Green Fair provides opportunity to chime in on public art proposals for Stadium bridges

Do you have an opinion to share about the four public art proposals for the new Stadium bridges in Ann Arbor? If so, Bob Miller wants to hear it.

Miller, chairman of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, plans to have a table set up from 6-9 p.m. Friday at the Mayor's Green Fair on Main Street near William Street.

Miller, a member of the Stadium bridges art project task force, said he personally will be there to constructively engage citizens and discuss the proposals and the project.

"AAPAC is currently working on scheduling further public engagements for the Stadium bridge project to inform the public of the working proposals and to encourage constructive feedback and dialogue," he said. "The task force will be meeting in mid to late July to finalize the selection process."

The recently unveiled proposals, which came from four national artists who were selected as finalists for the project, received a lackluster response from AnnArbor.com commenters.

Atlanta artist Volkan Alkanoglu proposes a sculpture titled "Lady Ann," San Francisco artist Matt Passmore of Rebar Group proposes a concept titled "Dot Matrix," Massachusetts artist Catherine Widgery proposes a concept titled "Arbor Winds" and Washington-based artist Sheila Klein presented a series of ideas that range from statues of cheerleaders to dots on light poles.

Of 449 people who participated in a recent AnnArbor.com poll, 65.26 percent said they like "Arbor Winds" the best, 15.37 percent voted for "Dot Matrix," 13 percent said they liked Klein's ideas, and 6.46 percent preferred the "Lady Ann" sculpture. Others said they liked none of them.

• View the proposals

Miller said he wants to make it clear that AAPAC and the project task force are doing everything they can to engage the public in every step of the process until the final installation of the work that is chosen. He said the project has been in the works since 2011.

"We have open public meetings on a regular basis and I can't tell you how often there is no one there from the community," Miller said, hoping some people will show up at his table on Friday.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.