'Moving City' art car; Milwaukee alderman concerned about $88K cost
MILWAUKEE - It is an art piece meant for community interaction while highlighting the impact of reckless driving. But new questions are being raised about its cost.
"Oh honey, uh no, it's too much," said Margaret Sanders, a Milwaukee resident.
A Ford Ranger dressed in construction cones to highlight the dangers of reckless driving is certainly starting a conversation.
"The Mobile City," tool to raise awareness about reckless driving in Milwaukee
"Maybe we are not able to affect the change of people doing the reckless driving. But we can make sure that the woman who has three kids and lives on 36th and Capitol can get home tonight," said Sarah Davitt, Milwaukee Public Artist in Residence.
It is called The Moving City – a mobile art piece that cost Milwaukee $88,000.
"The Mobile City," tool to raise awareness about reckless driving in Milwaukee
"That's just, woo, too much money. Too, too much," Sanders said.
"I think it looks really cool, but it really does nothing to resolve the problem; the reckless driving," said Max, a Milwaukee resident.
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At least one Milwaukee alderman agrees with that resident.
"I'm just here to say it's an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars. $88,000 for something that's temporary," said Ald. Lamont Westmoreland.
Ald. Lamont Westmoreland
The project was launched from the Milwaukee Arts Board. However, Alderman Westmoreland questions the investment considering the city's current financial challenges.
"A lot of the funds that were used were unused funds. So then it raised the question, are they getting too much money in the budget?" Westmoreland said. "Another thing that I'm looking at doing is changing an ordinance which something like this would have to come before the council."
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FOX6 News reached out to the city's arts board. In a written statement, Vice Chair Polly Morris said the following:
"I think several points are being overlooked in the current discussion of this project.
"First, there is a long history of municipal governments (for example, Los Angeles and New York) inviting artists to the table to expand thinking and action around pressing issues. PAIR (the City's Public Artist In Residence program) was designed to bring an artist's voice, way of thinking, and creative vision to bear on the problem of reckless driving by working with a city agency (DPW). This is a process of mutual education. As the artist and her liaison learned about how DPW was approaching the problem, they were able to demonstrate art's ability to spark important community conversations.
"Second, I know it's an easy win to express shock and horror at what appears to be excessive or pointless public expenditure. The PAIR program was never about making an object: it was about creating a new framework for the public to take responsibility for safety on our roads. The global budget figure for the Art Car includes a comprehensive outreach program that brought artist Sarah Davitt and PAIR liaison Angela Livermore into multiple communities for hands-on artmaking around traffic safety. Also, and not inconsequentially, it was a model for a way to support artists in our City, to keep them here, by compensating an artist to devote a year of work to a project. This is something that no other program in Milwaukee offers. Think about that the next time you want to pay an artist a couple of thousand dollars to make a mural and then expect them to make a living.
"Third, I'm not sure how the idea that the Art Car was going to instantly disappear entered the public discourse, but we consider Vision Zero's adoption of the Art Car as one of the biggest wins of the program. They will be taking the Art Car out into the community to educate the public about safe and equitable mobility for years to come.
"Change is difficult. It took us three years to get the PAIR program off the ground, and I'd like to think that in five years it will have become an accepted and valued part of our urban ecosystem."
Reckless driving in Milwaukee; 'The Moving City' to raise awareness
The City of Milwaukee announced on Wednesday, Aug. 14 the launch of The Moving City.
FOX6 News also reached out to Alderwoman Milele Coggs, chair of the Arts Board, multiple times. We have not heard back.