How about brining in some ‘Konfederate Kitsch’?

Dear Editor: As the city of Kingston hopes to scarf up the semi-orphan musical barge for mere millions and the descendants of refugee Irish still fight for a cultural place in the sun, I sense there is opportunity knocking.

Being a “sanctuary city,” Kingston has an opportunity the likes of which hasn’t occurred since the great bronze trio of Academy Green were rescued from the smelter.

I mean, of course, all the Confederate heroes now depedestaled and available, I’ll bet, for the cost of transportation.

Imagine a colonnade of bronzes lining our waterfront. Or a lone “Johnny Reb” at Kingston Point looking wistfully riverward.

An equestrian statue of nearly anyone would be a nice counterbalance to Academy Green.

So many Confederate generals were of Irish descent. A statuary roof garden is just about the only touch not included in the Irish Cultural Center plans.

The tourist attraction to our “Sanctuary City/Statuary City” would be hard to calculate. And not just Confederate sympathizers, either. These statues mean little to us, sanitized by time and distance, and, anyway, who looks at the statues we already have? In a few years, each one would be just some old guy. Background.

As a professional sculptor, I hate to see fine art wasted on a bad cause. In their present context, They are just Konfederate Kitsch. Removed to Kingston, each work can be appreciated objectively as pure adornment and a unique feature of our great city. Henry Cavanagh Lomontville