The Kings Arena Art: Here We Argue

Been a minute, folks. Let's catch up....

World-renowned artist Jeffrey Koons has begun the process of becoming part of Sacramento lore. His art piece, "Coloring Book", has been recommended by a local art commission to be the centerpiece of the new arena plaza.

The point of art, as I am told, is to inspire emotion and start conversation. If that is in fact the aim, then the piece has already accomplished much of its goal.

When I first saw this, I thought it looked like a bunch of technicolor phalluses (phalli?) glued together. Granted, the photoshop or whatever used for the mock-ups may not do it justice, but still-

Weiners.

That's what I see.

I don't really care about art. I think cool art has Star Trek ships and lightsabers and flashy glowy things. My wife is the art person, thank God, or our children would be tiny little uncultured cavemen. She has been after me to spend a vacation doing some sort of continental art tour, which is (to me) the equivalent of doing a continental root canal tour. Yuck.

But here's the thing: It doesn't really matter what I think, art ain't my thing.

Let me be clear- whatever your opinion is, good for you. I'm not trying to shame anyone into thinking one way or the other. I know there's a lot of passion for the new arena, and that's a good thing.

I may not be into art, but I AM into what benefits the community. We say we want to be a world-class city, so let's do the things that get us closer. Its tough for me to say "I think art is dumb, therefore don't do it", because that sounds an awful lot like "I don't like the Kings, therefore don't build the arena".  Yikes.

People that make art their lives, that deal with local artists on a daily basis, have overwhelmingly chosen this piece, saying its a good deal. Most of the piece is being paid for with private contributions, from people like Marcy Friedman, Phil Oates, and Kevin Nagle (also Kings chairman Vivek Ranadive).

The argument that the money should be spent on local artists is understandable and resonates with me. When I see our best known local artist, David Garibaldi, speak out against the choice, I listen. But lets remember that there's also 1.5 million going to local art. That's the biggest award ever given to commission local pieces. I love that.

Comedy clubs have local comedians open for national names. It improves their exposure. Same thing for music and many other forms of entertainment- the big name gives the local names more exposure.

My hope is that the Koons piece becomes a talking point for those not necessarily into sports. The Kings play 41 dates a year, leaving a ton of time to fill. We need that other audience to make the ESC work. The more alternative draws we have to the arena, the better.

The grassroots has fought for years against the STOP crowd. Much of the opposition was thought to be old people, non-sports fans, and granola eating hippies. That's the stereotype. But the thing is, we won. By knockout. Now we have a couple paths to go down.

Rather than stomp on their necks and taunt, I'd prefer to show the opposition that the ESC can fulfill some of their needs as well. Even if these narrow-minded folks didn't have the vision to see what many of us were able to see, we can help show them the light, whether they like it or not. Considering that this is using mostly other people's money, I think the risk is a good one.

I may not care about bright colored leafs or whatever the hell it is, but I care very deeply about Sacramento becoming a destination town, not just a place that's near other cool cities.

One of my favorite phrases from the grassroots fight was "Bigger Than Basketball", the Crown Downtown theme.

This is one of many chances we will have in the coming years to show that wasn't just propaganda.

THAT is a conversation piece.