Deeper Look – Fredd Atkins Park (Part 1)
A Misplaced Vision
by Michael Paragon
The City of Sarasota was justifiably proud at the accomplishment in creating the Fred “Glossie” Atkins Park as a tribute to the man and the community that he represented. And to their credit, it was a genuine accomplishment in hindsight of the financial undertaking of the project. Missed deadlines and re-schedules, financial shortcomings (though $1.1 million has been spent getting it into operation) and other development issues caused delays and created multiple “renovation” projects.
The crowning achievement of it all was the installation of an art-piece created by the highly talented sculptor Frank Brown. To his credit, Mr. Brown has earned his BFA from Southern Illinois University, holds a MFA from the University of Wisconsin and has taught at Madison Area Technical College, the University of St. Thomas and Macalster College. His works are on permanent display at the Minnesota Institute of Arts, Southern Illinois University, the St. Paul Foundation and the University of Utah’s Museum of Fine Arts. Fred Atkins Park received a work entitled “A Community Within Reach”, which was delivered after a year-long process, going from concept to finished piece during the same timeframe. It’s been described as “a rolling knot of men, women and children determinedly reaching towards the heavens with a common heartfelt goal in mind. To view this is to be profoundly moved.”
Unfortunately, the general public description doesn’t paint such an inspirational image. In a brief survey of the local residents who’ve had the greatest exposure to the sculpture, most point to the figures as being misshapen, deformed and generally struggling against each other. When viewed from a distance, “A Community Within Reach” seems to depict a group of people climbing stairs – symbolic of reaching higher goals. But, it’s upon the closer inspection that this message is lost. The faces seem angry and at odds with one another. One figure actually appears to be screaming!
As another observer noted, there seems to be a “bucket of crabs” mentality in our community – when one seems to be getting out, the others pull him back down – and this statue seems to represent that! In looking from that perspective, it isn’t hard to wonder if they’re helping others up or being pulled back down.
Another bone of contention is the fact that an artist wasn’t selected from Sarasota’s own talent pool. We only house the students from the Ringling School of Art, the Visual Performing Arts at Booker High School as well as teams of aspiring artists at the Sarasota and Riverview campuses. Was there no one in Sarasota that could have done a better job than this? REALLY?
Out of curiosity, I began an online search for Black sculptors in general. The results lead me to wonder exactly what the selection process could have been? The works of either Herbert Ferber were interesting enough and displayed what I believe would have been better received as representative of the message. But the standout sculptor that I found was Mr. Richard Hunt. In terms of artistic design and symbolism, even diversity of materials, Mr. Hunt’s work would’ve been a source of pride that Sarasota, as a whole, would’ve embraced.
Any of the statues shown above would’ve been more appropriate. Of course, after looking at the alternatives, one has to wonder: who authorized Mr. Brown’s submission? Was this the result of one person’s approval or did a board or committee collectively drop the ball? Were Mr. Brown’s intentions made public? And if so, is this what was expected to be installed or have changes been made from the original concept?
In a nutshell, I believe that the City of Sarasota should issue a formal apology to the residents of the Newtown community specifically and to the entire city in general for this monstrosity that we’re being forced to accept as art! Art is something generally considered to have some sort of appeal, something that instills a sense of pride and has emotional value. Mr. Brown is a very gifted and talented sculptor. His body of works speaks to his abilities. This particular piece, however, has missed the mark.
I don’t recall seeing any Facebook pics with this statue in the background and honestly, I don’t ever expect to!
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Hoffman, I find your response about my father so puzzling and disappointing. You could not possibly be saying input on public art is not valid unless recorded publicly. You had been a close friend of my fathers and myself in the past with hundreds of conversations about art. Are you honestly implying you, as head of this project never heard my father mention you should have Richard Hunt do the piece, that he hated the process with the consultant you hired from California and the materials were inferior? Because I was actually present at times when all this was discussed openly with you. You even told me you hated the piece – we talked about this tons of times at how awful it was. Is that on public record and if not… never happened? Maybe being honest about it and how you failed to ensuring a quality piece for Newtown because maybe you thought rolling over for the ‘residents’ trumped the knowledge you should have given as the head of the public art committee? Really, what was the point of being on the committee if you could not be honest and make sure they made a good choice?
