The eye of the beholder

Re: Calgary’s art need not be such eyesore, Nov. 17

One could conceive any of a number of axioms in order to mislead readers and descend into the periphery of 'fake News.' For example: All oil pipelines are bad. All Halloween costumes portraying vampires are bad. All brussels sprouts are bad.

Jen Gerson has succeeded brilliantly in accomplishing this feat through her recent opening, banal and unsubstantiated comment that ‘All public art is bad public art.’

Public art is difficult, often controversial and tells stories about Place that are unconventional. Like most forms of art, it is derivative. And public art is absolutely necessary in our modern democratic cities that are increasingly inhabited, visited and interpreted by people from afar.

Tom Tittemore, past chair, Calgary Public Art Board, Calgary