2001 banner year for arts in Butler County

By Richard O. Jones
Journal-News
HAMILTON

The big local art news for the year 2000 can be summed up in three words: “City of Sculpture.”

The defining moment came on Aug. 16 when the veil fell from “The Hamilton Gateway,” the monumental 60-foot sculpture placed at the corner of High Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

The unveiling was the culmination of a two-year effort to site a piece of art on the plaza in front of the Government Services Center and One Renaissance Plaza.

Minneapolis artists Stanton Sears and Andrea Myklebust beat out well-known artists like Fletcher Benton and Barry Gundersen for the commission in a national call for entries entitled, “Public Art, Private Dreams.”

The Public Arts Committee, headed by Rick H. Jones, executive director of the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, included artists and members of the local arts community, government officials and private citizens. Recently retired Common Pleas Court Judge John Moser and his wife Shirley donated “The Hamilton Gateway” to the community in honor of his retirement.

The installation was not without controversy. Many local residents objected to the finish — or lack thereof — on the sculpture’s largest components, two plates of weathering steel.

“Mother nature is taking over,” Jones said. “As the weathering steel develops its own protective coating, it will an interesting dark red coat that will protect it from further corrosion. ”

A painted surface would need to be periodically touched-up or re-painted, but a the surface as it is will be self-maintaining once the protective coating of oxidation is built up, Jones said. That process could take a few years, and when the foliage that has been planted around the base matures it will mask the oxidation that has stained the concrete.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Jones said. “It’s unfortunate that people have been impatient for the process to continue.”

The donors, however, have taken the criticism of the sculpture in stride.

“What has been said hasn’t bothered me,” Moser said. “I knew people would be critical. If we were the artists who created it, we might be offended.”  

Jones said that the project demonstrated the power of the arts to unite — or divide — a community, but overall the lessons of the experience have been positive.

“People are still talking about it and are starting to like the piece as they get used to it and understand it,” he said. “Public art is something that quickly gets people talking about the arts. It gets their attention and gives them a lot to ponder.”

As a result of “The Hamilton Gateway,” both city council and Ohio Governor Bob Taft have declared Hamilton “The City of Sculpture.”

Two committees have sprung up to further that recognition. The City of Sculpture Committee has been soliciting proposals from sculptors and evaluating possible sites for future works of public art. The Public Arts Regional Team is looking for ways to use public sculpture as a tool for marketing and tourism.

According to Gerry Hammond, president of the City of Sculpture, the first fruits of her group’s efforts should be seen early in 2001 with the announcement of Hamilton’s first Sculptor-In-Residence. Installation of public sculptures could begin by the summer, she said.