Titration exhibits revitalized public arts program
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By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
A yellow man climbs one of the trees outside the Dublin Community Recreation Center in Coffman Park as part of the "Shell People," by La Grange, Ky., artist Todd Smith.
Editor's note: The seventh in an eight-part series on public art in Dublin.
After a six-year break, public art made its return to Dublin in 2007 with a series of displays in Coffman Park.
The Titration exhibits revived the Dublin Arts Council's art in public places program with changes that got the community involved in the process.
Dublin Arts Council executive director David Guion said the program returned because of requests from Dublin City Council and the arts council's strategic plan.
"We had some issues with one of the artists in a former project that wasn't realized," said Guion, who has been with the arts council since January 2005. "It took a number of years to resolve that issue."
The revival of the art in public places program included some changes, such as getting art on loan.
"I think what the city was asking was to increase the collection in some way and have smaller pieces," Guion said. "The cost of the pieces (before we started getting them) on loan had reached $150,000 over two years. The thought was we could get really quality sculptures for less of an investment."
The first Titration exhibit was brought to Coffman Park in 2007 as art on loan.
The community got involved through voting that determined which pieces would remain in Coffman Park, 5200 Emerald Parkway.
According to a November 2007 release from the arts council, more than 500 votes were cast and the community voted to buy the 11-foot bronze arch, "Narrow #5," and the "Ascension" sculpture that was installed on the banks of the south fork Indian Run waterway.
The first Titration exhibit cost $48,000, and the two pieces of work that still stand in Coffman Park cost $41,000 to acquire.
Titration2: Park Fiction came to Coffman Park in 2008 in the form of on-loan work from four artists.
Additional community voting was conducted last fall to determine which on-loan work would remain with the city. Peep boxes by California artist Danielle Giudici Wallis won with 36 percent of the vote.
The wooden boxes, which feature scenes of suburban parks, were positioned by the playground in Coffman Park and got lots of attention from children.
"The peep boxes got the most votes," Guion said. "They were right there near the playground so there was total interaction with the art. Children were very fascinated by those."
The cast-bronze leaves by the Coffman Park pond, by Japanese artist Daisuke Shintani, got 31 percent of the vote.
In December, Guion told Dublin City Council that the arts council decided to purchase one work from each of the four artists in the Titration2 exhibit for $105,900.
In February, council voted to purchase the rest of the work with bed tax money. The artwork included: "Shell People" installed in trees around Coffman Park by La Grange, Ky., artist Todd Smith; three steel sculptures called "Modified Social Benches" by Copenhagen native Jeppe Hein; the remaining "Peep Boxes;" and Shintani's bronze leaf and vine sculptures that can be viewed over a water feature in the park.
Guion said the third Titration exhibit could be coming to Coffman Park as soon as October, but it will likely be the last.
"I think the Titration series has run its course. It was very successful in introducing public art to the community," he said.
Guion said the arts council will look at similar ways to procure on-loan art for the program in the future.
