June 10, 2009

Uptown sculpture cost $40,000;
Alderman: 'I'm not happy to hear about this'

Former Mayor Gary Becker spent $40,000 in city money to buy a sculpture from a Texas artist planning to move into Uptown's arts district.

The city used Community Development Block Grant money to purchase the bright red sculpture now placed the corner of 10th Street and Washington Ave, according to Kristin Niemiec, corridor specialist for the Racine County Economic Development Corporation.

The Uptown project received $50,000 in CDBG money in 2007, $100,000 in 2008 and $75,000 in 2009. The money was generally designated for marketing the Uptown Artist Relocation program, which was designed to attract artists to Racine.

The $40,000 figure is a stark contrast to the amount we reported following Monday's Redevelopment Authority meeting. At that meeting, I reported the sculpture was donated to the city, but apparently misunderstood. (One possibility is the sculpture didn't cost the RDA any money. Another is the sculpture was purchased with CDBG money, so it didn't come out of the city budget. In either case, the sculpture cost $40,000 and had already been purchased by the time the RDA reviewed placing it at 10th 13th St. and Washington Ave.)

I wasn't alone. Alderman Greg Helding said he believed the city purchased the sculpture for around $6,000. When told it was $40,000, he said he was upset.

"I'm not happy to hear about this," Helding said. "I assumed marketing dollars were spent on marketing, and I'm going to ask that this be looked into."

That said, Helding said he was happy with the artwork and thought it looked "cool" along Washington Avenue. He just didn't know it cost so much money.

Niemiec said it was Becker's idea to purchase the sculpture, which was created by artist NicNoblique , who considered moving to Racine after Hurricane Ike displaced him from Galveston Island, Texas. Noblique told The Journal Times he backed out of moving to Racine after Becker was arrested in an Internet sex sting.

RacinePost heard a different story from city officials, who said Noblique backed out because he couldn't afford the building. Coincidentally, the $40,000 sale price for the sculpture is 10 percent of the cost of the $400,000 building Noblique had hoped to purchase at 1526 Washington Ave. A lending program for buying buildings in Uptown requires artists to make a 10 percent down payment to qualify for the loan. Noblique told the JT he also backed out of buying the building because the interior didn't have flooring, electricity or plumbing.

Let's chalk this up to the latest questionable move by our former mayor in hopes of igniting the Uptown artist district. Becker decided to spend $40,000 in CDBG money - money that could go for any of dozens of worthy programs in the city - on a sculpture created by an out-of-town artist with no connection to Racine. (That said, Noblique has an impressive resume and could have been a strong fit for Becker's Uptown vision.)

Sadly, if the former mayor wanted to spend $40,000 on public art for Uptown he certainly could have commissioned an artist to create a piece or held a contest and attracted designs and ideas from around the country. It could have actually galvanized interest in the district instead of serving as another symbol of Becker's reckless drive to "create Uptown."

p.s. Nice work by the JT on tracking down the actual cost of the sculpture. On a minor detail, the pedestal for the sculpture cost about $3,700, and work fixing curbs and landscaping the triangle-shaped park along Washington Ave., including the pedestal, cost a total of about $15,000.

38 comments:

  1. NO WONDER THE FLIPPING ARTIST LEFT TOWN IN A HURRY. What a joke. Thanks for reporting the truth of this. The concrete base is ugly and not well thought out. I know lets paint it like a $40K dollar bill that way we will always be reminded. Does Brian O'Connel like it?

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  2. Abuse of power, misconduct in office by becker?

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  3. The placement of the 'art' is appropriate - next to the rusty rail tracks!

    Make sure this spot is clearly identified on the tourist maps for Racine - just remember to post a sidebar 'watch for the muggers'!

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  4. The sculpture does look great and I think the mosaic down the street is terrific. The idea of an arts district is a good one, but the city has communicated very poorly about this venture.

    Uptown could become a really interesting destination but only if the plan is clear and transparent.

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  5. The Translator6/10/2009 11:38 AM

    FITTING! Consider this big red art piece Beckers Red Stain on the city. Thanks for pissing away another 40 grand Gary. In fact that's what it should be called: Beckers Red Stain.

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  6. It is a disgrace if the city spent $18,000 on the site & installation, plus $40,000 in CDBG money.
    As strong as the artist's resume maybe, $40,000 for a city sculpture? That seems a bit much.

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  7. actually with the way this was handled, this is an eyesore for this city, only respectful thing to do now is take it down and sell it for scrap to recoup some of the lost money

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  8. It is okay. Take that out of the $500,000 shady deal from SCJ. When is Becker going to be charged with misuse of public power. I think we need to get rid off all the alderman that allowed him to do these things.

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  9. If you hang with the mayor and smoke (cig's ?) you too can get $40,000 for your junk + another $15,000 to display -- $55,000 could be used elsewhere !!!

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  10. Isn't that 13th Street and Washington, not 10th?

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  11. spray paint and scrap metal for all racine residents, there will be no unemployment and we'll be all rich!

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  13. Becker's red stain - it's sort of like the scarlet letter!

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  14. Thanks, Paul. I fixed the story.

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  15. If all things planned had panned out - the sale of the building, I think this would have been a win/win situation for Uptown. Unfortunately it did not work out as planned, so rather than whine -let's enjoy the piece of art.

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  16. Yeah Racine, Let's just suck it up.. In fact let's call Mayor Barrett and see if we can over pay for the DeSuevereaux, Orange star-burst piece of crap...and we can place it at 1130 Washington Ave, next to the Family Dollar!!!

