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‘It’s ridiculous’: Saskatoon’s $300K plastic rock sculptures spark debate over public art spending (www.ctvnews.ca)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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Interesting how the final price of the 'art' was just under the total budget for artworks. I wonder how that happened?

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[–] 20 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

There shouldn't be less money for public art, but there should be better return on investment. Artists deserve to be paid fairly but how are 3 plastic sculptures $300,000

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  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    $300,000 likely includes:

    • the cost to source the raw materials
    • factory to manufacture the parts
    • studio/warehouse to assemble the pieces
    • delivery to site (flat bed truck and crane)
    • and whatever is left contributes to the hourly wage

    I’m not saying $300,000 is not unreasonable, but things cost money especially post-covid.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    I understand, I'm in the industry. They greedily asked for too much and now they are getting blowback that is going to ruin it for artists in the future.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    We don’t know how much profit the artist and their employees actually made.

    How much did it cost to just deliver them? That’s a trucking company and crane, and anything that’s going to live out in public means stronger material, secure installation and longer lifespan, than a sculpture in a climate controlled museum with guards and do not touch signs.

    Public art is more expensive just to build. Sometimes it also needs insuring and maintenance too. This is just mostly, “I don’t get it so I don’t like it” bullshit.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

    I've been a contractor on some public art projects where everyone who works on it gets paid but the artist who gets their name on the work and the line on their CV.

    Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees have done enough public pieces that their costing is probably fairly dialed in. But considering how long a project like this takes from proposal to installation, they are not getting rich on it.

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