As a matter of professional qualifications, I too was disappointed that a member of the Public Art Committee was in place during the selection process and yet, failed to provide sound enough judgment to have avoided this disgraceful submission as a representation of the Newtown community. To further understand that Virginia Hoffman was aware of Richard Hunt’s possible involvement and yet chose to not pursue him as the artist of record is a sad reflection on V. Hoffman’s understanding of the needs of the community as well as the shadow that her involvement casts on the Public Art Committee. I can only assume that Dr. Smith would recommend the individual he could place his confidence in securely, the individual BEST suited to properly steer the project to a successful completion and proudly represent the P.A.C….this was the bang he got for his buck?
After a brief conversation with V. Hoffman, the sentiments that she expressed regarding this piece also led me to believe that she was not in favor of this piece. However, after reviewing the semi-finalist selection video (January 5th), I was surprised to see the eagerness with which V. Hoffman displayed regarding the awarding of the final selection!
Needless to say, there’s more to come on this topic.
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Factual correction, Dennis Kowal never attended one public meeting regarding this project nor was any information provided by him to the City in regards to this project. You will find absolutely nothing from Dennis Kowal in public record regarding this project. However his input is always welcome and appreciated.
The artist was selected by an ad-hoc committee made up of myself and residents of the Newtown neighborhood. A national call to artists went out and Mr. Brown was selected by this search. Fredd Atkins was the Chairmen of the ad-hoc committee.
Denise Kowal never attended a meeting regarding this project nor has given any input on public record, her input is always welcome and appreciated.
This project was intended to involve Newtown residents & John Hawthonre worked with staff to establish that committee the members were recommended by him, my role was to represent the Public Art Advisory Board offering advice when asked but to allow the voice and thoughts of the Newtown residents to lead the conversation. Each member of the ad-hoc committee other than my self were people who grew up in Newtown. Its all public record and available.
Constructive advice is always welcome and yes the process can always be improved. The Public Art Advisory Board meets quarterly you can find the meeting schedule on the city web site. Public input is allowed at the begining & end of the meeting. The more that participate and offer constructive advice and help the better as far as I am concerned.
Dear Michael, thank you posting my comment on your last article. I then found this article and have watched the process too. Richard Hunt is one of my father’s best friends for over 50 years who traveled to Florida for my fathers 70th birthday a few years back. My father recommended Hunt numerous times to the city and for this project and was totally ignored. The public art committee at that time, lead by Ms. Hoffman, hired a public art dealer/consultant from California for $6,000 to search for the artists for this park. They then put a committee together lead by Fredd Atkins to select an artist from the proposals. Hoffman was on that committee. I do not think anyone that knows art thought this selection was a good one for the park. My father further recommended that the piece selected by this committee should to be cast in bronze or aluminum because the current low fired clay will eventually self-destruct and is subject to vandalism, which it has already experienced. Many artists have been asked to help repair the piece already and ultimately this is a piece that the city paid somewhere around $90,000 to have, will always be falling apart. A true tragedy with something that was supposed to support strength, perseverance and dignity.
Thanks for your input on this topic Ms. Kowal! Truth being told, we all make mistakes and the collective entity known as the City of Sarasota is just as subject to make mistakes as anyone else. The challenge is ownership of said mistake and taking the necessary steps to correct it. $90,000, give or take, is a substantial amount of money to commit to something with planned obsolescence and such high visibility! I’d like to recommend the replacement of this piece with something more appropriate, preferably done locally and with the inclusion of the residents of Sarasota in the selection process.
Criteria:
Time will tell.
A few of us first graduates of the ABCD course with John McKnight agree with you because this is a public park. We strongly suggested the local community needed to build the park and the art in it… but as I remember, and I could be wrong… the city and Fredd just wanted it done and were less interested in getting the community involved because that took more time and energy.
I also witnessed a lot of people who were involved that did not speak up publicly because it was for Newtown… so they were intimidated to speak the truth about the art when it was selected. That alone was disingenuous and a disservice to all of Sarasota. But here we are… and what most of us do know is that the sculpture that is there now will not last and it needs to be indoors to survive long term. That has to happen sooner than later.