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| Gone But Not Forgotten |
If you lived in Portland between 1927 and 2020, you likely
will remember the tall sculpture of a pensive-looking President Abraham Lincoln
in the South Park Blocks, shown above.
Savor the memory. It
is unlikely to return. The Lincoln
statue, like those of Jefferson, Washington and Teddy Roosevelt, were illegally pulled
down by unknown hooligans in 2020. Two years later, the Portland City Council
has said nothing about restoring the statues or making any formal decisions
about what should, or shouldn’t, be considered worthy of public art.
The closest determination that has been made so far comes
from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, an appointed advisory group that –
without public testimony or public scrutiny – has written that all those statutes
are unworthy of restoration.
In short, the hooligans win.
Is this how public policy should be crafted in Portland?
According to RACC, the four people once honored by those
sculptures either said things or took personal actions that don’t comport with
contemporary concepts of political correctness.
This lumps Abraham Lincoln into the same category as Robert E. Lee.
The trouble with the purity standard, as one might call it,
is that it ignores the historical political context and legal environments of the era in
which these four presidents lived. It is
difficult to think of any human being -- historically significant or otherwise
-- whose lives meet perfection in every degree.
One can understand why the nature of public art does not
rank high on the City Council’s list of current priorities. The city is on pace for a record year of
homicides and shootings; homeless people living on tents and blocking sidewalks
make downtown unpleasant for merchants and pedestrians; the pandemic has
diminished the downtown workforce with a corresponding effect on restaurants
and coffee shops; some retailers, both recent and longstanding, have shut
down.
And, oh yes, the hooligans still attack downtown windows on
a seemingly random basis.
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| Public Art Today |
Jeff Hawthorne, the city’s arts program manager, contends
that the city government eventually will hold a public dialogue about the role
of public art, including whether the uprooted statutes should be returned. But he has yet to identify a process of how
that discussion will occur. In a recent
statement, he predicted that nothing will happen before the end of 2024.
Controversy about public art is not limited to
Portland; others have given
thought to potential resolutions. One
reasonable path through the wilderness of confusion comes from a commission in
New York City. It wrote:
“The approach to memorial artwork should
focus on adding detail and nuance to – instead of removing – the
representations of these histories. We should take a hard look at who has been
left out and see where we can add new work to ensure our public spaces reflect
the diversity and values of our great city.”
A strategy that is good for New York, it seems, could be good for
Portland. It might offer hope for
George, Thomas, Abe and Teddy.
------
Fred Leeson
Join Building on History’s mailing list by writing “add me” to
fredleeson@hotmail.com
Thank you for this timely piece Fred. While the "progressives" baulk at the Originalism of the Supreme Court, the many progressives are also filtering reality through a lens of Presentism. Neither works and without context it never will.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of nonsense is one of the many, many reasons I fled Portland 10 years ago. What to do? Send the statues to Beaverton: We'll take 'em. So will, I imagine, Gresham, Oregon City, Vancouver (WA) or any places where appeasement to angry micro-populations has not taken a stranglehold. The modern, contextual re-presentation makes total sense, but of course that will never fly in "all or nothing" Portland. I give the Elk one year before it's destroyed again by people who don't actually live here.
ReplyDeleteWell written, Fred. Sadly, it appears that Antifa has won the first round over public art. A handful of vandals acting in their own benighted self-interest.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Nick Bertram suggests that, since no individual is EVER absolutely perfect, there should be no statues of people. He's OK with the elk.
ReplyDeleteThe elk should go back. I've lived here 76 years and that elk is part of the wonderful, proud, safe, clean city I remember. We CAN return to that beautiful city. It just takes all of us working to find solutions to our probproblems., Get involved with the city you want to live in.
ReplyDelete