art & urban in-fill_ K Street, Sacramento
Ξ December 5th, 2007 | → | ∇ Stephanie Taylor Portfolio |
I’m compelled to start the new year with a rant regarding redevelopment issues. Sacramento shares common urban problems with most big cities. Artists are often called upon to create band-aids. We are supposed to inspire interest and we often do. Sometimes we even solve problems.Sadly, this particular mural represents a failure. For me, it is a symbol of what can go wrong in downtown issues, and without pointing fingers, I will be addressing this in the coming months. The City of Sacramento has been in multifarious negotiations with a number of individual property owners who have either been sensitive to the needs of the greater community, or more concerned with personal gain. Quoting from the press release dated July 28, 1992, “this mural is the first phase of a Comprehensive Downtown Revitalization Strategy…to create a revitalizing mix of new arts and entertainment programs…” Sixteen long years later, the mural is gone and the property is worse than it was, as is K Street. After how much public money spent, wasted development talent and sheer man hours of effort, the issue is poised to collapse into the broader issue of eminent domain. In principle, as an individual, I abhor the concept of eminent domain. In this case, however, I support it.