August 19, 2004

Airport public art meeting rife with concerns

By Julie Davis Berry and
Lorraine Gabbert

A pitched battle over public art took flight Aug. 4 at the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport Public Art Steering Committee meeting. Concerns were raised by both the public and committee members regarding the artists, content, and process of the $10 million project.

In December 2003, the San Jose City Council adopted an economic development strategy with the goal of creating a world-class airport to raise San Jose’s visibility and stature as a leading region for innovation, and position the city as a global gateway—a creative, tech-savvy city.

At stake was whether the steering committee—with nine new City Council appointed community members—would approve the Airport Public Art Master Plan draft, as described in the presentation by staff from the Office of Cultural Affairs [OCA].

“The airport is an economic engine that supports and promotes business and tourism,” acknowledged Public Art Project Manager Mary Rubin. “If the airport is a gateway to San Jose and Silicon Valley, we need to let people know they’ve arrived.”

San Jose State University student Matt Haberman views the project as an opportunity to connect the airport to the identity of the city, while tying it in with cultural and art events already in place. Digital media artist Steve Durie believes that the airport should generate interest and reflect the unique vitality of the city.

“An airport is a tool of commerce,” observed local artist Pablo Psuami. “If we can show them that we’re not only doing art, we’re doing the most cutting-edge innovative art there is, it says a lot about how valuable and unique this area is.”

Through the intersection of art and technology, the OCA’s goal is to reflect San Jose’s diversity and the stories of its community, including local history, social issues, natural environment, cultural identity, and innovators—to ensure that the airport will be unparalleled in the world.

However, the public is mixed as to how well the plan is being carried out, leaving many concerned that local artists and aviation pioneers have been omitted from the overall vision.

“We have incredible talent here in San Jose, and I’m surprised that the city doesn’t give a percentage to local artists in the community,” said artist Carlos Perez. “Too often, local artists are bypassed, and I would like some kind of guarantee that they won’t be this time.”

According to Rubin, 54 percent of the project’s commissioned artists are regional, and Perez was the only local artist out of nearly 40 who applied for a commission.

“Some themes have to be incorporated into whatever we do, including the history of aviation, and I will fight to the death to make sure they get in there,” declared resident Carl Honaker. “I think we can do some absolutely stunning things. It’s a flexible canvas that allows us to tell our stories. I support the motion, but I think we need to make sure a percentage of the art being done in the airport is by local artists.”

San Jose is rich in aviation history
According to resident Harold Oberg, the Bay Area soars in historic aviation moments that need to be represented, including the first cross-country flight by Robert Fowler of San Jose in 1911, the first controlled piloted flight by Santa Clara University professor John J. Montgomery [20 years before Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first powered flight], and the invention of the first two-seat seaplane by Santa Clara University student Allen Loughead and his brother Malcom in 1913. They later started Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing in Santa Barbara, which evolved into the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

“Where are the pictures of the people this place was named after?” asked Oberg. “When the Wright brothers wanted to learn how to build a wing, they went to Montgomery! There are a lot of things like this in local aviation history, and I want to see it up there first and foremost.”

The area is also credited with the 1933 opening of Sunnyvale Naval Air Station at Moffit Field, which housed the giant 785-foot airship U.S.S. Macon, and Amelia Earhart’s first attempted round-the-world flight that originated from Oakland Municipal Airport in 1937.

In 1939, Ernie Renzel led a campaign for San Jose to develop a municipal airport, optioning the purchase of 400 acres from Stockton Ranch. In 1945, research test pilot Jim Nissen and his partners leased cauliflower-covered farmland from the city and built a runway, hanger and small office building. In 1946, they opened the first flight school in the region. Nissen’s success further galvanized councilmember Renzel’s vision of creating a municipal airport. In 1949, the first flight took wing at what is now Mineta San Jose International Airport.

Public input a key concern
The current series of public art meetings brings into focus the future of the airport’s design, which many community members care about deeply. Several outspoken residents complained that their input has been largely ignored in the process.

“Show our history and reflect the people the airport’s named after,” urged resident Frank Sweeney, who calls the OCA’s process flawed. “It seems a small group of people have already made the decisions and the public outreach program was designed to achieve public approval of a narrow view of art. You put the cart before the horse—go back to square one.”

“It is a part of the master plan that these historic aviation pioneers will be included,” assured Rubin.
District 3 resident Maria Mustonen also feels like she isn’t being heard. “You haven’t listened to us,” she declared.

