Conflict over color

COEUR d’ALENE — The “Monument to Peace and Unity” is running into a bit of conflict.

The 24-foot steel structure dedicated in September is brick red. Months later, the color choice is being questioned and the city may change it.

“It looks more like a primer color than anything,” said John Bruning, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission.

The final product was expected to be more of a gold color prior to its installation at the intersection of Northwest Boulevard, Government Way and Fort Grounds Drive, considered the gateway to Coeur d’Alene.

“It doesn’t match up with what we saw,” Bruning said.

The art, created by Ai Qiu Hopen of Humanity Memorial, Inc., based in Sutton, W. Va., depicts two ribbons of birds swirling upward.

The $75,000 project commissioned by the Arts Commission includes the statements, “We support the self-evident truth that all persons are created equal,” and “We believe that the dignity of each Human Being is inviolable.”

Hopen, in a phone interview Friday, said she loves the color and hopes the city doesn’t change it.

“The warm earth tone color is welcoming and unifying, symbolizing that we are all part of the earth and humanity,” she said.

The color is also in harmony with the red earth tone brick building, the Human Rights Education Institute, across the street, she said.

She also chose that color because it stands out from the area's backdrop that includes the blue of Lake Coeur d’Alene and green trees.

While the art itself was praised, commission members expressed some disappointment with the color.

“It is quite literally lackluster,” said Jennifer Drake.

The city was expecting gold, similar to what was depicted in scale models, so the brick red was a surprise to some.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been.

“There wasn’t anything in the contract with the artist specifying the color,” said Sherrie Badertscher, executive assistant to the mayor.

City Administrator Troy Tymesen said there was a difference between what was expected and what was delivered.

“We learned a valuable lesson in the contract,” he said.

Tymesen said the artist may have deviated from gold “based on pressure on what the monument was called by others during that period of time.”

There was some criticism that the monument was representative of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. During the dedication, there were two protesters.

Bruning said ,as the city owns the sculpture, it can paint it.

The commission said it would look into the cost of painting the monument.

Arts Commission Chair Mary Lee Ryba asked if there was a chance Hopen would return to paint the sculpture.

"She was passionate about her work,” Ryba said. “Maybe she would do her labor for free.”

It was pointed out, however, that Hopen lives in West Virginia.

“That’s a long way to travel,” Tymesen said.

The Arts Commission issued a national request for artist qualifications in 2020 for public art at the Four Corners.

The city received 20 submissions and narrowed it to five finalists, who received $1,000 each to provide details and a model of the proposed art piece.

Through an online survey, three finalists were interviewed. Hopen and “The Monument to Peace and Unity" were a unanimous pick.

Hopen said the brick red color is very much about unity because it's symbolic of clay and soil.

She said other colors could be misinterpreted.

"The earth tone is more universal,” she said.

She said she was not planning to return to paint it and said she has not been asked to do so.

Hopen said city officials didn’t indicate a color preference for the "Monument of Peace and Unity."

She said she would be glad to talk with the city about the color.

"I guess we need more communication," she said.

Hopen said a different color would not be a positive change.

“We really love the color,” she said.