Art At The Airport

It came as a surprise last week when a Town Councilman slapped down a proposal to purchase permanent art for the East Hampton Town Airport as too ambitious and too expensive.

The Committee for Art in Public Places had asked the Town Board to earmark $15,000 in next year's budget to buy three large-scale works, to be designed expressly for the new terminal building. The recommendation, submitted after a year's study, had to have been expected; the committee was not operating behind closed doors. Democratic Councilman Pete Hammerle reported regularly on its progress at board meetings and Republican Councilman Thomas Knobel, who has devoted a great deal of time to overseeing the airport's major improvements, also had attended a few of its meetings.

Mr. Knobel nevertheless dismissed the plan as "absurd." He proposed the town buy just one permanent piece and display other art in the terminal on a rotating basis. "A lot of artists would like the opportunity to show their work there," said Mr. Knobel.

The Jimmy Ernst Artists Alliance disagrees. A solid investment in a few notable works of art would send a message to the entire arts community, alliance representatives told the board.

The terminal building is not a gallery. As far as it is from the center of things, we hardly think there would be scores of artists clamoring to have their work shown on its walls for short periods. Besides, the arts community has not asked for such a venue. It has more visible walls and locales to grace - galleries, cafes, gardens, even banks.

The town has tried the rotating approach before, on the Town Hall lawn some years ago, in an effort to be democratic. The sculpture displayed there was neither appropriate to the site nor well received.

Public art should not be allowed to become a pawn in a political tug-of-war, if that's what this is all about. Let's keep the debate focused where it belongs. First of all, $15,000 is not a lot of money for three works of art. However, if the town isn't ready or can't afford to make this symbolic investment, so be it. But if it's a question of buying works that will permanently enhance the airport and have a strong visual effect versus a changing array of art that may or may not even catch the eye, the former is surely to be preferred.