A philosophical debate over the value of art dominated a meeting of the SEPTA Board’s administration committee Thursday.
The board was reviewing a contract amendment for Art in Transit projects at the Spring Garden and Girard stations on the Broad Street Line.
Both stations are being renovated using federal stimulus dollars, and SEPTA seeks to spend about $296,000 to pay for and install displays at the two stations.
Michael J. O’Donaghue, a Montgomery County board appointee, questioned the wisdom of spending money on art installations given SEPTA’s pressing capital needs and severe cuts in state subsidies after the failure to toll Interstate 80.
Though he admitted the contract amount was small given SEPTA’s budget, he said it makes sense for the authority to go over projects with a fine-tooth comb to preserve money for crucial maintenance and improvement work.
Rina Cutler, Philadelphia’s deputy mayor for transportation and utilities and one of the city’s appointees to the board, defended Art in Transit.
She pointed to the success of the city’s Percent for Art program, in which city construction and remodeling projects set aside money for public art displays.
Although Cutler said she would be OK with cutting the Art in Transit program given SEPTA’s precarious fiscal situation, she said “it’s been both well-received and worth the money.”
O’Donoghue requested the board be presented with a history of SEPTA’s Art in Transit program.
In other news, SEPTA’s operations committee reviewed SEPTA’s annual service plan proposal, which include a new Route 72 along Cheltenham Avenue between Rising Sun Avenue and Cheltenham Square Mall.
An independent hearing examiner endorsed the proposals, and SEPTA staff slightly revised the proposal for suburban Route 103 to allow a different turn along the route as needed.
The committee also reviewed two labor contracts. Patterned on the contract reached with Transportation Workers Union Local 234 in November, the contracts cover 37 cleaners and mechanics and 85 clerical and passenger services workers on the railroad division.
SEPTA chief engineer Jeff Knueppel also told the committee that SEPTA was reviewing its legal options in attempting to recoup part of a $224,887 contract extension on the Warminster Station Project that the committee reviewed.
Knueppel said the extension was necessary because a SEPTA consultant did a poor job in analyzing the location of an underground rock structure. The consultant got the elevation of the structure wrong, causing construction delays and increased costs.
SEPTA is also reviewing its options to recover part of a $559,155 contract extension for the North Philadelphia Station renovation project.
Previously unknown underground conditions doubled the length of time the project was supposed to take and cost the authority about $1 million extra, according to Knueppel.
Contact the reporter acampisi@planphilly.com
Comments
Sometimes, the transit vehicles themselves (such as our PCC cars) turn out to be pieces of art. And sometimes, entire stations (witness our stations in the Chestnut Hill area). These examples are among the best of the weddings between transit and art.
So, perhaps future contracts for facilities and vehicles might have the involvement of designer-artists (be they graphic designers or otherwise) from the beginning of the project design, instead of having art being left as an add-on.
Whole segments of rail right-of-way can sometimes form an integral part of an artistic effect: I have in mind the old B & O line, along the east side of the Schuylkill River in downtown, intermixed as it is with the jogging or walking area, thanks to recent efforts of many different interests.
I just wanted to add some thoughts about how art can be incorporated in transportation projects, and probably without close counting of the beans (dollars) of a project's contract terms.
We are all heading in the right direction, providing better transit and improving our urban landscape. And those in charge of our municipal governments and our rail entities are handling today's extraordinary financial challenges bravely and with real respect for the arts, so I am not worried that we are on the brink of a new Dark Age.
Reasoning about the wisdom of funding public art must not happen in the same context as a discussion about "SEPTA's pressing capital needs". The proponents of art will have good arguments but they do not satisfy the equally good arguments about SEPTA balancing its books right now, for whatever reason.
Public art and public transportation serve the same purpose however: they are democratizing forces in an increasingly financially unbalanced world. Public transportation is for everyone, and everyone uses it - people sit next to each other and in doing so they must look at the faces of their fellow citizens. This is almost as essential to American Democracy as the right to vote.
Public art serves the exact same purpose: it is a democratizing force and it enhances the good of public transportation. Putting art into public places - especially places where people can contemplate for a few minutes while waiting - mirrors the good that comes from museum attendance. But realistically speaking museum attendance is only for those with time, interest and the entrance fee.
