The menagerie would be carved into rock beside U.S. 281 near the San Antonio Zoo. A group of private citizens wants to make the animal murals their gift to San Antonio, and city leaders have provided money for a fund-raising presentation.
On its Web site, Gateway San Antonio describes the public art project as "a timeless, panoramic storyboard so unique and compelling, so energized, it couldn't be told anywhere else."
Of course, San Antonio wouldn't be San Antonio if some controversy couldn't be wrung from this. In addition to complaints about $25,000 in city funding being given to the project early on--never mind that ultimately $10 million or more in private funds would come back to benefit the city. But here's the real howler:
The San Antonio Conservation Society sees something else.
"We think it's an inappropriate addition to a scenic corridor," said Barbara Johnson, the conservation society's president. "Being 'public art,' we feel there needs to be a lot more public input in the project."
Has Barbara Johnson ever actually driven down 281? Scenic? Two limestone cliffs that were bulldozed out of a hill way back when with no care given to aesthetics? The first thing of interest drivers see when headed southbound is the old shuttered Pearl Brewery, fer cryin' out loud! If you crane your neck just right, you can see the back of Alamo Stadium to the west, and the University of the Incarnate Word to the east. It's not a particularly ugly stretch of highway, but it's by no means scenic. No one will ever confuse it with a drive through the rolling Texas hill country, that's for sure. This public art project would make an otherwise boring and dull stretch of road funky and fun, with more than a passing touch of whimsy. No wonder there are sourpusses getting pissy about it...
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