    Do I understand the Brilliant Artist that "donated", (for $40K) this fine piece of New Orleans Debris, decided not to stay in our fine new district?

    So isn't this like Hurricane Katrina hits Uptown??

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  17. Kristin Niemiec, corridor specialist for the Racine County Economic Development Corporation, how does she still have a job? I know she works for RCEDC and they get city $$ to pay her I understand.
    She and O'Connell have to go and go now.
    What might be her background for the job in the first place? Another deal by Becker?

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  18. The negativity is just astonishing. The scupture is an important work with a provenance that, like it or not, commemorates the artist's brief but hope-filled presence in Racine, and I feel the presence of the statue provides further hope to those who WANT to see Uptown turn around. By the way, he's a Wisconsin native.

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  20. Am I to believe that current Mayor John Dickert had no knowledge of this since being in office and had no authority whatsoever to attempt to stop this from going down since being in office??

    BULLCRAP I SAY!!!

    Dig into it Dustin and Pete.

    You might be surprised (Although I know Dustin is a staunch Dickert supporter.

    Great job on the SCJ articles though, seriously, I mean that.

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  22. Michelangelo6/10/2009 4:41 PM

    There is something kinda like this out in back of Jensen's on Northwestern. Ain't red, though.

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  23. "The negativity is just astonishing."

    Yes 2:55 God forbid we want our taxes spend well. The Uptown Art Project from day one has been nothing but sweetheart deals and no bid contracts.

    Want art great Racine has schools full of kids that would have loved to do something for the Uptown or for that matter asnywhere in Racine.

    However IMHO Guess only Brian O'Connell and Kristin Niemiec are the only two who can tell us what art is.
    I think we should take 40K and get some strippers to dance in the Uptown. I go!

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  24. Another useless investment in an area that almost no one except SCJ gives two cents about. Lets just dig a hole and put money in it. Then in a hundred years we will at least have 100 yr old moldy money rather than this piece of twisted sheet metal that I could make for about $300.
    Another smack in the face to the city of Racine!!!

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  25. Toss the thing in the lake, a boston tea party so to speak...

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  26. Yesterday I drove to my son's place in Milwaukee. As I drove up Capital I went past this "art scupture" that was placed on the median space. It's sort of like a wavy fence thing metal piece in several colors and in several sections.
    It's faded and stained now and looks terrible. A total waste of money.
    The thing about art is that I feel it should fit into it's surroundings. Does this piece fit into that area? Does it fit the city? Wouldn't a more classic piece have been a better choice? And, of course the price was such an obvious bribe to get this artist here. Really, wouldn't it have been better to create a large art studio for use by various artists? That would draw them in. What about an art school? There are just so many things that money could have been used for to get a real draw for artists it's a shame Becker had such an ego trip vision of this potential area thinking of it as his own playground.

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  27. Wow! What a complete, total and utter waste of 50+ thousand dollars. Especially in this time of high unemployment and economic troubles. Someone involved needs to be held responsible with their job. Better yet, Kristin, Brian, resign now!

    What is RCEDC doing for the community anyway with the unemployment rate in Racine at what, 9 or 10% even higher.

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  28. Kristin - Brian I have some old carpeting, can I sell it to you for say $5000 and you could line the base of your sculpture.

    Now that would be art!

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  29. Kay

    As much as I disagree with you, yes an Art School be a good idea, or Media training Center,both be good choices.

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  30. I am angry. I hope that something is done to right this wrong. There is no way to justify wasting $50K of our money on this mess. They could and should have done so much else. But no the nanny council knows best. Nap time everyone. Who knew about this ugly sculpture and the cost? We need to hold them publicly accountable for real. I AM ANGRY.

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  31. Beckers red stain, twisted like him. He screwed us and we paid for it. Lets auction off wacks at it with a hammer. Maybe the viral video will get us back the money in TV appearances.

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  32. THIS UPTOWN (WHICH THE DOLLAR STORE PROPERTY IS PART OF)FIASCO BECOMES MORE AND MORE INTERESTING BY THE DAY

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  33. And the witch-hunt continues. The only total waste of money would be the damage or destruction of a $40,000 sculpture. The landscaping could be improved, though, to disguise the concrete block. Now THAT'S ugly.

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  34. "Anonymous said...

    The negativity is just astonishing. The scupture is an important work with a provenance that, like it or not, commemorates the artist's brief but hope-filled presence in Racine, and I feel the presence of the statue provides further hope to those who WANT to see Uptown turn around. By the way, he's a Wisconsin native.
    "


    excuse me while i choke on my coffee laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  36. What a piece of crap IMO. I drove into Racine the other day and it stuck out like a sore thumb. That money could have went to much better things...

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  37. $15,000.00 for a slab of concrete?? I damn near built my 2 car garage and driveway (which has a ton of concrete) for that much. Where the heck are our "city leaders" when you need them.
    Dickert, get your A$$ in gear and start helping this city like you claimed you would.

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  38. The Artist Location Program in Racine is a bad joke. Now it has cost the taxpayers. No one that has been mentioned knows much about artists. The artists I know wouldn't live here for any amount of money. There's no art scene in this town and it's hardly progressive. The schools are crap and the people are generally ignorant or hostile to creative people. Racine has a "shop" mentality, and that makes sense in that we have always been a "shop" town meaning small manufacturers. A welder garners more respect in Racine than a sculpture even if they are doing almost the same thing. An art school? lol anyone have 100 million?

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