Ketchup, Mustard, and Relishing Public Art

 

On August 14th I posted this (not tremendously good) photograph on Facebook with the words: 

True Confession - - I don’t remember seeing this before.

My concern was that it had been there quite some time and I hadn’t been paying attention. I hate it when that happens.

In fact, it was new. Although I couldn’t find the information at the time, it’s one of this year’s ARTSites sculptures. 

Columbia Association, Lake Elkhorn Park – Terrestrial Horizon by Chris Plaisted

And here is a much better photograph from the ARTSites website.

Photo property of Howard County Arts Council

I see a musical note that might be swimming through the water rather like a shark. Or a bunny rabbit with ears of differing length.  According to HoCoArts, 

Terrestrial Horizon is a striking, bright yellow sculpture of steel. Its vibrant color stands out against the backdrop of the greenery and sky, symbolizing hope and creativity. The elongated forms and delicate curves contrast sharply with the vastness surrounding it, effectively conveying the theme of human insignificance in the grand cosmos. 

Wow. I’ll never understand public art. And that’s probably a good thing, because it clearly encourages divergent thinking.

Terrestrial Horizon reminds me a bit of another well-known Columbia artwork. Can you think of what I mean? Hint: it’s red. I used to call it the Big Red Thing but that was before I knew it had a name.

It’s Sail, by James Robert Benson.

Photo property of the Columbia Association 

Depending on how long you have lived here, you will wonder either when this photograph was taken or why you’ve never seen this sculpture in that location.

That’s because Sail was originally located on the lawn next to to what was once known as The Rouse Building. (Now Whole Foods) It was moved from this site to make way for Millie Bailey Park. Some time later it reappeared near the intersection of Little Patuxent Parkway and South Entrance Road

Images from Downtown Columbia Partnership social media

I don’t want to suggest that I am an expert in placing public art and, more than that, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But I really disliked this location. It just didn’t feel worthy of the sculpture to me. Yes, I know, everyone’s a critic. (I also suspect that they re-seated it at least once after choosing this site. But I can’t prove it.)

Well it looks as though Sail has been having trouble getting comfortable*, because I saw it recently in an entirely new location.

I don’t know when it was moved and I suspect I wasn’t paying attention in this case, because it’s already featured on the Merriweather District website.  Who knows? Maybe it’s gradually trying to make its way home?

Why do I find them similar? 

Well, they are both brightly colored, probably made of the same material, and I feel like they are from the same school? genre? style? of public art. 

Looking at them side by side I can’t help but see a ketchup/mustard vibe going on. Can relish be far behind?

Just kidding. This is New Growth by Caroline Del Giudice. It’s located in Chandler Park in Detroit. I simply couldn’t resist the juxtaposition.

Question of the day: do you think that Sail will stay put or do you expect we will see it on the move before long?

Village Green/Town² Comments

Photo Finish

 

I’m not in this photo. But I certainly could be.

Image saved from a post on Bluesky

I’m white, retired, and have been known to write advocacy letters and turn up for public meetings. 

This is not in Howard County. But it certainly could be.

Image saved from Bluesky

Another evening of "This is why your city has a housing shortage."

Why do the anti-housing crowds always look the same regardless of jurisdiction?

Sigh.

You can’t possibly understand community needs when only one slice of the population gets heard. You can’t possibly meet overall community needs when only one kind of person is in the room. 

Are any of these people in crisis because they have nowhere to live? I can’t be sure. But I am sure…wondering.

I have reached the age where I feel that I’ve had some valuable life experience. It feels good to be able to give helpful advice when asked. I miss a certain sense of self-worth that came with my career as a teacher. I miss some things about life that just don’t exist anymore.

None of this entitles me to be the only person in the room. I don’t necessarily “know better” by virtue of race, age, experience, educational background, or financial status. 

Now, it isn’t as though I don’t have strong opinions. There are certain topics on which I wish everyone thought like me: arts education, for instance.  But I also understand that there are areas where the world is changing and that I am slow in catching up with or accepting. (This blog would be an example. I persist in blogging in a TikTok world.) 

On the one hand I’m not going to adapt to TikTok. On the other hand I’m not crying out for its immediate destruction, either. It’s a weird place to be. 

Everyone wants to have value. Everyone wants to feel significant. The folks in the photo above have something to say. They want to be heard. This is only human. The people in the photo and many others like it are not inherently bad. The continuing scenario where they are the only people in the room is very, very bad. 

People in our community who need housing want to be valued. The people for whom renting is the better financial choice want their needs to feel significant. They are human, too. 

As one Bluesky comment summed up so succinctly:

Many of these people have found community through activism (commendable). It is a community built around keeping out newcomers (reprehensible).

Surely there are better ways to build community.

Village Green/Town² Comments

The Words Are on Fire!

Extra, extra! Read all about it!

Starting at about fifteen hours ago, an account on Bluesky begin posting the following:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation of a liquor license application in Howard County, raising critical questions about integrity and transparency in the process. 

Click to read more!

Tensions rise in Howard County as the Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board grapples with a contentious liquor license application amidst community opposition and procedural debates. 

