Winter seems to be moving on out finally. I can not write in Winter. More on that another time.
Odd week in New York. At the grass roots level as well as in the state house. You know the goings on at the state house so let me fill you in on some local tidbits.
I entered a contest. Sponsored jointly by the Columbia County Council on the Arts and the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. Both these organizations are housed in Hudson, NY...a little town on the Hudson River and have more to do with that town than with the county...or so it seems.
The contest is entitled BEST OF SHOW. Artists in the area submit designs for sitting or standing dogs. I choose sitting. The designs, if selected will be painted (or whatevered) onto sitting or standing dog sculptures and these then are placed along the main street (Warren Street) of Hudson or around the village for the summer of '08. To attract tourism. Sponsors pay a minimum of $500 to sponsor a dog. A map/brochure is created with info. about the artists and the dog locations and the sponsor. It's a win-win situation...except, well, the artist is doing a lot of free work and the town is the main benefactor of their labor. Sameolesameole.
All selected artists receive $50 for supplies. The sculptures are top coated in a auto-supply joint before sitting outside all summer. In October the sculptures are then auctioned off to highest bidder and the profits ear-marked for supporting the ARTS in Columbia County. The artist receives 25% of the auctioned price (not bad if there are some high rollers at the bidding).
My entry is called Canaan Canine. Canaan NY is where I hang out as most know. My studio view of deer ridge is what's designed to be painted on the dog, with unnamed creek at the dogs feet and an enormous (well how enormous can a tree be on a 31 inch high sculpture?) Norwegian Spruce with a couple of cardinals sitting in it at about belly to chest height. My artist's statement is about being a dog person in feline clothing and has something to do with Keeping Canaan Green. I thought I might be rejected since this dog is definitely a political statement but these days being green seems to slide on through. I expect to tattoo the dog's butt with www.saveCanaanCountry.com but that's on the reverse — so I didn't feel the need to divulge this to the "jury." It's doubtful that the dog will find a sponsor. It is, after all, not a Hudson dog but a country cousin. But that's only part of my dilemma.
But this isn't the COWS (those artist's got- still get, new cows are still being made - a $1,000 honorarium) that traveled around the country and began this craze, or the MOOSE (one wants to saw Meese so badly) that stood around in Bennington Vermont or the SHEEP (Sheeptacular) of Pittsfield, MA or the BEARS that hung out in Northern Conn. last season or even the CATS of Catskill NY of last summer. Catskill is just across the Hudson River from Hudson so it makes sense that Hudson would go for the dogs. Otherwise there is no historical or rational reason except perhaps the somewhat vaguely practical fact that dogs have legs and can stand or sit...whereas, fish which might be a better selection for a river town...have no legs and would be difficult to display by the imaginatively challenged. So DOGS it is. One supposes the colorful cacophony of canines will make their way through the streets of Hudson this summer. Hudson is simply, as they say, going to the dogs.
Hudson was founded in the 18th century and grew to be a whaling ship town and later a town for stops of cargo ships that had traversed the Erie Canal back in the days before pollution and manifest destiny had nearly killed the river. Our favorite son and local hero, Pete Seeger had a lot to do with cleaning up the Hudson River by building a sailing sloop, the Clearwater, and sailing it up and down the river to promote awareness of the pollution in the river. As Pete says, "people are swimming in the river again." Well, not me but braver hearts than mine (like Pete's - you can help the grass roots group who are trying to nominate Pete for a nobel peace prize - the man who wrote "Turn, Turn, Turn" and has preceded us if not led us all by example on our jouney deserves no less). I am not sure if the people who swim in the river can eat fish out of the river yet...or if any fish have returned or are surviving these days. But the Hudson River revival is a happy story of determination and spirit and fighting individuals who have helped to clean up the river and stop further contamination despite politics and corporate greed.