“We have a fine artist here and Almaden has three. It’s like ‘Here’s what we’re going to do with your money.’ I don’t think that’s how this process is supposed to work.”

“I’m going to scold this commission,” stated Airport Commission Chair Don Simpson. “Shame on you. When you come to my commission, there will be transparency. Your process stinks. It has a little odor of Limburger about it. You heard from the people. They want to know. They want to be a part [of it]. They want to support you.”

During the meeting, a motion to approve the direction for the airport public art program as it was presented and prepare a draft master plan seemed in jeopardy, as committee members and the public debated key issues and public art content.

“What the master plan is creating is the canvas, not the painting,” explained Office of Cultural Affairs Director Jerry Allen. “It will create the platform on which art forms of all sorts can be created and art on a myriad of subjects can be embraced. We are proposing a process where we would actually take content proposals on the artworks from the community itself, and match those projects with artists to create artistic expressions of those ideas.”

“I want to make sure that the canvass doesn’t become a box that we can’t think outside of,” reiterated steering committee member Kymberli Brady (an Almaden Times Weekly staff writer). “We need this art to represent the diversity of our artists as much as the diversity of this community.”

“We have artists and the innovation of the technology around us to put into this airport and project into this art,” stated steering committee member Ted Johnson. “We’re missing a tremendous opportunity not going forward with this project just because we’re worried about the art that’s going to be there. The artists are going to change every year or every three months. It makes San Jose Airport stand out and gives the artists a visibility they wouldn’t otherwise get.”

“This is just a framework to get started,” noted Councilmember Forrest Williams. “Through input from the community we’ll get that canvas shaped. All the issues raised here tonight are being incorporated and looked at…there will still be an opportunity for the community to provide input.”

While in favor of the project, Councilmember Chuck Reed agrees that aviation pioneers and the valley’s history should be recognized. “Imagine you’re sitting in the airport waiting for a flight for two hours,” said Reed. “We could have a plasma screen display starting with orchards, the Ohlones, the history of this valley, and our aviation pioneers, giving us something to do. The beauty is that they can be changed, unlike a mural. I think we should spend the money on art to make it enjoyable to be there. I want people to want to come back to San Jose Airport—it’s an economic engine.”

According to gallery owner Cherri Lakey, the gap between art and technology will close in the future. “We can jump on this and secure our place in the world as the art and technology capital, or we’re going to play catch-up,” she said. “The artists are the ones who open up those imagination channels.”

Gordon Knox, quoting from a statement by the National Academy of Sciences, noted that “the future of the relationship between creative process and information technology is in front of us. There is a highly competitive race for leadership in this domain. The potential payoffs from its success in the near and long-term future are enormous—with opportunities for global, cultural visibility and influence.”

“San Jose is poised to win that battle,” Knox voiced, “but it needs to move forward and be brave. This plan does that.”

“The airport public art program would be wonderful if, in representing Silicon Valley, we represent the economic vitality, the art and technical virtues of the region, and the lives and people specific to the area,” noted Robert Milnes, director of the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University.

“One of the key goals of the project is to drive economics, business, and tourism,” enthused steering committee member Beau Takahara. “I go where the art is. This program will create a buzz and people will come to San Jose.”

Dan Keegan, executive director of the San Jose Museum of Art, believes that processes such as this are always imperfect. “I would urge you not to back up but to move forward,” rallied Keegan. “This has always been a place of invention, creativity and risk taking. The airport should be a place where expectations will be met by the visitors who come to experience this amazing wonderful place…known internationally for its innovation, risk taking, and technology. Everything that entails can be encompassed in this great project using art and technology.”

After a prolonged and heartfelt discussion among the public, OCA and the 28-person steering committee—which now represents the community, city, economic development, arts and culture, airport, and education—the motion carried unanimously.

“We are pleased that there was a unanimous vote by the steering committee to proceed with drafting the plan based on the art and technology direction in support of the city’s economic goals,” said Rubin. “This is a great opportunity to build upon the community processes that we are already implementing in the neighborhood projects; the art and technology program allows community-driven content to be artistically interpreted with the innovative tools that San Jose is known for globally.”

The next Mineta San Jose International Airport Public Art Master Plan Community Meeting is Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 at 6 p.m. at San Jose City Hall, 801 N. First St., Room 216. For further information, see the San Jose Public Art Web site at: www.sanjoseculture.org/pub_art/.