Location, location 

As an artist, teacher, former gallery director, and arts administrator in SLO County, I've been following the trajectory of public art in SLO County for a long time. Ten or so years ago, ARTS Obispo had a lively public art committee led by Ann Ream, a smart, vibrant woman who dedicated herself to establishing a strong public art program in SLO County. Ann is no longer with us, and unfortunately, the work she and her volunteer committee did seems to have dissipated with the change of city and cultural personnel in our community. It would serve the city of San Luis Obispo well to resurrect the guidelines that she so painstakingly assembled to assist in the selection of works.

For the most part, I agree with Elizabeth Johnson's opinion piece in New Times ("A bad decision," Jan. 5, 2023) that Anila Agha's The Greys in Between sculpture, placed in the visually busy roundabout at the intersection of Orcutt and Tank Farm Roads, is ineffective. It's a potentially stunning work of art weakened by location placement and the busy surrounding signage. New Times did a poor job of selecting the photograph that accompanied Ms. Johnson's opinion piece, as well. It would have been more appropriate if the image had shown the piece in situ, rather than giving the reader a close-up shot that omits the distracting elements of the location that she discusses.

Public art is a tricky business but something that can be a real boon to a community if the art, site, and public are involved in the conversation. When Pakistani-born Anila Agha's art was shown in 2017 at the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College, the patterns of light that radiated out of the sculpture transformed the space and visitors' relationships to it. A delightful world was created that stimulated ideas about different cultures and the evocative power of art. That same artist's sculpture currently placed in a roundabout in San Luis Obispo does not have anywhere near that same effect.

I would love to see this sculpture moved to a spot when the public could engage with it more directly. Where the patterns of light that it creates can be seen in a location without bright streetlights. Where one could walk around it and sit on a bench and contemplate it. A city park would be ideal.

As is, the piece serves as a curiosity that is even possibly a dangerous distraction to drivers attempting to navigate the roundabout. Even if there were a place to be able to stop and look at the piece, the visible cables holding it in place and the many traffic signs remove all sense of contemplation and wonder that The Greys in Between could evoke. ∆

Marta Peluso wrote to New Times from San Luis Obispo. Send a response for publication to [email protected].