Click to read more!

The Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board faces a heated debate over a new liquor license in Howard County, where community opinions clash and expert testimonies weigh in on the future of local business. 

Read the full story

The Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board is grappling with the contentious decision of granting a liquor license that could reshape the local business landscape and community dynamics. 

Click to read more!

The debate over a new liquor store in Howard County is heating up as officials question its necessity amidst market saturation and community needs. 

Get the details!

Do you think they want you to click?

The account is Citizen Portal News Maryland, a part of a larger network called Citizen Portal AI. Here’s what I found at the Citizen Portal AI website.

Revolutionizing Civic Engagement with AI

Citizen Portal AI is the ultimate tool for staying informed and holding leaders accountable. Get direct access to what elected officials say and do—no spin, just facts. Empower yourself with clear, reliable information straight from the source and make smarter decisions with confidence.

Each of the posts above link to actual government meetings. So where does AI come in?

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING

Our AI uses smart algorithms to analyze meeting transcripts, picking out key themes and details accurately, so there's less chance for human error.

Okay, I’ve never said this on the blog before, but: I call bullshit.

Look at the language used in the Bluesky posts above, specifically:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation…

Tensions rise in Howard County…

…a heated debate…community opinions clash…

…grappling with the contentious decision 

…debate is heating up…

This is emotional language. It borders on melodrama. This is the kind of language that inserts opinion directly into the framing of the piece. Whether there is a human being that writes these or they are concocted by AI, they are trash.

Real journalism doesn’t tell you what to think or how to feel in advance. It presents the facts and lets you decide. 

Journalism tells you who, what, when, where, why. 

• Who is at the hearing. Who will be impacted. Who will make the decision.
• What business are they conducting. What decision needs to be made. What is the language of the decision.
• When did they meet. When do they need to make a decision. When will their decision go into affect.
• Where did they meet. Where is the property in question. Where do those giving testimony live, if relevant. 
• Why are they having the meeting. Why are community member testifying. Why is there disagreement. 

I don’t pretend to know exactly what this stuff is, but it is not journalism and it is not helping.

If we want people to take more interest in meetings of the liquor board (or other government meetings) maybe we should have a free dish night. What Citizen Portal AI is doing is not much different than the old school melodrama device of holding up signs encouraging the audience to cheer and/or boo.

Please tell me that we are still teaching young people enough about critical thinking skills that they are capable of seeing this for what it is. I truly hope so. The sad thing is - - apparently nobody taught AI.

Village Green/Town² Comments 

Got a Case of the Mondays?

 

Mondays are, well…Mondays. (Especially when it feels like darkness is falling earlier every day.) I’ve got an idea for you. 

Actually, Tribos does.

Images from Tribos Peri Peri social media 

Tribos Peri Peri, located at 6010 University Boulevard in Ellicott City. That is to say, the part of Ellicott City which is a stone’s throw away from Waterloo Elementary School. (I’ve never understood that.) They opened in January, 2023 and we discovered them in July of that year. 

Every October since then they’ve had pumpkin nights. You call to let them know you’ll be there for pumpkin carving and decorating, and when you come for dinner they’ll be ready with everything you need. 

I mean, you’d be eating dinner anyway, right?

Yes, I’ve written about Tribos before. Have you been there yet? 

Every once in a while you discover a restaurant that always seems to have exactly what you want no matter what your mood. It’s not a fancy, five-star, white tablecloth place but a homey retreat from the craziness of the outside world. The owner and the staff and welcoming and the service is attentive. 

Friends, if you find a restaurant like this you commit to it. You root for it. You find yourself having an emotional stake in its success. 

That’s how we feel about Tribos. The owner has been so kind to us. We don’t go out much since COVID but if we do, nine times out of ten it’s here. They always make us feel welcome.

Maybe you are not the pumpkin type. That’s fine. You might know someone who is - - spread the word. Or just pop on over for some peri peri chicken or a lamb pita and enjoy watching other people ‘pumpkining’ away. 

It might be just the thing for a case of the Mondays. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Facing the Music: Thoughts from the Festival

 

I read this sentence this morning and I can’t get it out of my head:

We have lost the joy of celebrating the success of fellow Americans.

There’s something true and very sad in there. But I’d probably write it differently: We have lost the joy of celebrating the success of people who don’t look like us. Or talk like us. Whose cultural expression is not identical to ours. 

In fact, what I find so deeply troubling is that many people’s response to seeing that success is that it takes something away from them. Let’s face it: there’s an entire swath of white folks who see anything that doesn’t replicate and validate [their perception of] white culture as alarming, degenerate, even un-American. 

Not only does this rob them of an essential element of being human, it’s also a motivating factor in some of the most hateful, authoritarian behavior this nation has ever seen. It’s not just damaging hearts, it’s breaking laws and crushing government.

If you’re wondering how this is going to end up being a local post, well…

I went to the Oakland Mills Fall Festival yesterday and soaked up the performance of the Oakland Mills High School Band and Poms. I am grateful for them. They brought me a lot of joy. 

