In a post-State of the City interview last month and a public presentation before the Redevelopment Agency last week, Mayor James Kennedy talked about murals and sculptures scattered around the downtown loop as part of an overall plan focusing on the arts. He described the visual arts piece as a complement to performing arts initiatives such as the amphitheater and black box theater planned for Hamilton Street and gallery space in the YMCA and Elizabethtown Gas building. The “eye candy,” as the mayor describes it, is expected by mid-summer.
As examples, Kennedy noted the walkway connecting Main Street and the parking lot behind River Place as an ideal spot for a mural or a sculpture, in addition to some areas connecting Hotel Indigo to the Lewis Stree
t parking deck. “The whole arts picture has been growing in many pieces that ultimately is coming together now,” he said.
A committee will determine about two dozen quirky spots downtown for sculptures, which then would be cataloged into a booklet for a sort of sculpture garden. The city would be responsible for the footings but artists would cover the cost of their own sculptures. “The advantage to artists is not that they’re paying for their own sculpture but the advantage is that it gives them exposure and exhibition space,” Kennedy said.
Another program will copy what was done in Ithaca, N.Y., where The Sagan Planet Walk at Sciencenter pays homage to the Rahway native and noted Cornell astronomer. A scale model of the solar system would station planets at specific locations between City Hall and the Arts Guild. The program also would incorporate the high school physics program, the mayor said, while the educational piece would include brass descriptions of the technical data about the size and composition of planets. The sculptures would be to scale so some might be as small as a tennis ball while others might be much larger.
“The neat thing is that it brings a sense of community, it’s a something-to-do kind of thing,” Kennedy said, adding that these initiatives aim to create a pleasant atmosphere but also catch the attention of passersby.
A third aspect of the visual arts piece is a window treatment program like one that was done for the Carriage City Plaza sales office. People looking into the windows can see the image or art while those on the inside can clearly see outside. Rather than have paper covering up vacant storefronts, Kennedy said the city also is trying to encourage empty stores to allow the space for use by artists until they are leased.
Asbury Park started an empty window art project a few years ago.I think its called postcards from Asbury. It featrues old pictures of the town and visitors applied to what looks like large size postcards. The vacant stores were then filled with fun and interesting old pics instead of empty windows.It also seemed to encorage people walking to slow down and mingle etc.. seems like a great idea…
Right you are Kevin, same idea. My original draft of this post included info on the fact that the murals are a copy of what Asbury Park did, but I edited it down. Kennedy said the Asbury Park mayor visited Rahway to discuss the project.
2 important points regarding the Rahway art movement:1. I'm all for beautifying the city, but let's not depend on the arts for economic growth. It's time to get serious about bringing in successful businesses by creating big incentives and tax breaks. The jobs, sales tax, parking revenues will help offset these breaks but at least will spur growth.2. Just because it's "art" doesn't mean it's good, even if it's for sentimental purposes. The hearts memorial in front of the train station is horrendous looking and creates a barrier to a high traffic path to the train steps. It's for a good cause but it doesn't mean it's worthy of being publicly displayed. I could create some giant piece of crap and say its for Haiti or something…does that mean I can plop it down in the middle of the town? Or does the art, regardless of its cause, need to satisfy a certain standard of visual presence? As the mayor begins to plant art around the city, I hope a standard of quality is followed so this town doesn't look like a refrigerator filled with kindergarten art.
Two dozen quirky spots downtown for sculpture? C'mon already!
Here's an idea for a piece of quirky "art" for Rahway: how about putting up some swingsets at Berzenic Park? And how about some quicky, ya know, "art" for little kids to play on at one of the river parks downtown? Like a slide. I hear these sorts of artistic pieces are all the rage in the art-world in Paris …
Let's keep the rage in Paris..How long will it take for these pieces to be vandalized in our town? We need to draw people downtown first to see the artwork, not the other way around.
"Let's keep the rage in Paris"What do you have against swings?
A good window treatment program would be a store behind the window that sells products that people actually want to buy. That makes windows look great.
Tax breaks, "big incentives"? Such as…? Something like Park Square got (reduced property taxes for five years)? "Horrendous"? Really? I wouldn't go that far. And I'd hardly call it a major barrier. I'll admit I'm not usually at Train Station Plaza during morning rush but there certainly seems to be more than enough room to get by to the train steps. But that's the tricky thing: one person's "art" is another person's feces (click here if you don't remember the reference). My understanding is a committee will determine locations ("20 to 25" I was told, may be a bit much) and vet the artists. I do like the sound of your window treatment program better.
"(click here if you don't remember the reference)"I don't remember the reference, but can't 'click here'. Can you fix that?Thanks.
Whoops. Can't modify the original comment but this should work.