This Monday morning I delivered a senior citizen to his appointment with his nephrologist. Since I was in the neighborhood I thought I'd go take some photos of one of Wichita Falls art installations. Which is what you see above, and below.
This is known as The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture.
I learned of this sculpture soon upon my arrival in this town. I think I learned about it via brochures I picked up at the Texas Travel Center. I thought I remembered reading this sculpture was controversial due to what was thought to be an outrageous price tag of $25,000
I Googled "Wichita Falls Crepe Myrtle Sculpture" to see if I could get accurate info about this work of art.
Well, there was a lot of info, including the following paragraph I got from an article titled 10 Things in Wichita Falls That Need to Just Go Away...
The late George Sugarman was a somewhat controversial artist. One of his many works, The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture, has served as a fixture in Harold Jones Park since 1980. It’s given many a drunk a fine place to urinate. It is, quite possibly, the biggest waste of money ever spent by a city council in the history of Wichita Falls. Rumor has it that we paid in excess of $100,000 for this monstrosity. Surely there’s a better way to artistically represent our city’s most durable plant. Perhaps a real Crepe Myrtle would make a better choice? They don’t’ look too bad and you cannot kill them. Trust me, I’ve tried.
$100,000? The locals thought that was a waste of money?
Another website, in an article titled Crepe Myrtle - Wichita Falls, TX - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures , a source which seemed more likely to be closer to the truth, knocked down the cost of The Crepe Myrtle Sculpture by half, with the money coming from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That article had the following descriptive paragraph...
Abstract cut-out shapes of crepe myrtle, painted red, blue and green, with three surrounding benches. Sculpture: approx. 15 x 25 x 25 ft. Funded with a National Endowment for the Arts, Art in Public Places grant of $50,000 given in 1981 to the City of Wichita Falls.
What would the people of Wichita Falls think about spending $1,000,000 for that which you see below?
Some think the above looks like a giant cheese grater. I have long said it looks like an abstract Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can.
Fort Worth's million dollar work of art was not paid for by the National Endowment for the Arts. It was paid for by America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. It sits atop a mound of weeds at the center of a roundabout near two of Fort Worth's bridges which have been being built over dry land since 2014.
America's Biggest Boondoggle is a pseudo public works project, which the public has never approved of via the process normal towns use. You know, voting to approve of a project and the funding mechanism to pay for it.
This Fort Worth Boondoggle was touted as being a vitally needed flood control project and economic development scheme, where there had been no flooding for well over half a century, due to levees already bought and paid for. With many asking if this was such vitally needed flood control, why has the fix not been actualized in a timely function?
The brilliant schemers behind this Boondoggle hoped to fund the project via federal handouts secured by local Congresswoman, Kay Granger, motivated to do so because her son was given the job of being Executive Director of the project, for which had zero qualifications, with many thinking the incompetence and malfeasance of J.D. Granger is largely to blame for this ineptly implemented project's Boondoggle status.
Many also think it is absurd to think Congress will agree to send pork to Fort Worth for a project the public has never sanctioned, which has wasted funds on things like the Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can, while paying J.D. Granger over $200,000 for year after year after year after year as this project limps along, with some saying the limping will likely continue til J.D. Granger reaches retirement age.
Searching this blog for the image of the Homage to an Aluminum Trash Can I soon realized I have blogged about this multiple times, including a Walk By Wichita Falls Trash Can Art Thinking About Fort Worth's Waste.
Well, I guess some things are worth repeating. Over and over and over again...
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