I went away thinking that, as a whole, they didn’t particularly look like my high school classmates back in suburban Connecticut in the 1970’s. My school was brand new and opened using a new bus/transportation plan to make the local schools more integrated. Perhaps they were on paper. In reality there were many tiny worlds of separation under one roof.

What a wonderful thing it is that I have been able to live in different communities since then and meet different kinds of people and experience different kinds of excellence. And joy. This isn’t because of any special qualities I have - - I don’t know how I came to feel this way.  Having these life experiences has been a gift. I am joyful because I am still learning. 

What a sad, angry world it must be for those who look at their neighbor and feel that they have nothing to learn and nothing to celebrate. 

Of course, having the capacity to learn also means understanding things that enrage you and break your heart. Being open to the success of others also means being open to their pain and suffering.

That’s not fun or inspiring or heartwarming. It awkward and uncomfortable and upsetting and I hate it. I  am not that great at it, either. But maybe the one gift must accompany the other. 

I am still learning. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

Real Life, Fantasy, and Festivals

 

Aliza Worthington of Baltimore Brew has written a piece about the Main Street TARDIS. Sure, I wrote about it a month ago but hers is one hundred per cent cuter. Enjoy.

Who is up for a mystery? Tardis appears on Main Street in Ellicott City 

The possible connection to Wizarding Weekend on Magical Main cannot be ruled out, methinks. And it might explain why we haven’t heard any loud complaints from the Historic Preservation Commission.  (Perhaps they know it’s temporary.)

There are so many things going on around town today that my head has just about exploded. A quick look at the Columbia Inspired calendar reminds me that The Longest Table is this evening. It looks like there are a few tickets left, if you’ve been wavering on signing up. 

Longest Table is more than a meal—it's a movement. Join us for an evening of food and connection, where neighbors from all walks of life come together to explore the power of curiosity.

If you are interested in The Longest Table concept, there’s a website. 

The Longest Table is a free, community event that brings people together for a shared meal and conversation. It's a simple way to create moments of joy and build stronger neighborhoods.

It’s outside this year, in case you have immunity concerns. This means, of course, that I should go, but there is no protection against shyness. Maybe someday.

Of course I’ll be stopping by the Oakland Mills Fall Festival and possibly the market at Clarksville Commons, since it’s one of the weeks where the amazing sticky buns will be available from Rob & Sons.

What’s on your agenda for the day? Any other local event(s) you’d like to boost?

Let me know.

Village Green/Town² Comments 

F ³: Heroes

 

Learning about Jane Goodall was a part of my growing up. There’s a sort of a golden glow around her in my childhood memories. I’ve been sifting through those wisps of images and facts since I learned that she was gone.

I grew up in a house with books, and not just story books and fairy tales. We had “great men of science”, and “men who made history”. My mother owned a Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia set circa 1948 which recounted, more or less, the history, knowledge, and accomplishments of mankind.

And then there was Jane Goodall - -  doing something no one had ever really done and learning things no one had even been curious about or valued. 

There was no one like her in my books at home or on television shows or in the movies. I was fascinated by her. 

Truth be told, I wasn’t all that interested in her field of study. I didn’t imagine myself doing what she did. But the essence of her spirit - -  her gentle, persistent curiosity - - made all of it more interesting to me. If she thought it was worth knowing, then it was. 

Women in my childhood world were wives, mothers, teachers, secretaries, stewardesses, nurses. (A few were models or Hollywood sexpots.) Women who strove for excellence in any other sphere were often mocked and painted with the brush of being bossy, unattractive, and unfeminine while also derided as categorically inferior to their male counterparts.

And then there was Jane Goodall. In a world of immovable objects she was an irresistible force.

If you had asked me who my heroes were when I was little I don’t know what I would have said. Heroes were men, possibly cartoon characters in tights and capes. I wanted to grow up to sing like Julie Andrews and Judy Collins. I guess they were my heroes.

What does it mean to be a hero? What does it mean to have heroes who are truly worthy of your admiration? Women have long been encouraged to live vicariously and dream vicariously through men. It is frustrating to me that I might have had many worthy heroes and role models as a child if the stories of women had been shared and valued equally.

Were there women heroes before Jane Goodall? Plenty. Were they largely invisible to me? Yes.

In this year’s Alan Turing Lecture at King’s College, Cambridge speaker Sandi Toksvig addresses how prejudice can skew and mar academic inquiry. (Cutting Discovery on the Bias) Toksvig’s knowledge of and passion for the subject crackles with brilliance throughout. She has, as they say, brought the receipts. But underneath her well-educated and carefully modulated speech I sense the crackling of something else: the dry, almost brittle crackling of quiet rage. 

Rage at the exclusion, omission and erasure which perpetuate both ignorance and oppression. 

Maybe the rage isn’t there. I don’t know. Maybe it’s my rage bleeding through.

And now we have lost Jane Goodall.  She managed, somehow, to cut through the patriarchal world of scientific study and show us something revolutionary: a woman fully committed to her life’s work with determination and joy. 

She was a great light. I didn’t realize until this week how much she has meant to me.

Village Green/Town² Comments