With a recent story on student punishment for facial piercing and another on changes to the Eino-sculpted water park, Progress staff realized our opinions on both issues are as diverse as our backgrounds. We don’t always agree. Here’s what each of us thought. Let us know what you think.
On student’s nose piercing
Dan Pool (age, 41) - Regardless of whether they are wearing earrings, nose rings or clown hats, the biggest distraction among high school students will always be students of the other sex. It would be more productive to concern ourselves with the proper environment for learning through substance rather than seeing a school administration, student body, and community bog down discussing fleeting and fickle fashion choices of teenagers. Besides, a nose ring comes out much less painlessly than it goes in, no permanent harm done. Rather than paying attention to what is piercing a student’s nose, let’s have more attention on what is penetrating their minds.
Damon Howell (age, 29) - Our freedom of expression right will slowly be taken away until bureaucracy mires our ability to say or do anything for fear of offending someone. Regulations should never be based on opinions, and this rule definitely is that. Orange pants and striped shirts are more distracting, yet students can wear them. Students should be entitled to express themselves, even if it does offend a minority. It is their right as American citizens.
Angela Reinhardt (age, 27) - I was confused as to what the parents wanted to gain from approaching the newspaper with their complaints. Their main beef seemed to be that every child who showed up at school with a facial piercing wasn’t being punished equally. So, if your daughter can’t wear a nose stud, no one can wear one? Way to go, folks. Your public temper tantrum will likely make administration more stringent with dress policy, when they need to focus on education. And I doubt the majority of teachers target particular students. Some teachers are just more lax on dress code rules––you remember that about school, don’t you? If parents want to change rules, they should take a different approach.
Jeff Warren (age 49) - Maybe only in America could a free public education be so taken for granted as to allow a higher priority for self-expression than for cooperation with the community-backed system that makes free education possible. As someone who helps pay for that system here, I grow testy with parents who want to push the envelope for their kids where it comes to rules compliance.
Oh, permissive parent, what a disservice you commit on us all if you produce a prima donna. Please don’t, so your offspring's entrance into a cold, hard world won't come as such a shock: the sudden discovery they are not the center of the universe.
On Eino’s water park
Dan - A work of art may be considered sacred to the artist if it is an expression of their soul. It would be a travesty to alter a painting/sculpture/poem, regardless of whether it was created by Van Gogh or a four-year-old in art class. But a water park isn’t strictly art. It’s part art and part public space. As this fountain was being created, sculptor Eino acknowledged he wanted to see it enjoyed by people. It was no sacrosanct work or untouchable. City crews, not artists, helped erect it and also made recent “improvements.” The problem is the awful taste represented in added features, such as the crooked fire hydrant and garishly-lighted wishing well. Some changes are fine, but lets see them well done––so they flow, so to speak
Damon - The objective has been lost. The park is now surrounded by a brick wall, as to say “keep out”, and most of the fountain’s original sprays are defunct. It is disgraceful to have a world-renowned sculptor create something free of charge, only to change it with a major overhaul once he’s gone. Although I do like the park now, the fire hydrant and “wishing well” have to go.
Angela – When artists create a work of art and present it to another entity, they are ultimately handing over their artistic rights for that particular piece. It’s up to the recipient as to how respectful they will be, but the artist’s brainchild is then open for interpretation. It enters into a wider dialogue, a larger consciousness, and others will likely use the work in a way that the artist didn’t intend. But the piece’s future is not up to the artist at that point. And from the report, it sounds like Eino felt the same way. It just seems he thought the wishing well and hydrant looked like grandma’s tacky costume jewelry. And there’s no doubt about that. They do.
Jeff - Never "fine art", his fountain says "fun". Eino coined that caption. As construction began, he wanted a welcoming visual, a source of whimsical delight, giving a smile to visitors entering the city. ‘Twas also to be played in.
So it remains. Aside from Eino's clashing sprays between monoliths, the spewing red hydrant is my favorite element. Lose my shoes and hop right in there (come spring). On his recent survey of city-made changes, even Eino liked the pool below the hydrant. True, the wishing well hides an original design feature: a manhole, to be exact.
Sculptor and showman, Eino tunes the press to spotlight his star. Me thinks he doth protest too much. But gratitude is due the man for the gift he gave us: an artwork that laughs with joy, inspiring us all to take ourselves less seriously.
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