Harmony Union School District

Special Board Meeting

September 9, 2010

Changes of heart happen

Despite their decision at the previous regular meeting to table the discussion of buying a statue from Patrick Amiot until the next regular meeting, the Harmony Union School District Board held a special meeting last week. The only topic: the Amiot sculpture. There was quite a crowd gathered, as these things are measured. I counted more than ten members of the public present.

The meeting, in anticipation of a larger than normal attendance, was held in the assembly room of the Environmental Building, a very accommodating space and one which the board should consider making their permanent home, if they haven’t already. Just outside the window stood a pole with a red flag. It was meant to demonstrate the proposed height of the sculpture; it didn’t look disproportionate to the site.

At 5:25 pm the meeting was called to order and Board President Bryce Hetler, after making sure there were no comments from the public regarding items not on the agenda, gave us some background on the “naming signage” for “Joey Negri Field.” He explained that the board was concerned that the statue had not been approved with the normal procedure to which he, with four years on the board, had become accustomed. “It didn’t feel right to rubber stamp it,” he said.

Instead, Dennis had researched some other options, but both men wound up feeling that none were particularly appropriate for the school. Some looked like spelling bee awards while others catered to the solemnity of the graveside. The only real contender had been the idea of installing bleachers, but even that didn’t have quite the right flavor. In the end, Bryce summed up by saying that the Board was no longer looking at any option but the Amiot piece. “Our purpose here is to do what the public wants and what is best for the group,” he said, before inviting comment from his cohorts.

It’s unanimous

Dennis spoke first, saying he had talked with a lot of people about the piece and had received only positive feedback. He added that he personally was still uncomfortable with it, but he was “…comfortable with moving forward.” Fawn Nekton voiced her continued support for the artwork and its placement. Alex Mountjoy was still critical of the sculpture, but willing to support it. He posited that the baseball player, meant to represent Joey Negri, with the field name across his torso, would forever lead visitor’s to ask, “Where is the baseball field?” He also spoke in favor of bleachers, saying it would add value to the property.

Two members of the public then offered their perspective, though we didn’t need a flag at this point to tell which way the wind blew. The first to speak was David Berman, Director of Environmental Education at Westminster Woods, resident of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, father of a student and husband of a teacher. He brought a letter of support for buying the Amiot sculpture signed by over 150 parents, teachers and students, even without the sheet his fourth grader had somehow lost at school. The letter enumerated three main positive qualities about the proposed sculpture: it was an art installation that inspired kids, it was made of recycled (and recyclable) materials and it offered the students a chance to interact with both the art and the artist. He said he wouldn’t mind having bleachers, too, but “…to [him] this piece says a lot.”

Davina Harden, spokesperson for the Harmony ARK, and a key player in negotiating the acquisition of a statue by a legendary local artist and long time supporter of public education, read from the letter she had submitted. She pointed out that one year ago, the Board had a greed to let the donor handle the signage on the field that would bear Joe Negri’s name. The ARK was left in charge of design.

After extensive research, they had only found solutions that were either too expensive or too inappropriate or both. Then, on August 3^rd, as the field was being readied for its unveiling, she received a proposal from Patrick Amiot for a piece that would fulfill all the signage requirements, be ready by the unveiling, be made of local, recycled materials, involve the kids and, to top it off, he even offered to cut the price in half and include Harmony in his annual fundraising calendar. Phew. No surprise then, that according to Davina, the ARK felt that, “Patrick Amiot was the right artist and the signage was right for the school.” She said that the ARK Board urged the School Board to approve the acquisition.

Alex so moved and Fawn seconded. All were in favor of spending $2500 to buy the proposed sculpture from Patrick Amiot. They were also in favor of adjourning the meeting. It was 5:45 pm; the whole thing had taken 20 minutes, exactly the time allotted on the agenda.

Not quite done

But one woman, whose name I didn’t quite catch (it might have been Donna Cates), wasn’t done yet. She wanted to know if there was anything the ARK should have done differently, seeing as how they had followed the procedure as they understood it. “Has the process changed?” she asked. Alex quickly reassured her that the ARK had done no wrong, that they were completely absolved. Bryce chimed in that nothing was wrong with the process the ARK had followed and that they should continue to go through the Superintendent in the future.

And then we left.

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