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The Philistines of Somerville's Foss Park
By Ron Newman on Fri, 02/29/2008 - 4:03pm
Somerville has a well-deserved reputation for fostering and supporting the arts.
Some residents near Foss Park want to change all that. They've hoodwinked a couple of aldermen into asking the state to paint over a mural in the park, claiming that it somehow interferes with their ability to sell their houses.
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Comments
Every parent with
Every parent with fingerpaintings on the refrigerator thinks they have an "artist" in the family. The murals that pollute the urban landscape tend to be juvenile in concept and execution, and on a par with the works of Daddy's Littel Girl on the 'fridge. Put me down for the whitewash crew. It takes more than a few gallons of latex and a mob of juvenile delinquents to make art.
art rules
There's a brilliant idea, Hitler. Maybe we could burn all the books you deem as "poorly written". For starters, these "juvenile delinquents" are busy painting murals. No time to commit crimes. Second off, art has no rules. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean everyone doesn't.
Clearly you wouldn't understand that though. Your lack of respect for creativity indicates you somehow hold yourself as the omnipotent judge of all that is cultured. Get over yourself. Selfishness is already an epidemic.
Hitler?
Weebs, I think you've outdone yourself in convoluted, roundabout, pointless attempts to make a sarcastic point. I doff my hat to you this time.
yes, I've probably outdone myself...
yes, i got a little carried away. Adamg, thanks for calling me out. It just pisses me off when people think their taste in art is somehow superior to everyone else's. I personally think the mural is ugly as hell. But, we can't go around destroying everything unpleasing to our own eyes (like Hitler did... which is where the over-the-top hitler reference came from). i'll go easier next time (maybe mussolini?... or not...)
Meh
I have to admit, I think it's pretty ugly. I've never been a fan of those murals around cities. On the other hand, I don't think living next to one would bug me enough to want to remove it either. I'm not sure I buy the idea that it is affecting property values.
yeah, blame the mural
The reason houses near Foss Park are hard to sell is because it's a lousy place to live. 38, 28 and 93 all run right by it and are hellaciously congested, making the neighborhood noisy, polluted, and hard to commute from. In terms of non-automotive transport, there are no bike lanes or subway services, and only a single bus.
While it is viable walking distance from a good number of amount of business and services, getting to Assembly Square or the Stop and Shop requires crossing 28 or 38 and none of the intersections were designed with pedestrians in mind.
That section of Somerville is also one of the most crime-ridden, with a stabbing there late last year, and a half-kilo of cocaine recovered in a drug bust earlier this week. I can see people thinking the mural is a little dated, but to blame sluggish sales, especially in this market, on something so innocuous is completely asinine.
Not to mention ...
the brisk parking lot traffic every weekday of men trying to sell their bodies to those who come to buy them for the day. They puff themselves up with oversize sweatshirts and approach the side windows of slowly cruising people looking for laborers to pull out nasty things like old boilers and haul trash from construction sites, documents or no.
Eejits
The subprime mortgage bubble collapse and the Bush Recession in general make it hard to sell houses. Public art is one of the things that makes Somerville great. I'm still annoyed that they painted over the women's mural on the Osco (or Brooks or whatever pharmacy it is now).
what mural got to do with it?
Those geniuses need to lower their prices and not look for other excuses.
Price it attractively and no damn mural will matter!
I'd bet
that from what I can see in the tiny photo of the mural, it depicts people of color while the homeowners concerned about their property values are not people of color. Or, apparently, intellect.
Or maybe they are people of
Or maybe they are people of color who don't want the white people depicted on the mural.
you can see the homeowners
you can see the homeowners in that photo? caught in the act of complaining no less?
All I see is an ugly-ass mural. I'd take graffiti over that anyday
Answer: True
It's an eyesore that is a shining beacon screaming ghetto! If this were any other part of the city other than lower Winter Hill or East Somerville, there would be no discussion on whether to paint it. It would be done, post haste, and double time paid.
I'm assuming the 'art' is supposed to convey a racially harmonious message, but in fact, it may foster the opposite by it's own apparent need. I live there and enjoy the diversity. I don't need a mural to let me know who my neighbors are. . . or is it so that others know when they have strayed too far from Highland Rd?