Local authors are raising concerns following a pause on a large-scale city-funded art installation. <\/p>\n
The public art installation, titled These Truths: Voices of Jacksonville, was planned for installation in front of the Duval County Courthouse. <\/p>\n
This summer, the project was put on pause after being slated to be finished by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in city funds have already been spent, and all there is to show is renderings of what would be.<\/p>\n
The project was to be in collaboration with local authors and poets, as well as the \u201cfoundational text of our democracy\u201d; however, it seems the local input was put on the back burner. <\/p>\n
Now, local authors and writers are speaking out against different concerns they have with not just the project itself, but how the city treats local voices. <\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n One Jacksonville native, author and English professor Tim Gilmore, spoke with Action News Jax about his experience. <\/p>\n \u201cI was kind of puzzled by the reaction of some of the public officials,\u201d Gilmore said.<\/p>\n He also spoke about how this kind of treatment is not unique to their situation.<\/p>\n \u201cJacksonville has a history of driving its artists out of town, it\u2019s done that for more than a century,\u201d Gilmore later added, \u201cI think any sophisticated and important city values the voices of its writers. It was very exciting to be part of a project where we were coming up with a way the voice of the city could speak back to the city.\u201d <\/p>\n Gilmore is not the only author involved who felt the city was attempting to silence local voices. One contributor, Andres Rojas, expressed his experience while working on the project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe committee wanted to rewrite contracts to begin with, for us to give up our rights to the material, to have the right to edit, and eventually they just didn\u2019t want any of our work,\u201d Rojas said.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n These roadblocks slowed the project down and caused the text to change. <\/p>\n The most notable text change was when the artists\u2019 selection panel approved replacing the word \u201cequity\u201d with \u201ctruth\u201d in 2023. This came after they had previously rejected the artist\u2019s, Cliff Gartens, previous two drafts of text. <\/p>\n Another issue raised by authors who worked on the project is the lack of communication, saying they had barely heard anything from the city over the five years since they all collaborated. <\/p>\n They also did not receive notification from the city that the project was shelved in the summer. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been five years since we\u2019ve been told anything about what\u2019s going on with this. I wish I knew what was going on with the project,\u201d Gilmore said. <\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n At an August 14th finance committee budget meeting, Chief Judge Lance Day brought forward his specific concerns. <\/p>\n \u201cSecurity, maintenance, practicality, and the cost. When I became chief judge, my focus was on the security of the building. It\u2019s an item that should be paused, should be shelved, and re-studied,\u201d Judge Day said. <\/p>\n Though he stressed he is not opposed to public art, he posed the question of whether the 6-figure project is a want or a need for the city right now. <\/p>\n The cultural council and city council both expressed hope that the project would move forward. <\/p>\n Councilman Ron Salem, who was a part of the meeting where Day expressed concern, seems hopeful the art will have a future. <\/p>\n \u201cAs we get back after the 1st of the year, I think we can begin to move forward,\u201d Councilman Salem said. <\/p>\n For now, the future of what the 3-acre courthouse yard will look like remains up for discussion, as city and local voices seemingly differ.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local authors are raising concerns following a pause on a large-scale city-funded art installation. 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