Focus on this artwork and discuss the Commissioning process.
The project was commissioned through the Open Art Project, an effort developed in 2004 and led by the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). In the belief that “dialogue and discussion beforehand will improve both the art and its impact," the Open Art Project invited three artists--Kinji Akagawa, Luis Jiménez, and Jin Soo Kim—to present their work in a series of public forums.
The Open Art Project's commission framework emphasized participatory process and public input, features increasingly common in public art commissioning activity due to episodes like Tilted Arc and the regularity of public art controversy. The design of the Open Art Project's commissioning framework was also shaped in direct response to a then-recent Milwaukee public art debacle: Dennis Oppenheim’s Blue Shirt. Milwaukee County’s cancellation of Blue Shirt, which had been scheduled for installation at Mitchell International Airport in 2003, was a source of civic embarrassment for local public art advocates. By early 2003, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art writer Jim Auer summarized the “lessons learned” from Blue Shirt and published his blueprint for future public art processes: 1) notify the media early, 2) create venues for citizen input on finalists, and 3) invite publics to meet with artists before plans are finalized. The Open Art Project, in positioning itself as a remedy and a new start for local public art, heeded Auer's advice and layered process with dialogue to create broader public participation.
Following public presentations and dialogue, the Open Art Project commission was ultimately awarded to Kim, a member of the sculpture faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kim had begun to shift her practice toward public work in 2003, completing commissions in Pusan, Korea and Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Luis Jiménez Tilted Arc Jin Soo Kim Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dennis Oppenheim Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Wisconsin Milwaukee Kinji Akagawa Mitchell International Airport School of the Art Institute of Chicago