The Parks and Recreation Committee met 03/10/2025. One of the items they took up was the request from Creative Downtown Appleton, Inc to install a selfie sculpture in Houdini Plaza.
There was some discussion about the purpose and value of the piece as well as public feedback to the proposed sculpture, some of which had been negative. The committee ended up recommending the item for approval by a vote of 3 in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
The item had already been reviewed and recommended for approval by the Appleton Public Arts Committee. It will also be considered by the City Plan Commission because it is considered an improvement to public property and therefore falls under the Plan Commissions purview.
Jennifer Stephany, the executive director for Appleton Downtown Inc which is the parent company of Creative Downtown Appleton, spoke to the committee and explained that the piece was intended to be an interactive selfie station and was not meant to be fine art. The design was based on Appleton Downtown Inc.’s locator pin themed logo. Additionally, Appleton Downtown Inc.’s tagline is “One Great Place”, and that was incorporated into the sculpture which would declare that Appleton was “One Great Place for” things like live must, shoping, and great dining. The words would be removable and replaceable so the things downtown Appleton is a great place for could be switched out throughout the year to focus on different themes. ADI hoped to have the sculpture installed by the NFL Draft so they could maybe start out with some football themes, then change the words as the year progress and seasons and events changed.
Alderperson Nate Wolff (District 12) stated he didn’t really like the design too much and was not particularly in favor of the proposed location either. He had posted what he tried to make be a neutral, non-judgmental post on Facebook asking for feedback from the public on the proposed sculpture. He felt that generally speaking the feedback was against the sculpture, and I would say that assessment was accurate. Some comments include….
- “I think it’s hideous. I get that they are trying to tie things together but this is cheesy and not in the ironic cute way.”
- “Not a fan of this design. Not as bad as the old wooden Music signs but not inspiring.”
- “Corny, ugly, confusing, out dated design and very obvious. The upkeep on the circular shapes might be a pain and snow and water will pool there. I feel like it will break down and stop looking nice very quickly. I could also see kids and drunk folks climbing on/through the holes which could be a hazard.”
- “Id rather just have a big APPLETON . Not a fan of this design”
- “Kinda generic. Metamorphosis would be more appropriate here. Bring that back”
- “Were there other options?”
- “Was there logic behind the design 🤔”
- “Nope”
- “Meh.”
- “lame and tacky… looks more like a billboard for ADI”
Alderperson Wolff asked about why Houdini Plaza had been chosen and suggested the location near the College Avenue Bridge that had hosted The Collective sculpture.
Economic Development Specialist Lily Paul told the committee that Houdini Plaza had been chosen as the location because the sculpture was supposed to be a centrally located, accessible piece of art. Additionally, the sculpture needed to be anchored to concrete so Houdini Plaza would make sense because in that location it could be anchored to concrete while also not encroaching into a sidewalk.
Ms. Stephany stated the piece was designed to be located in a walkable corridor where visitors to Downtown could interact with it. The location where The Collective had been placed was at the edge of a residential neighborhood and outside of the downtown Business Improvement District.
The only maintenance that the city would be doing on the sculpture would be snow removal which the city was already doing for Houdini Plaza. Any other maintenance would be covered by ADI.
Alderperson Martyn Smith (District 4) thought the sculpture and its location in Houdini Plaza location was “a way to encourage social media interaction with the downtown area. […] I do hope this isn’t the end all of our public art, but as a way to kind of get engagement I think that you see these, this kind of sculpture asking for social media engagement is common, and I think we’d be well served by something like this.”
Alderperson Vaya Jones (District 10) was in favor of the sculpture stating, “Love public art, and what I love about this is that it seems like it’s doing more than just being beauty for our eyes. It is that social media aspect piece. It has our branding on it. When people share it on social media, more people are going to see it than just a regular photo of a beautiful art piece. And so, I feel like this is also promotion of what Appleton offers, and it’s going to hopefully get that FOMO of people like, ‘Oh? What? Avenue of Ice? What is this? I want to go next time.’ And so, some may not like the design, but do they understand the importance of the design, the importance of why it exists, for marketing, for branding, for who we are?”
The committee ended up recommending the item for approval with Alderpersons Smith, Katie Van Zeeland (District 5), and Jones voting in favor, Alderperson Wolff voting against, and Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) abstaining.
[I’m curious what other people think about this selfie station sculpture. Will it be a fun thing that people will enjoy taking selfies next to? Will the pictures of it that are posted to social media prompt FOMO in viewers and cause them to visit Downtown Appleton for themselves?
For myself, I’m not opposed to it, but I do wonder if the city and the Downtown businesses would be better served by a sculpture that was more visually interesting and/or Appleton-centric versus being based around the locator pin logo of the specific organization of Appleton Downtown Inc. Neenah, for example, has sculptures of presidents and Benjamin Franklin along its downtown. They are not tied to the brand and logo of a specific organization and they seem to offer a much more delightful photo opportunity than a locator pin does.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1281727&GUID=B1FCE7A0-8CED-4EE7-9157-42647F377CB4
Be the first to reply