By J. Ross Packwood
A certain piece of art at the Fayetteville Public Library is catching everyone’s attention.
Along with many requests sent in by the public, this particular project was deeply evaluated during a recent Fayetteville Arts Council meeting on Sept. 17. The piece in question is called “We Are The Difference” and it was made by a group of students in 2020 with Gretchen Wilkes and Octavio Logo advising. Wilkes, a junior high art teacher, worked with Octavio Logo to make this piece possible. Logo is an internationally known artist who is famous for his community projects and murals. The artists are currently seeking a new home for the piece because the library is taking the work down. However, despite the history the artwork, the Fayetteville Arts Council decided it would be best to table the current plan of transporting it to a different location.
City of Fayetteville Arts Council members gather to discuss possible changes to public art installations in Fayetteville.
Council members said that because the art was displayed on a piece of plywood, it would preferably need to be exhibited indoors. Once the council began to talk about potential locations, representative Jessica DeBari said, “that piece is already quite warped, I don’t know if anyone has had the chance to look at it and realize.”
Local actor and director Na’Tosha De’Von agreed. DeBari further said “it would be a concern for me, if we did take it in, considering its path.”
The council then started to contemplate how much it can change from the shape it is already in and if it has surpassed its life span.
Committee member Bob Stafford, who is also a city council member in Ward 1, then brought up the idea of tabling the request until they could further examine the piece to find a solution. The piece is said to have been officially removed from the site that it called home, meaning that they would have to find a way to contact the artists in hopes of taking a closer look. Arts and Culture Director Joanna Bell said, “one of the challenges is the library is removing the piece, and it needs a place to land.”
The arts council members realized that they can’t really ask the artists to do maintenance on the piece for them. Arts and Culture Representative Ellen Woodson said “What is the cultural significance of this piece? Is it important that we preserve this piece in our community?” She followed with “more art is more art.”
The committee said that so much goes into the full restoration of a piece, and that steaming the plywood and making these changes to the art was not really something that would be worth it in the long run. What happens to the piece will be addressed in the next Fayetteville Arts Council meeting on Oct. 15.