Artscape Public Sculpture Destroyed 'Accidentally' by the City.

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July 22, 9:00 PM

by Cara Ober, Baltimore Art Examiner

 

 

Many patrons of artscape enjoyed the places to sit, eat, chat, and also SKATE this year. After a call for entries, curator Michael Benevento chose a handful of the best projects for this year's Artscape, to be erected on the median strip of Mt. Royal Avenue and to stay in that spot for a year. Each team of artists carefully built their interactive sculpture to withstand the weather, and to be enjoyed and appreciated for a full year, which has been the tradition for several preceding years of outdoor projects at Artscape. So why, at approximately 3 a.m. on Monday, July 21st would a Baltimore City Forklift completely RAZE one of the sculptural pieces?

Pants Ramp Before a Baltimore City equipment wrecked it.

Pants Ramp After being wrecked...

The Pants Skate Ramp was a curatorial project by Jordan Bernier, and was built by a team of six artists, including Alex Ebstein, John Bohl, Sara Seidman, Steve Santillian, and Ellie Sollins.  The arts community, and especially the artists who spent long hours working on the project, are quite upset about the destruction of their piece. According to Ebstien, who writes the Ten Tigers Blog, "Its sad to think that no one felt the need to check in with the curator and artists before making the decision to 'remove' the ramp.  It was such a finished, manicured piece, built to last its year-long installation, it seems silly to remove such a completed fixture--at a particularly suspicious hour--without making sure it was ok."

According to artist Sara Seidman, "Building the ramp was a very special experience for me. Everyone involved really put a lot of time and energy into the ramp and to think that some one "accidentally" removed part of it makes me extremely mad. Every time I would walk by, there were always people on and around it, enjoying the ramp. I just don't understand why our piece got singled out as the one to be messed with. When something is cemented into the ground doesn't that give any indication that it shouldn't be removed? I feel that the city is responsible and should step up and offer to pay for the damage."

No one really knows why Baltimore City would want to destroy a piece of sculpture, which had been approved and funded by Artscape, a Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts project, especially after all of the applications and red tape each public work goes through before it can be built. It is especially suspicious that the sculpture was destroyed in the middle of the night, when no witnesses were around. The city has admitted to 'accidentally' removing the piece, saying that officials thought it was only supposed to be temporarily installed.

According to Gary Kachadorian, director of BOPA and Artscape, "Hole # 1/Pants Ramp by Jordan Bernier, John Bohl, Alex Ebstein, Steve Santillan, Sara Seidman, and Elie Sollins, was exceptionally well received at Artscape.  There was activity and an audience during all of the operating hours of the festival.  It was commissioned as a sculpture and prototype of the first hole of a putt-putt golf course where each of the holes would also be skatable. "

The fact that the sculptural work functions as a skate ramp does bring up several issues. Is there an unofficial citywide policy against public skateboarding? Does the use of the sculpture affect its longterm desirability as a public work? Is this a city vendetta against skateboarding enthusiasts in Baltimore?

Kachadorian says No. "The destruction of the piece was purely an accident.  A miscommunication during the teardown of the festival resulted in a worker destroying the right leg before he was stopped.  Artscape is working with the artists to repair this damage, as I understand the new right leg will have a cast on it. "

Once the Pants Ramp is rebuilt, will it be a permanent fixture on the grassy median of Mt. Royal Avenue? Kachadorian replied, "Regarding the longevity of this piece and the community reaction, these are both fluid.  The piece could be on site for as long as 10 months as many of the Artscape sculptures are.  This is always dependent on how well each piece holds up in the environment and if there are safety or other issues that may require an earlier removal."

What about the use of the sculpture as a skate ramp?

Kachadorian: "I don't think that Artscape or BOPA are the proper agencies for that discussion but I do want to point out that the city has installed and maintains an open concrete bowl in Carroll Park."

The team is waiting for City of Baltimore will compensate them financially for damages, in order to rebuild the piece. It will be interesting to see how the Pants Ramp is restored to its original state, plus a cast on the leg.

There is GOOD NEWS for the Pants Ramp. According to project director, Jordan Bernier, "The artists have been working hard the past two days to complete repairs needed to make the pants whole again. We hope to have the pants functional by the weekend, weather permitting. I'm confident that the partial destruction was an accident, and while that doesn't fix the problem, the challenge of putting the pants back together has been an idea that has generated a huge amount of support from friends and the public in general."

What about the city's involvement with the destruction and rebuilding?

Bernier: "BOPA has been supportive in our artistic decisions since the beginning of the first construction, and they continue to be supportive through the reconstruction. Friends of the artists even had a bake sale yesterday to raise money for repair costs. Skatebaorders from around the city have been dissappointed to see the ramp hurt, but they are supportive in our resolve to mend the broken leg. People have been stopping by to lend a hand, and at one point, we had ten volunteers helping to move the severed area back into place. Seeing the support of artists, skateboarders, and other members of the community, has solidified my resolve to continue repairing the pants."

Despite the confusion and dismay involved in the destruction of the Artscape Ramp, the support of the art community, the city, and the skateboarding community has been strong. The Pants Ramp will live again! Go check it out this weekend and see for yourself.

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