To witness the value of public art in Wichita, you have only to visit the Keeper of the Plains on a summer evening.
There, where Blackbear Bosins 44-foot steel sculpture towers above the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers, youll see residents and tourists strolling along footbridges toward the base of the Keeper to watch the Ring of Fire ignite.
They snap photos and post them on Instagram. They read about the history of Native Americans in Wichita. They gaze at the Wichita skyline. They search for the troll sculpture in his hidey-hole under a grate near the Keeper.
Art enriches and elevates public spaces. It brings people together. It educates, captivates, uplifts and inspires.
So its time for city leaders to recognize arts worth and make it a priority: Enact a percent-for-art ordinance, which would set aside 1 percent of Wichitas capital-improvement project budget and earmark it for public art projects.
THE BENEFITS of public art are well documented. But because theyre considered soft benefits aesthetic beauty, inspiration and general improvement of the urban environment its easy to dismiss them as a low priority, particularly when budgets are tight.
However, some key public art projects right here in Wichita over the past several years have transformed public spaces and proved arts inherent and lasting value:
A mural painted on a north Wichita grain elevator designed by Colombian street artist GLeo as part of the Horizontes project set a Guinness world record and is attracting photographers and other visitors from across the country.
An effort to decorate buildings in the Douglas Design District lit a fire under area artists and sparked a grant that will help add more murals and other enhancements to the burgeoning neighborhood.
Gallery Alley, an outdoor pop-up art gallery at 616 E. Douglas in Old Town, turned unused space into a vibrant gathering space for Final Friday art shows and other events.
And Wichitas collection of downtown sculptures, from the Tripodal outside Century II to Georgia Gerbers bronze statues depicting the historic Dockum Drug Store sit-in, have enhanced the citys walkability.
Its time to acknowledge that robust beginning and build on it, by guaranteeing that every public project undertaken in Wichita will involve artists and have a public art component.
Granted, because art is subjective, communities often experience public art controversies. In Petaluma, California, residents are deeply divided over a proposed installation titled Fine Balance, which features Victorian claw-foot bathtubs on stilts. In Wichita two decades ago, folks griped about the circle of light columns at Central and McLean, which many saw as a waste of public funds.
Nevertheless, art advocates are smart to push for an ordinance now. The City Council recently approved an $83 million baseball stadium development in downtown Wichita, which will include a pedestrian bridge over the Arkansas River. At the same time, an advisory committee has called for a new performing arts center, and others are pushing for a new convention center to replace Century II.