Art in public places encourages dialogue between all kinds of citizens at the location of their shared humanity. Supporting public art in the face of financial crisis is appropriate, democratic, and moral.
Public art in subways and transit systems provide welcome moments of inspiration and wonder in what is otherwise a routine daily commute or passage between one point and another. SEPTA needs to continue and expand its Art in Transit program, whose costs are low compared to the significantly larger budgets of the transportation infrastructure--with a bigger impact and more community good will.
SEPTA’s Art in Transit program displays a commitment to the community by making each station unique with its own special identity. The art becomes a landmark for that station, helping regular riders know they’re in the right place and visitors realize they’re in a city with culture and local pride. From Susanne Reese Horvitz and Robert Roesch’s Peacock feather inspired light rail transit stop at the Philadelphia Zoo, to Barbara Grygutis’ glass illuminated leaf beacons at 16th and JFK, SEPTA’s Art in Transit program enrichs our transit experience and helps us navigate our way through the city.
SEPTA should honor its already well-received commitment to Art in Transit and take one step forward, not two steps backward!
These posts express very well the civic value of public art beyond its initial expenditure. It’s a false assumption that art is a frill in a time of austerity. Any quick analysis of its relative cost to an overall budget would support the fact that commissioning original art is the most cost-effective way to create a distinctive, passenger-friendly environment. In addition to contributing to the public environment for residents and tourists alike, public art creates opportunities for artists to participate in the public realm, enables the trickle-down of jobs and sales, and sends a clear message that the public environment is to be respected and appreciated.
During the London Blitz, Winston Churchill (himself an artist) was asked if support for art should be curtailed and theatres boarded up. His answer was that especially in uncertain times, culture and the arts must be sustained; the arts are what make life worth living, he said. A simple idea, but tried and true.
SEPTA should honor its already well-received commitment to Art in Transit and take one step forward, not two steps backward!
These posts express very well the civic value of public art beyond its initial expenditure. It’s a false assumption that art is a frill in a time of austerity. Any quick analysis of its relative cost to an overall budget would support the fact that commissioning original art is the most cost-effective way to create a distinctive, passenger-friendly environment. In addition to contributing to the public environment for residents and tourists alike, public art creates opportunities for artists to participate in the public realm, enables the trickle-down of jobs and sales, and sends a clear message that the public environment is to be respected and appreciated.
During the London Blitz, Winston Churchill (himself an artist) was asked if support for art should be curtailed and theatres boarded up. His answer was that especially in uncertain times, culture and the arts must be sustained; the arts are what make life worth living, he said. A simple idea, but tried and true.
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Philadelphia’s commitment to public art has resulted in a richly textured urban fabric which provides us with iconic images such as Alexander Calder's William Penn and Claes Oldenburg’s Clothespin in Center City, and moments of inspiration such as the Tribute to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in North Philadelphia. With one of the largest and most renowned collections of public art in the world, Philadelphia offers many serendipitous and memorable opportunities to experience public art in parks, plazas, and in our major transportation hubs. The experience of the work refreshes the spirit as we wait in line, maneuver through a crowd, and are exposed to the cacophony of urban life. They are a source of pride and contribute to Philadelphia’s status as a vibrant, world-class city which attracts tourists, filmmakers, businesses, and families.
In 2009, the average weekday ridership on the Broad Street Subway was 120,000. Doing the math, it seems petty and shortsighted not to take advantage of an opportunity to continue the laudable tradition of enriching the daily experience of Philadelphians as we live, work, and play in the city we call home.
Pressure washing the station will only last for short term, the goal of art in public spaces is to create long term appreciation and hopefully trickle down to cleaner stations. In the long term $296,000 is not a ton of money and will ultimately payoff in the long term. People always want immediate satisfaction. We need to think about the future and how incorporating art in public spaces creates a more beautiful place to live in.
One of the great attributes of Philadelphia is the prevalence of the public art in places like Fairmount Park,and along the city streets, found in sometimes the most unexpected places. The public transit spaces are an ideal location to continue this tradition of beautifying the city. These projects are inspiring in so many ways. On a personal level, public art has the capacity to brighten one's mood, expand one's mind, and to help generate a feeling of community pride. A city that supports public art demonstrates to the world that we are proud of our city, interested in attracting tourists, as well as offering an educational and aesthetic experience for our citizens. It's hard to quantitate the value to our city. However, another dimension to these projects is that they stimulate the local economy by utilizing local materials and labor for production, fabrication and installation. It would be quite sad if the Septa projects meant to enhance the subways frequented by so many people were cut.
