea pigs), we returned home with all kinds of items designed to make Ed the hit of the party and my feelings toward the event were turning from apprehensive to borderline excitement.

Trouble was, Ed wasn’t sharing this feeling with me.

We began party preparations by wrapping the birthday dog’s gifts. Upon sight of these items, Ed went into a fury. He was convinced these toys were for him (try explaining to a dog why you are wrapping his toys in paper and bows) and was hell bent on shredding them, as he does to all his toys.

So out came the dreaded dog gate and Ed was confined to the living room while I continued wrapping.

Once everything was wrapped, it was time to dress Ed for the party.

This is where things got weird, and to appreciate just how weird, we need to reflect on the history of the Wire-Haired Fox Terrier for a moment…

The Wire-Haired Fox Terrier was developed in England by fox hunting enthusiasts and is believed descended from a now-extinct, rough-coated, black-and-tan working terrier of Wales, Derbyshire, and Durham. The breed was also believed to have been bred to chase foxes into their burrows underground, and their short, strong, usually docked, tails were used as handles by the hunter to pull them back out.

Oh my. What has happened here?

But I soon put the thoughts of shame behind me and carried on with the mission at task, we only had a few minutes before we had to be at the party.

Ed is really good about being handled. As I pulled the little hat over his ears and tied the bow around his neck, he sat patiently, a tribute to his blue-blooded showmanship.

Once Ed was dressed, I stepped back to take a look.

Ed is sensitive to laughter. He knows the difference between being laughed at and laughing with.

I tried to contain myself, and with a giggle in my throat, I quickly snapped this photo.

Ed was mortified- so mortified that he didn’t even move a muscle. I had to lift him off the couch and carry him to the car. All the way to the party, he sat in the back seat, still as a statue.

However, when we arrived at the party, I let Ed out of the car, he entered the house, and the mayhem began.

There were dogs everywhere and within minutes, Ed had shed his funny hat and fluffy bow. Lighter and more nimble without his accessories, he was now determined to get this party stirred into absolute anarchy.

That’s what I love about Ed.

Dogs were on furniture, dogs were running laps through the house, dogs were jumping on children- it was quite the scene.

And just when you thought there was no controlling the chaos, out came dog birthday cake...and silence fell over the room.

Dog birthday cake proved to be a godsend, however, dog birthday cake has one downfall- it looks a lot like real cake.

I had heard there would be cake for everyone, humans as well as dogs, and when I saw a slice of moist, golden, delicious cake sitting unguarded on the kitchen table, I took my chance at acquiring it to appease my sweet tooth.

Let me tell you, looks can be VERY deceiving. It’s been months since the event, and I still don’t think I have brushed that flavor from my mouth completely.

As the party wound down and exhausted dogs littered the living room, we said our goodbyes and took Ed home.

He curled into a tiny ball in the back seat of the car and slept all the way home; I had to carry him into the house and set him in his bed.

Overall, I would say he had a great time, minus the hat and bow. And as I brushed my teeth for the fourth time in fifteen minutes, I couldn’t help but think I had a pretty good time as well.

As strange as it sounds, dog birthday parties can be quite the social event.

Now let’s hope something blog-worthy happens downtown in the next few days, or else I am going to be forced to tell you all about the cat Bar Mitzvah I went to.

I may not be kidding.