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

[–] veeesix@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 days 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.

[–] Ariselas@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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.

[–] mrmisses@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] veeesix@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Insurance! I had a feeling I was missing another big line item.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 2 points 1 day ago

How big are they?

[–] KittyCat@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This is a failure to hire the right artist and specifying commission details. Don't hire the weird abstract art guy if you don't want weird abstract art.