The public art law was born in Philadelphia with the Redelopment Authority. For the past 50 years, the public art programs of the RDA, City of Philadelphia and more recently, SEPTA, have provided opportunities to artists to elevate and enliven the imaginations of all who wander our streets and use the transit systems. Clearly, our city is ‘historic’, a bit worn out and is in a continual state of renovation and rebuilding. SEPTA’s goals of renovating each station to include the element of art is an inspiration and in alignment with every other city in this country. All new transit stations include a public art component. Philadelphia gave birth to this idea but also has a history of killing off or shelving some of our best ideas.
In the process of cleaning up and maintaining the subway stations, the transformations of artist designed spaces and elements--pathways, floors, ceilings, benches, murals, sculptural lighting--have given everyone a boost of energy. We need good collective energy. Keep this program alive SEPTA!! Please don’t reverse your progress.
It is so tedious that people pretend that we are sacrificing basic functions in the transit system like cleanliness and saftey "because we are wasting money on art." Nonsense.
Better management is what is needed for more safety and cleanliness, not more money. The amount of money spent on public art in transit is minimal, but it has a positive impact far beyond its cost. It indicates that you are in a civilized place, that values beauty and the stimulation of imagination. Children who get very little beauty in their everyday lives may see something lovely in a place they pass through every day that stimulates their imagination. A tired worker at the end of the day sees something beautiful that gives her a moment of pleasure and peace. It does not require a special trip to a museum, which says that every person can appreciate and value beauty. It creates a sense of order in a place that can be chaotic and dirty, and encourages civilized behavior.
Quality public transit systems around the world incorporate art into their public spaces. It would be a pathetic travesty for Philadelphia to cut the little that they do to create a more pleasant environment in our public sphere.
I'm becoming increasingly bored with the argument that public art is extraneous. Obviously, not every piece placed on public display can sway the mindset of the masses. Studies have been conducted, however, that show public art's effectiveness in many arenas, from attracting tourists to imbuing a sense of necessary ownership in members of the community. (Check out some of the work noted on Public Art Online.) It allows people to take interest in their surroundings and respect even transitional places- such as subways and bus terminals- as sites worthy of regard. Omitting this places us at risk of allowing homogenization and disinterest to continue to develop in our city, much in the vein of some Orwellian dystopia.
Public art is not unnecessary; it is essential.
public art must be kept alive. the beauty of our city depends on it (and other local initiatives determined to do the same). keep it up!
Depressed and shabby public spaces create a depressed and angry public. Citizens respond to their environment.An esthetic artistic transportation entrance gives people the sense that they are respected, and will in turn create a more civil society. Sam is wrong about the artists who create public work. They are not the failures, but the ones who have demonstrated their ability, have excellent resumes and who are successful. Visitors from other cities show wonder and delight at the many works of art in public places in Philadelphia. The Septa spaces created by artists have given soul to spaces that had none. Our citizens deserve these civilized oases.
Public art is important, not only for the moments of beauty or civic pride that it may provide, but also because it allows people to experience art in their daily lives without having to actually travel to a museum (and pay admission) to experience. Public art created through a program like SEPTA’s surprises us with art in unlikely places and allows for elevation and contemplation during something as routine as a daily commute.
It’s important to note that Philadelphia’s legacy of public art is a long one, dating back over a hundred years, and that public art in this city has endured despite lean times (and even leaner times) in the past. Cutting programs that add to the city’s unique art landscape will only leave us with a less beautiful and memorable city.
Public Art provides a temporary escape from the "work a day" world. Particularly in tough economic times like this, public art can provide uplifting aesthetic experiences. In addition to contributing to the beauty of Philadelphia, public art can serve as a source of inspiration to all those who experience the art. Public art stands as a testament, especially to children, to the magnitude of possibility and the value of hard work.
