Fort Collins program installs art across the city
kevinduggan@coloradoan.com
By its nature, art appreciation is highly subjective. One person's artistic expression is another person's eyesore.
That's one of the challenges faced by the city's Art in Public Places program, which since its creation 21 years ago has funded or supported hundreds of art projects large and small around Fort Collins.
With some exceptions, city code requires public construction projects costing more than $250,000 to include 1 percent of the estimated cost for works of art and their maintenance.
A project costing between $50,000 and $250,000 is expected to include the participation of a program-approved artist in its design. The city tries to incorporate artistic and aesthetic values into less-expensive projects as well.
The Art in Public Places program also accepts private donations and works in partnership with local foundations and arts groups.
Familiar projects include decorative pedestrian pavers designed by local youths, lavishly painted pianos and utility transformer boxes, and sculptures in public buildings and along busy streets.
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The program is popular with many residents because it provides interesting bits of color, design and sometimes whimsy across the city's increasingly urban landscape. But it has its critics as well.
A couple of readers have contacted me recently with questions about the meaning of one major art project -- the visual treatment incorporated into the intersection of Horsetooth and Timberline roads that was rebuilt in 2015.
The art project, "Transect Silhouette" by local artist Lisa Cameron Russell. includes boxy sculptural elements of differing designs on the northeast and northwest corners of the busy intersection.
One of the pieces looks like a giant check mark. All four sculptures contain rocks that look as if they are caged.
The artist's intention was to "connect the street corridor with the view of the Front Range looking to the west" with the pieces based on local geological landmarks, according to a description on the Art in Public Places website.
So think Horsetooth Rock and the mountain skyline, which is indeed visible from the middle of the intersection, when contemplating the intersection's artistic elements. The art project cost $22,500, according to program director Ellen Martin.
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Another recent project that is sure to garner attention is a towering sculpture in the center of the new roundabout at the intersection of Shields Street and Vine Drive.
"Upcyclone" by Tim Upham uses recycled bicycle frames acquired from local shops to create a "whirlwind of triangles and color," as described by Art in Public Places.
Artists Andrew Bohn, Todd Kundla, and Rick Upham contributed to the intersection design, which includes images evoking bicycle wheels on a fence along the edge of the roundabout. Martin said the project cost $15,800.
Everyone has an opinion on what constitutes "good" and "bad" art. In either case, there's plenty to see in Fort Collins.
For more information on Art in Public Places, see fcgov.com/artspublic.
Kevin Duggan is a senior reporter. Follow him at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan on Facebook or @coloradoan_dugg on Twitter.
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