Palm Springs Rainmaker Fountain Public Arts Commission

When I moved to Palm Springs 23 years ago there was absolutely no public art in the city, but for the Mexican Plaza fountain in front of the airport and the seasonal opening of the B. Lewin gallery, which was always a highlight with the unveiling of new Tamayo acquisitions and of course the Riveras that were always on display. Unfortunately the Lewin’s gave their collection to the Los Angeles Museum, but did give the city of Palm Springs Arts Commission the Felipe Castaneda, Standing Woman. When Sonny Bono was mayor – his administration formed the first arts commission and the goal given to the commission was to bring art to the city that would add to the culture of the city. A Tony Berlant was purchased for the Convention Center and the Doug Hyde sculpture was added to the downtown area, the dog park fence, the Richard Wyatt mural at the Highland Community center and several other smaller pieces were added to the city’s art coffers – each with a particularly different enhancement to the city. The city has a diverse grouping of art and the charge to the arts commission in the 90?s was to find an artist to create a gateway piece of art – a fountain to sit in the Frances Steven Park ? as there was very little art and commerce in the area at the time it was thought that art activity would bring traffic and business to the area. Today the area seems quiet vibrant with activity and it boggles my mind why the city arts commissioners – who are charged with purchasing art for the city and maintaining the art that has been passed down by other commissions – is even voicing these concerns over the small costs of maintaining a major fountain. When the Rainmaker Fountain in Frances Stevens Park is correctly maintained the wands float majestically in the air – in a kinetic performance that not only dances as if on wind, but has the wonderful playfulness of large volumes of water falling – much like the canyon waterfalls that Mr. Morris was trying to emulate, the sound of water when sitting in the amphitheater is very refreshing on a hot summer day and could if put to use be a gathering place for small musical performances and then there is the arroyo which is a reminder of how the water comes to this city. I remember during the construction of the fountain Mr. Morris took me over into the hallways of the theater that opens onto the fountain to let me experience the sound of the water falling into the smaller pool on a quiet evening – you could hear this sound in the lawn between the buildings – and I am always struck when driving by or bicycling – by the grandness of this fixture that has become apart of the city for over 7 years. It is not the opinions of mayors or want to be mayors, or the personal opinions of arts commissioners or even individual residents that have a bearing on art. Personally I don’t like the pieces that line Gene Autry Trail nor do I like the Reverb on South Palm Canyon Drive but I can see why some may. Once art enters the realm of the public it is open to discussion and more than likely there will be those that don’t like a piece. Once a city takes on the task of purchasing art pieces it is going to have to stand by it’s decisions to maintain the art piece. I remember the long arduous task of deciding on which artist would be the artist to create the fountain in Frances Stevens Park ? there were many qualified and non qualified artists who proposed many extravagant pieces- each that would be a landmark piece of art for the city – and I can say that each in its own way would have caused a stir in some sector of the city. The arts commission moved the artists of choice through public awareness meetings, newspaper articles, all of the city commissions and departments and this project went to the city council and was given approval. There have been some issues with the maintenance of the wands – Mr. Morris has been involved in some aspects of correction – and Mr. Morris has stated that those that are maintaining the project have stepped outside the boundaries of his required steps. As to the water deposits on the wands – anybody who lives here knows that the water here has a heavy calcification – and more than likely a good water treatment set up could take care of this problem. Finally the biggest complaint I have heard is of the homeless – well frankly that is not a case of the art being wrong but that the city has still not found a solution to its homeless problem. It is your task as arts commissioners to step aside from the politics of the different administrations that will be floating through the city to choose art that will please and may make some think and question art – and to maintain the collection and not to continually be bringing up the need to question a piece, I can assure as an artist myself I am not going to sit back and let small mindedness take away a wonderfully conceived project.