San Francisco's Art Commission was probably quite embarrassed when it found out - via an Examiner article and not a simple Google search - that the artist it had awarded a $750,000 contract for 59 bronze sculptures in the Moscone station of the proposed Central Subway project and also a $700,000 contract for a set of sculptures to decorate San Francisco General Hospital had shot and killed a dog in the name of art some 34 years ago. Clearly, some of the general public was outraged at this discovery, and the San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission even sent a formal letter to Mayor Lee and the Arts Commission urging them to axe the artist Tom Otterness' contracts, saying that the city "cannot display, with public funding, art from someone who has committed such an unconscionable act of animal cruelty."
Tomorrow, the commission will hold a meeting to vote on whether to rescind the contracts. If it commission does decide to axe the contracts, it'll be out $365,750 in payments already delivered to Otterness. Arts Commission Chairman PJ Johnston told the Examiner that he's "torn" on how to vote. While he is a dog owner and finds the act "abhorrent," he is still concerned with the commission "getting into the position of judging the artist rather than the art." Head over to the SF Appeal, where there's a poll going about what the City should do with Otterness' contract.
· More Central Subway Controversy [Curbed SF]
· Quotes [Curbed SF]
· Let Me Google That For You [Curbed SF]
· SF May Finally Make Decision On Contracts With NY Sculptor Who Shot Dog (Poll) [SF Appeal]
· Dog-killing artist's $1.4M commissions with San Francisco at risk [SF Examiner]
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