Differences on Epiphany
<p>Artist Michael Horswill’s “Epiphany” is lit up at the Hayden library.</p>
<p>“Epiphany,” a stainless steel and acrylic glass sculpture created by Michael Horswill, is at the entrance of the Hayden Public Library on Government Way. The sculpture was installed in November of 2015.</p>
Epiphany stands in front of the Hayden Public Library, looking out to those who drive by. However, not everyone enjoys the artwork.
The face-like statue is made of different colored panels of Plexiglass, with several small items protruding from its head including a bike gear, a book and a bird. Two other abstract pieces, also made of Plexiglass, stand behind it. The three sculptures are supposed to “represent an active mind, reflecting the Hayden Public Library’s purpose of educating and providing our community with a world of resources,” according to the Hayden Arts Commission.
Krystal Heisz doesn’t like the statue and started a petition last week to not only have it removed, but to also “respectfully request revising the city's future policy and procedure for selecting and purchasing public art in this community.”
“I’ve been looking at it since it has been put up and every time I go by it makes me cringe. I’m very disturbed by it,” Heisz said. “It’s time to find out how many people feel the same way.”
As of Monday, the petition on change.org has 49 supporters. Her goal is to reach 1,000. The petition will be delivered to the Hayden City Council and the Hayden Arts Commission. When Heisz posted the link to CDA Swap n Shop’s Facebook page, it got a lot of comments to keep the art.
“…my purpose is not to stir up controversy,” Heisz responded to the posts. “It is to discover the truth behind how many people are bothered enough by this sculpture.”
The link to the petition has since been taken down from Facebook.
The controversy over the Epiphany statue seems to be about liking the art in the first place, how the piece was decided on and how much money it cost.
The Hayden Arts Commission managed the project and the Hayden Urban Renewal Association (HURA) funded it. HURA’s budget comes from tax increment financing. When a property in the HURA taxing district goes up in value, HURA gets the property value increase to use within HURA.
The budget for Epiphany was set at $58,233.46. That money can be seen in HURA’s list of projects from 2007-2015. However, there was an additional $24,153 spent that HURA approved to remove some utility poles that were where the statue was going to go. This money is not seen in that list of projects because the money was spent after the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2015.
“It’s money designated to art in any form,” said Nancy Sue Wallace, chair of both HURA and the Hayden Arts Commission.
According to Connie Krueger, Hayden city community and economic development director, all the art pieces were going to go outside the library. Each one had different installation needs. One piece would have hung from poles, in which case the utility poles may not have needed to be removed.
When the Hayden City Council voted to put up the public art, Councilman Richard Panabaker was the only one to vote against it.
“I understand the need for artwork and for HURA,” he said. “But people have truck holes in their street and they’re spending $60,000 to put up artwork. I know the people wouldn’t support that. I would deem it unnecessary.”
City Councilman Matthew Roetter also disagrees with the decision, however he was not elected until after it was made. He said the project was “a total waste of taxpayer money,” and that he is against taxpayer money going toward public art.
The Hayden Arts Commission had more than 100 submissions of art and narrowed it to five. The public was invited to look at the final five proposals and vote on them. However, the winning piece was not used because the arts commission found a few pieces did not meet its criteria for necessary maintenance, potential vandalism and how the structures would be lit. Ultimately, Epiphany was chosen instead.
“We had to look at it from a long-standing, feasibility way,” Wallace said. “We chose that one. I’m glad it won. It’s by a local artist.”
Part of Heisz’s petition is to better include community members in making these kind of decisions.
“They let the public vote on it, but it doesn’t seem like it was very well listened to,” she said.
Just like everything, there are supporters and non-supporters of Epiphany.
“We want a public process and we’d love to have more people on the art commission,” Wallace said. “No piece of art is liked by everybody.”