Philadelphia has been working for years to upgrade its image nationally and internationally, not to mention to its own residents. The numerous successful public art projects throughout the city testify to the vibrancy and relevance of art in an urban environment contending with the woes that all cities face. In the big picture, a small savings today would be immediately lost, whereas the existence of two more art projects will become part of our cultural legacy, will last for years, and will benefit thousands of people. Anyone looking at the mosaics on the NYC subway will see the difference between places where people care about their transit systems, and places that do not. Art elevates us - whether above or below ground.
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I believe funding for public art should not be cut. Public art is a crucial part of our Philly culture. When you see Philly portrayed in film and tv public art is always spotlighted.
Philadelphia is unique in that is has the most public art in the nation. While people visit Philly for many reasons they might stay a little longer to see our "museum without walls". This helps boost the cities economy.
On another note: I am an art teacher at an alternative high school in the Northeast, and when I talk about art to my kids they always bring up murals and public art. Why? It’s accessible; its around them; they notice. Not many of my students have been (or will go) to a museum. However, they have received cultural collateral by viewing public art.
ART makes life sweeter!!!! :) Please do not cut the budget for what makes life more bearable for all of us! It gives us a sense of beauty and gives our city a flavor and a greater visual memory for tourists and residents, alike! Beauty always has a way of bringing joy and thus, lowers our crime rate!! Thank you for helping artists to share their most valuable gift!
The presence of art is an entitlement to the life of a community. Most certainly, art in public spaces traversed regularly and, most especially, by an urban population provides residents with an aesthetic that inspires and elevates spirit and morale. Septa's innovative, highly touted Art in Transit program has been a shining example of how the vision and generosity of a city agency can enhance the lives of its citizens. In the long run, the budget allocated to Art in Transit is meager when compared to the gift of experiencing the work of a great artist's imagination on a daily basis. Please do not abandon an initiative so vital to our city's heart and soul.
I am writing in support of continued funding for the Art in Transit projects at Spring Garden and Gerard Street SEPTA stations.
While my brother is one of the artists and so I might be accused of bias, I think the idea of cutting that funding is extremely short-sighted and, at least for me, depressing. One of the wonderful things that Philadelphia offers is wonderful public art, at places where you would never expect to encounter it. It lifts one's spirits and offsets the drudgery that otherwise accompanies living in a large, old Northeastern city. People who visit notice; and it makes our city a more attractive place to settle.
Particularly in high-traffic areas like transit stops, the positive impact of art on the spirits of those who pass by is enormous. Recent economic thinking posits that positive spirit actually adds to productivity and one's own experience will usually confirm what these economists have taken years to notice.
Of course, public art supports artists like my brother. But it also contributes to the vibrancy of our community, our pride in it, and, indeed, to our hard work. So keep supporting public projects like these, not just for altruistic or artistic reasons but for flinty economic ones. The money invested in this art will likely repay many times over in increased attractiveness and productivity of our city. Think long-term.
William J. Woodward, Jr.
Of course the stations need to be clean, but as is shown in Paris, London and elsewhere, ART instills pride and a sense of beauty in people. When people feel a sense of beauty, they tend to respect themselves, the art, and the environs within which it resides. Crime rate is lowered, littering is lowered, graffiti is lessened and thus rigorous mainenance is mitigated. Above all, it enriches people's lives, and makes them think and enjoy more thoroughly their routine commute.
I disagree. Two weeks ago, I witness a homeless woman drop her pants and deficate @20 yards away from the LOVE scuplture in Love Park.....right in front of tourists. I found a cop and informed him of what was happening. That being said, your argument stating that ART instills pride......If I want to be uplifted, I can go to a museum. I'll wager that if Philadelphians were given a choice, they would chose clean, non urine stinking stations over "art". As someone who uses the transit system everyday, public art will not improve my commute....anyway, most of the public "art" is crap that reflects the tastes of the glitterati. How often do you ride the subway?.....just curious. Sounds like you don't or haven't in a while. The transit system exists to get me to work. If SEPTA wants to "enrich" my life, how about improving service, buying new cars and enforcing civil behavior?
There are some great pieces of public art in the city. The Mural Arts program does great work and the Parkway has some good pieces. But some much of the art installed in this city is awful...like the jumbled pile of I-beams painted orange that sits near the museum....who approved that?
