Half-Flip or Full-Flop?

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,
The website PolitiFact, maybe better known for their “Truth-o-meter” where they rate the statements of politicians from “True” all the way to “Pants-on-Fire”, also maintains a “Flip-O-Meter” where they rate changes in political positions on a scale of “No-Flip”, “Half-Flip” or “Full-Flop.”
I am not sure whether to give myself a half-flip or a full-flop on the request from Appleton Downtown, Inc. to install what is referred to as a “Selfie Sculpture” in Houdini Plaza downtown. When I was writing the newsletter on Sunday and Monday, I was just thinking that I didn’t like the looks of what they were proposing. Many of you agreed. As I watched the videos of the Appleton Public Arts and Parks and Recreation Committee meetings, I paid more attention to the memo from the Community Development Department regarding the Art in Public Places Policy, which really indicates that, after approval by the Public Arts Committee, what other council committees and the Common Council as a whole have to base their decisions on is whether the applicant meets the requirements of the policy, not whether we like the art or not. Based on all of this, I voted in the City Plan Commission meeting yesterday to approve the installation.
The discussion in the Parks and Recreation Committee about locating the installation somewhere other than Houdini Plaza didn’t really make sense based on ADI’s goal of creating buzz for activities taking place downtown, but the suggestion to put it in the spot on East College Avenue that had been occupied by “The Collective” (the giant head made out of many faces created from salvaged propane tanks) reminded me that I voted to leave that work in place for the approved period of time, not because I thought it was beautiful, but because the installation had met the requirements of the Art in Public Places policy. While I will leave the “take a selfie every place you go” notion to younger generations, I support the work of ADI to support our downtown businesses and if this is something that generates activity downtown, then I will be the first to applaud.
The city is not paying for the sculpture (I did suggest to the Executive Director of Appleton Downtown, Inc. that rather than calling it a sculpture, they should call it a “Selfie Station”, but the fact is that a local sculptor designed and would create the installation.) and ADI would be responsible for installation and maintenance, other than snow removal, which the city already handles in Houdini Plaza. The design makes use of ADI’s “locater pin” logo and would  have words that can be changed out based on seasons or events going on downtown. 



ADI’s Jennifer Stephany pointed out similar installations in Green Bay and Sheboygan:
A person standing next to a large green sign AI-generated content may be incorrect.A sign in a park AI-generated content may be incorrect.
Thanks to all of you who provided input, and I hope that this is a decent explanation of the evolution of my opinion on this issue.

 

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