starrlac
enthusiast
Posts: 665
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 11-03-00
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10-01-12 02:44 PM - Post#155399
In response to will
I'm pretty sure the glass is there already. You can't really see it, though, until you are next to it driving by.
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RRRquilter
enthusiast
Posts: 1279
Loc: Allen
Reg: 05-02-05
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10-01-12 02:51 PM - Post#155400
In response to will
You can find a picture of the prototype on Gordon Huether's website. I do not believe that the glass component has been installed to complete the "A". We will see how well that survives the first hailstorm. Perhaps I will be more impressed when the deconstructed components of the A are in place with the landscaping that has been envisioned. Right now, the "A is for Allen" concept seems rather puerile.
The glass has been installed. It sits at the bottom between the "dagger" and the stone.
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Don4
enthusiast
Posts: 382
Loc: Allen 1993
Reg: 04-11-06
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10-01-12 04:16 PM - Post#155406
In response to Mrs. Tex
Would have been nice to have a TEXAS artist...why do we have to go to CA for talent?
then it would have turned out to be an abstract herd of cows.
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AA
enthusiast
Posts: 499
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 07-20-09
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10-01-12 05:55 PM - Post#155409
In response to bdiddy74
Now that I see what it's supposed to be, i can agree that it is hideous. I was hoping there was going to be more to it that would make it awesome
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will
enthusiast
Posts: 157
Reg: 07-28-09
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10-01-12 06:03 PM - Post#155411
In response to RRRquilter
Thanks - I will have to notice it on the way home. Every day. For the foreseeable future.
Seriously, though, the entire point of the 75/Exchange intersection is to keep traffic moving. A median is not the place to sit and admire art. A median is more of a place to put something that you can drive past and say, "oh, isn't that nice." Instead, we have what appears to be a bad corporate logo and monoliths with cryptic/irrelevant dates. There are better places and ways to spend public art money.
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will
enthusiast
Posts: 157
Reg: 07-28-09
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10-01-12 06:05 PM - Post#155412
In response to will
Small point of clarification - the "bad corporate logo" I was referring to was the "A" but I suppose the same could be said with the Stacy monoliths.
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denisew
Community Expert
Posts: 8815
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 02-18-02
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10-01-12 06:48 PM - Post#155413
In response to will
I do like the sculpture in front of city hall and also the recycled ladder sculpture in front of the newest fire station on West McDermott near Custer Rd.
The sculpture at the library is too modern for my taste.
I cannot judge the dagger thing until it is all complete. Again, it is a very modern style.
I don't care for the big slabs out by the Villages of Allen/Fairview on Stacy Rd. I don't know too many people who do like those. I think they would mean more to the community if the artist chose dates that actually are significant to Allen and Fairview instead of selecting them at random. They remind me of the monoliths from the movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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SB
enthusiast
Posts: 1209
Reg: 09-07-03
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10-01-12 11:38 PM - Post#155428
In response to will
Regarding location, I think that a high traffic area is appropriate. Consider Chicago where some outstanding public art is sited alongside some very heavily trafficked streets. Not all art should be sited like this but I love seeing it as I drive around town.
I'm not sure I like the slabs along Stacey - except they do add interest to that stretch of road that would just be bland without them - so maybe I do like them. The style, which seems to suggest the style of commercial logos all around that area, fits.
A bit off topic but another piece of "sculpture" I like is the High Five . There is a beauty to the rows of painted pillars underneath the roadways.
But hey, that's just my thought now, at this particular moment.
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Tami
enthusiast
Posts: 145
Reg: 10-25-05
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10-02-12 08:35 AM - Post#155433
In response to Joel
How much did we pay for this? And what's our budget for replacing the glass? I'm all for beautification but nothing about this "art" makes sense. Glass on a busy street?? An "A" that cannot easily be seen. And a city council that actually approved this??? And I agree that a Texas artist would have been much more appropriate. What a shame.
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chf
enthusiast
Posts: 505
Loc: NW Allen
Reg: 12-22-07
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10-02-12 08:38 AM - Post#155435
In response to Tami
I, for one, am just glad it's not the typical Texas public "art" consisting of a flagstone or granite monument with a metal cow on top of it.
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Mrs. Tex
enthusiast
Posts: 232
Loc: Allen
Reg: 11-01-07
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10-02-12 08:46 AM - Post#155436
In response to chf
They could have hired the guys that created Walking Man in Deep Elm...that would have been interesting, causing traffic on 75 to snarl big time
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3386
Reg: 09-25-09
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10-02-12 10:29 AM - Post#155441
In response to Mrs. Tex
I think it looks fine. I don't love it, but I don't think it is embarrassing either. I like that our city is trying hard to make Allen an aesthetically pleasing place to live and visit. Will they miss the mark from time to time? Sure. Is this one if those times? Maybe. But at least they are trying hard.
Learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help at:
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will
enthusiast
Posts: 157
Reg: 07-28-09
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10-02-12 11:52 AM - Post#155450
In response to mgrayar
Link
This link has the final plans. To my surprise, the sculpture is actually called "A is for Allen." It is on the last page. I've not seen what was actually paid, but the proposed public art budget was $150,000. I agree completely with mgrayar and am glad that an effort is being made to make Allen interesting. I appreciate most of the public art that we have, such as the sculpture at the new fire station. The Stacy monoliths and Exchange "A" just don't do much for me.
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Allen1999
newbie
Posts: 9
Reg: 07-26-03
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10-02-12 01:07 PM - Post#155453
In response to will
Thinking creative about art can be entertaining and interesting.
But the red dagger is a total joke unless we were creating a cool Halloween exhibit in a local museum. We are going to be a laughing stock. It would be funny if this were someone else's city. It is so obvious that this will be an embarrassment when you realize the laughter will be about our city.
We should pay the artist what we have promised. Then, we should dig this up (I'll bring the first shovel)... find another use for the red spear, glass, etc. (or donate to charity), then plant some crepe myrtles or something naturally beautiful (green) in the interim... then ask a designer to come up with something reasonable.
The emperor has no clothes... maybe we need a kid to point out the obvious.
Edited by Allen1999 on 10-02-12 01:10 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3386
Reg: 09-25-09
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10-02-12 01:22 PM - Post#155454
In response to Allen1999
You think enough people outside of Allen will care enough to go out of their way to make this such a public embarrassment that we need to demolish an expensive "A" statue?
Are people that bored?
By the way, we are already laughed at about a $60 million stadium by many in the country. Should we tear that down too?
I truly don't think anyone is going to make your daily life miserable due to a sculpture that happens to be in your town. We will survive.
Learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help at:
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Everyone can make a difference! |
Edited by mgrayar on 10-02-12 01:22 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Allen1999
newbie
Posts: 9
Reg: 07-26-03
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10-02-12 01:29 PM - Post#155455
In response to mgrayar
mgrayar: This has nothing to do the with the stadium. This is about an attempted piece of art that should bring beauty to our city, but has severly missed the mark.
Edited by Allen1999 on 10-02-12 01:29 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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