‘Rise’ “to cost £60,000 more then planned”
Having crushed Trillian, the Oregon-based Ed Carpenter’s design selected in 2005 for the Broadway Junction Public Art Project, the re-launched competition for that public space – promoted as “opportunity for local artists” – was eventually won, from among “over 40 international artists”, by ‘Rise’ – a spherical metal sculpture standing over 120 feet high designed by Wolfgang Buttress. Now the BBC reports that Belfast City Council are deciding whether to provide an additional £36,000 for “extra safety checks not included in the orginal budget”. The Department of Social Development has already agreed to provide an additional £30,000. From the BBC report
Applications for more funding from the Arts Council and two government departments were refused. The whole scheme will now cost almost £500,000 and will not begin until next year. The plan for a huge white and silver aluminium sculpture called “Rise” was announced a year ago and should have been built this year. Belfast City Council will be asked to approve the spending of an extra £36,000 pounds at its full meeting tonight.
It would still be money well spent. It would make for a fantastic southern gateway to Belfast at broadway and give an image of a very dynamic and ambitious city.
Surely there are better things to spend thousands of pounds on than a hideous scuplture that can only be described as nothing more than Kitsch and only inflates the egos of the arty types including designers and local politicians who dont live in the same world as the rest of us desperate to sell the city as a place of culture etc. You just cant sell Belfast, a Vulgar piece of art wont change that.
Dont get me wrong, I enjoy art as much as the next man, but this sculpture is inapropriate and unessacary.
Why was it not included in the budget? Doesn’t the council realise that’s what those budget thingys are for?
Was anyone scaked for costing them £36,000 mnore than planned?
A design almost made for attaching flags to was not a wise choice for this particular spot.