The EPA, our federal environmental watchdog (not related to the Hudson dogs to my knowledge), has as yet had little if anything to do with the clean-up of the Hudson River. They have dragged their feet for nearly a decade to force GE (General Electric) to clean up the most toxic contaminants they dumped for years way, way north toward the start of the river and which traveled all the way down to Troy, New York which is just above Hudson by about 30 miles as the crow (or eagle) flies along the water front. The contaminant in question is one of the biggest and most dangerous of those to currently to have infected our planet...PCBs. The river has to be dredged and the residents and citizens all up and down the river have had meeting after meetings for years to convince the EPA to take action. Finally the EPA pronounced that GE did in fact bear financial responsibility for cleaning up the river about 5 or more years ago. And so...not a drop of silt or PCBs has been dredged up since that decision was made as far as I know. It will cost millions of dollars to accomplish the clean up and by the time it is done, GE will have had the time to save the money needed to do the job simply from the interest garnered over the long wait while GE held everything up in court case after court case. One of the biggest corporations in the world, on the planet who is now making big bucks on "green" paraphernalia like wind generators is still one of the biggest and horrific polluters in terms of past actions. And knowing GE is a global corporation, I'd suspect they were NOT doing their fair share of keeping the planet green in other more exotic corners of the world where close observers of their maneuverings have as yet felt the tang of regret over the results of pollution. But that's a different story.
Back to Hudson village and the dogs.
One dog of over 100+ designs was eliminated. It happens to be a nude dog. The rules were strict. Rule 8 states: "Designs must be appropriate for public display. Designs that are religious, political or sexual in nature will not be accepted. Corporate logos and advertising are not permitted. A review panel will evaluate all designs. This review panel has the sole discretion to accept or reject any design." OK. (This language, by the way, is right out of Cow Parade...from the Moo-Museum site.)
Is a nude dog...I'm told it was a retro pin-up nude dog...well is that considered "sexual?" Or is a nude dog "political?" Or, I've got it, a nude dog must be "religious" right? No, that'd be Madoga and pup.
I'm stumped. Why reject a nude dog? When did a nude public sculpture become an issue? And as a friend said to me....AREN'T ALL DOGS NUDE? So what gives?
Did I mention that Hudson until well after the 1930s had a pretty strong RED LIGHT district. The town was one of those biggest little brothel places that sprung up to service seamen and river men and (I suppose) farmers. The main red light street was Diamond Street (the bling of the old fashioned brothels was blinding...thus Diamond Street). Apparently the street was very heavily trafficked. The name was changed to Columbia Street for some reason in the century just past or maybe the one before that. There have been books and articles and lots of press about Hudson's spicy history and it has been embraced for years as an interesting bit of whatnot making the area a little bit more than a hick farm town.
Hudson itself is lovely with wonderful brick and wood townhouses, most restored now and pricey, great ART galleries and antique shops and lovely restaurants. Warren Street and Columbia Street go right down to the quaint river train station that fronts the Hudson River just over the tracks. And since all my readers might not be locals...the Hudson River is a big, beautiful vista with dramatic sunsets and historic bridges and ladders of hills that flank the water with mansions tucked in the side that have been in attendance since before the Roosevelt's moved up river. The Hudson is a wonderful river and any town named Hudson has lots to be proud of.
So would a nude dog be inappropriate? You be the judge. And why reject just one nude dog out of a 100+ dog designs? Is this censorship of the good intentions and probably great workmanship of a local artist? (There are plenty of other nude related dog issues - but none so compelling as a simple nude dog; I found one reference that involves homeland security...as in the nude dogs who search bomb debris to find remains - that's a bit frightening.)
Is this sort of petty censorship the rightful job of an arts council?
Maybe painted dogs on village streets are just decoration as another colleague points out and more good fun and more the art of commerce than the art of ART...but still. I'd love to see a spicy nude dog in Hudson. Far superior to anything I can do.
And again and finally....
And again and finally....
“ Art is about breaking down barriers. It gets people to feel, to think, to react. So when you come across life-sized cow sculptures that have been covered in mirrors or gumdrops, cows that have been painted with elaborate themes or transformed into something else entirely, you can't help but stop and think about what it means. All your preconceived ideas go out the window. Suddenly people see that art can be fun and that art can be interesting to everyone, not just people who frequent museums.”
Peter Hanig
CowParade Event Organizer
