When I first heard about this mural I got really excited because I thought it was going up on the side of the Court Street Ramp. Currently, there's a huge-ass vacant lot at the corner of Burlington and Clinton and that entire ramp is a huge potential canvas just waiting to be filled. I thought: awesome!
Then Mom told me where it really was and I was bummed out. I got even more bummed out when I realized that Richie Rich Marc Moen had commissioned the piece because he didn't like the view from his Penthouse in the Plaza Towers- and wanted to give customers to the Hotel Vetro something else to look at. He sold our Glorious Leaders on the notion and the painting began... and the totally lame-ass thing you see in the picture above is what resulted.
First of all, whenever I see it, I think of this. Don't ask me why.
Second of all, only in Iowa City would a mural representing 'diversity and reaching across boundaries' involve only white people.
Third of all, it's just indulgent! This is why I don't like Marc Moen sometimes. No doubt he's interested in the community and the new FilmScene Project going in where Vito's was is going to be a welcome addition to downtown but really? This thing is hidden away in the back of a tiny parking lot- not feeling a lot of love for the proletariat. It's the ultimate in elitist public art: painted on a public parking ramp for the rich to look at.
(Oh and I like Moen even less because of that ridiculous 14 story monstrosity he wanted to build smack dab on the Ped Mall- and doubly so because he wants TIF money for it. Thanks, but I'll pass...)
No comments:
Post a Comment