Submitted to TR July 26, 2017………Published 7/30/17

As an observer with a knowledge of the arts, the downtown project called “The Unexpected” (murals on historic buildings) raises many questions. Who pays? Who critiques the planned art projects and are any standards applied? What is called “art” is a very subjective subject.

Various viewpoints enter like the “Emperor’s New Clothes” faction, where whatever the “experts” say is ”art” must be believed. There is a malevolent faction which purposefully projects ugliness, misery, distortion of reality and dares the viewer to challenge it. Then, there is a faction which seeks to portray life in a rational, benevolent way, even to inspire. All artists are portraying their own sense of life, how they feel about humankind and the world in which we live. With that in mind, observe what the Fort Smith canvas is portraying. Some projects lack reality or benevolence, some are cartoonish, some are just plain ugly, only a few give a sense of intelligibility.

If any vetting is done it is poorly accomplished. This town has a unique history which could have been portrayed in the tracing of that history in a dignified, educational way. From Indians & bandits, to the Judge & Marshal’s, to the gentility of Southern etiquette & accomplishment. From wagons, horses, blacksmiths, farmers, saloons, ladies, gentlemen and fine structures, like the marble train station and elegant hotels/theaters, to the crowded Avenue lined with fine stores, to throngs of people traversing it. Opportunities to educate, stimulate & inspire, lost forever.

What rational minds see now is a growing array of graffiti. I don’t relish the idea of this becoming known as “Graffiti City”, no matter how “well-meaning” the instigators might be. The “Unexpected” is not so unexpected in this time of political correctness and destruction of decorum, etiquette, esthetics, honor, & rugged individualism.

~Barbara McCutchen
arkansasfreedom.net