Judas Coin
Somewhere just shy of the tail end of the Last Century, we built the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center and Art Park. Even won some architectural awards when we finished it. Got a post-modern building, a huge Matzke stainless steel sculpture, a Paula Rey sculpture, a Gunter painting, a David Maritz sculpture, another by Debbie Rhodes and a big-ass stained glass window. We planted trees and shrubs, laid a walkway, redid the signboard and map and striped a parking lot. We even managed to obtain 3.5 acres behind this for a continuation of our sculpture park. You want to know if something like that is inspirational, an art story where art wins at the end, I can tell you. It is!
A bunch of us artists spent a year on that project. Plenty of headbutting with the Chamber Board, mostly folks who felt like us artists had pulled a fast one on them, turning an information booth into a celebration of art. I finally had to join up myself so we could get the thing done, about as appealing a notion to me as signing up for the NRA. Half the Board wondered who the hell the guy in the hat was who worked every day down there 7 days a week all that spring and summer and into the fall. Some unemployed sucker, they probably thought, who we don’t need to know who he is or stop by and maybe say thanks for the free labor.
Fast forward a few years. Maritz’s sculpture was stolen for scrap metal. Debbie’s ‘Diver’ sculpture was stolen for the same reason. A decommissioned Seattle copper and bronze sculpture by Glen Alps we’d hauled up to reinstall was hauled off in the middle of the night by metal thieves. The stained glass window was riddled with bullet holes and broken by bottles thrown from passing cars. I got a call last week from the guy who’s going to rent that Visitor Center from the current Chamber now that they decided they’d rather set up an info booth around the corner in a trailer and rent the empty building at the most strategic location on the island for a few miserable pesos. I spoze I could’ve been pissy with him. I spoze I could’ve gone to the county and asked if maybe a commercial building meets their codes. I spoze I could’ve gotten on my High Horse and gone to the papers, see what people think of folks who take all our volunteerism and turn it into a cash register.
But … Don Quixote here has tilted too long at windmills, even if it’s one he helped build. I must be getting old and tired. I wish I was getting wiser. Although … if dealing with the Chamber of Commerce hasn’t smartened me up, nothing much will. Most folks don’t know the history of that Art Park and most wouldn’t care anyway. I like to think — and I certainly say it enough — all I want is to move on to the next project. The past, dammit, just is. Past. I can’t spend time fighting battles to save it. I’m not a historian, I’m a South Ender.
They want me to say it’s fine, it’s okay. Just a new wrinkle in the old Center. They tried to put the President’s retail shop in there back when we first built it. So maybe the way to look at it is we held them at bay for 15 years at least. But capitalism has won now, why not shout hurray! Join the Chamber. Salute the real estate offices. Pledge allegiance to Money.
But! For a brief time, maybe not forever, art won. I think maybe the battle is lost, but the war isn’t over on Commando Island, not by a long shot. We’re leaving a silver bullet on the table when we go even though they’ll smile and figure it’s just something they can melt down and cash in. Like an old pal of mine once said, “They don’t know what to make of me …. but I know exactly what to make of them.”
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