A new piece of art in Portland is raising some eyebrows, and questions, about how it looks and how much it cost.
The street lamp structure at Woodfords Corner was approved by the city council and cost the city $25,000.
As nearly 30,000 vehicles a day pass through this intersection, the structure will be hard to miss.
“I wanted something that would stick out within that intersection, but act as a visual anchor for everything that’s happening there,” artist Aaron Stephan said.
Portland artist Aaron Stephan designed the street lamp structure.
The new public art, Luminous Arbor, is now planted at Woodfords Corner.
The five-way intersection was recently redesigned to re-align lanes of traffic, add bike lanes, and wider sidewalks.
“For me it’s a really interesting location, it’s where a lot of neighborhoods meet and we’re really trying to define that site as the center of a neighborhood,” Stephan said.
According to meeting minutes, the city council approved the $25,000, taxpayer funded-project in June 2016, after a proposal and recommendation from the city’s public art committee.
“Ridiculous — there’s better places they could be spending that money,” one passerby, Jennifer Libby, told CBS 13. “Sober houses, recovery places, helping the homeless. It’s a waste of money.”
Another local woman, Barbara Harvey, told the television station: “I don’t dislike it.”
“It seems to be very nice, it’s attractive,” she continued. “It’s a lovely piece of artwork.”
The artist expected reaction to the unique piece to be mixed.
“Anytime you make some people will like it; some people not, for me it’s much more important to create some sort of dialog to have a conversation with the community and instigate a thoughtful conversation,” Stephan said.
City officials stand by the decision.
“In an $8 million project, I think putting $25,000 into public art to improve the streetscape is pretty minor,” Planning & Urban Development Director Jeff Levine said.
The art will be turned on, and there will be a “tree lighting” ceremony two weeks from Thursday.
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