BTW, Paris & London have populations that are far more educated and civil. Neither city tolerates the mis-behavior we in Philadelphia tolerate. Putting art in stations is a waste of money. Most public art is produced by artisits who can't sell their art and rely on tax payer money to promote their mediocracy.
Apples to oranges. The needs of the homeless (many of whom, most likely including this lady, are mentally ill) can't be addressed through the ART program. What can be shown is that public art helps instill a sense of place and cuts down on grafitti (which in its turn helps foster a sense of community and not one of ghetto existence, which of course the presence of grafitti psychologically seems to suggest in the first place). Hence ART, like Mural Arts and certain property owners' propensity to install private murals on their own walls, is fighting one of the most visible symptoms of poverty and ghetto-ization (although of course they cannot address the root causes of the problems at hand, namely inadequate social and educational resources and a culture of not wanting to take advantage of said resources when they are available, or: Build a better school district). In this sense, ART and the Mural Arts are in the vanguard of how to turn a slum into a neighborhood and how to build a path to a better life that doesn't involve becoming the next 50 Cent or Michael Vick and all that that involves...
If you want to go to the Art Museum to be uplifted, then by all means go! There are pieces that really should be exhibited in art museums. But the fact that people think of art museums as repositories of art (which they are) and thus that art, if it is to be good art, must needs be wind up in a museum, or else isn't worth looking at (which isn't true at all), this attitude and the pretension surrounding it--aesthetic eliteness--is detrimental to the arts. Capeesh? Just as much as the community needs the public art as grafitti inhibitors and sources of community pride, the artists need the public art as a relief from the arts' ever-increasing propensity towards rarefaction and thus undermining that which gives art its most powerful voice (catharsis, the emotive bonding between the viewer and the latent emotions the artist was able to imbue into the piece). And besides, there are many kinds of artistic works that could not get into the Art Museum even if you wanted them to! (The PSFS Building, for example.) So perhaps instead of saying you'll limit your aesthetic experience to a museum, perhaps you should treat the City as a great big art museum, and one that's free to boot.
SEPTA is buying new equipment. Haven't you noticed the Silverliner V prototypes sitting out at the Wayne Junction shops? And as a regular rider, I can tell you that for the most part--as with any mass transit system--SEPTA riders are quite civil. It's just that incivilities get on the news because they too often involve violence (another issue related to poverty and the subculture of the poor).
De gustibus non est disputandem.
This final paragraph is a demonstration of complete and utter ignorance of the field of art and the difficulties involved in getting recognized therein. There are so many stories of "starving artists" in the lore of the fine arts because that's what artists have had to cope with since the dawn of time! Before you lambast the artists who take these government grants as "mediocre" I would advise you to write a short story or two, and try to get them published, or take a series of photographs and try to get an exhibition of them mounted. And in the off chance you succeed, see how much you get paid for them. Now if you're still convinced if the work's lack of merit, attack the work--never attack the artist himself.
Why can't SEPTA use the money allocated for ART and use it to buy a couple of pressure washers and hire a crew to rotate thru the station washing away to urine and filth. Art is nice but I would prefer a clean station.
Of course the stations need to be clean, but as is shown in Paris, London and elsewhere, ART instills pride and a sense of beauty in people. When people feel a sense of beauty, they tend to respect themselves, the art, and the environs within which it resides. Crime rate is lowered, littering is lowered, graffiti is lessened and thus rigorous mainenance is mitigated. Above all, it enriches people's lives, and makes them think and enjoy more thoroughly their routine commute.
Art is the most cost-effective way to maintain cleanliness, because it inspires the community to become more aware, protective and proud of its public image. The quality of our daily life is infinitely improved by exposure to the beauty, originality and excitement of our surroundings. A vibrant, artistic subway station vastly improves everyone's mood -- at such a very small cost proportional to the budget. And when people feel better they act better. Art in these stations is essential in these times.
The Art money is in the capital budget. Power washing is an operating expense. What station do you use regularly?
Then I suggest that if that is the case, why not hire a crew with a pressure washer and call it "performance art"....jeez, you people just don't get it.....
BTW,
I use City Hall Station, Spring garden, Fairmount, Girard, 15th St.....they are all filthy!