Spott vs Cultural Services

I seem to have reached an impasse with the City of Pickering Cultural Services. 

Essentially, it's Mural before Skate Spot.  So now I go over their heads.

But let's back up a bit. 

During the planning of the West Shore Skate Spot, murals were discussed but the conversation was shelved by the parks dept, at least until the park was built.  My personal opinion is that a mural is only appropriate for the outside road facing Bayly St and could be used to 'brand' the park to the West Shore neighbourhood. 

It came as a big surprise when I was contacted about the mural project. Not a discussion about a mural or public consultations. The mural was happening. End of discussion.  All of this info and the results of the Mural process can be found HERE - Hate To Say I Told You So

TLDR - I warned against painting the whole park. They painted the whole park.  I contacted the builder. He recommended removing the concrete sealer or the paint would only be on a layer of sealant and would flake off. I told the artist. She did not remove the sealer. The mural is badly flaking after one winter. 

The day after the unveiling of the mural was dry so I went to ride the park and the park was un-rideable. I told the city. They said they would start addressing it in April, 5 months later. I suggested fencing off the park as it is now a danger to users. There is inherent risk with action sports but the addition of paint changed the traction from how the park was prior. I likened it to building a playground, removing a section of slide and leaving the park open. 

I've monitored the deterioration of the mural over the winter. I estimate that there is up to 10% damage to the mural from paint flaking off.  I've continued to tell the city that it was not properly installed and no additional coats will solve that problem.  The City informed me they had contacted a 3rd party vendor to come up with solutions.

The response I received does not make sense.  City- The mural will probably have to be touched up on an annual bases.   Me - That's not the deal you made with the artist. The contract calls for ONE touch-up after the first winter. Plus, I have all her leftover paint. 

Driving by the spot this week, I saw a white square on the QP and stopped to investigate. The city has applied 4 test spots in two locations on the park with the second being in front of the ledge.. The treatment is an application of a product that is used on concrete to increase traction, typically used on garage floors, driveways etc. (1. Control - Just the Product. 2. Product with added grit.  3. Two layers of product. 4. Two layers with grit.) I got out my scraper and removed some just as easily as any other paint in the park.

To my surprise, the Curator of Public Art for the city showed up.  He asked me what I though.

I was blunt.

'I wish the city would stop fucking around and remove the mural'

I caught him off guard, but continued to have a civil conversation with him although I could tell I'd put him on edge. 

He argued the mural can't be removed as the city spent 'all this money' on the mural and 'what about the artist's work'. I argued that it was a grant and since the artist has been paid and is the one who messed up the application, why should we care about her. 

I called out the city on never consulting the skaters on the mural. He balked that there were two consultation meetings.

'No' I corrected 'you didn't consult the skatepark users on weather they wanted or needed a mural on their park.  You held consultations on the direction of the art, one of which was on three days notice. The skaters don't need this & at every point that I gave you guidance, it was ignored. You come to me as an expert on skateparks but ignored every piece of advice I gave you'

(For context - The West Shore Skate Spot survey was sent by mail to residences in the closest proximity to the site & online. It had 'do you support this project? Yes/No'.  It was 91% Yes.  The mural did not have any type of support surveys. It was a unilateral City decision.) 

It was about this time that a second person from cultural services arrived and I reiterated all that I'd said minus the 'F-ing Around' line.

I got out my boards and showed them how regular urethane wheels slide on the paint vs how Bones Dragon Formula actually grips. Even with the Dragons, my shoes, Etnies Michelin soles, still slip.

I told them how I'd seen people wipe out while riding in a straight line. I told them about the recent graffiti bashes the park with tags of 'Shit Park' & 'Mural Ruined the Park'.

I had a pair of cotton gloves in my pocket (as I actually there to do a litter pick) and ran it across the control section. I ripped a hole clean through the glove. I repeated the test on some unpainted concrete and there was no damage.  

'That could be someone's pants or skin' 

The curator asked 'so you'd just want to sandblast the whole thing?' again showing how out of touch he is with skateparks. I want it pressure washed as sandblasting will damage the underlying concrete further.

I showed them an area where a tag had been painted over by the city and it's flaking off, just like the mural. I showed them a pile of paint flakes in an area that collects dirt.  One took a picture of that.

He even asked what it would take to provide everyone with Dragon Wheels. Ha!.

Ultimately, I left them with a lot to think about.

I picked some litter and went looking for birds and snakes while they had a conversation.  When I returned, they had left.  I was able to get the double layer with added grit to start flaking with my fingernail.

I posted to the socials and Y'all seem to be on the same page as me.  It's a lovely piece BUT if you can't use the skate spot, it's pointless.

The 3rd Party vendor that suggested the treatments but recommended full removal of the park had come to the same conclusion - Mural over everything. 

Seems Like a Pattern.

The guys seem to have absorbed my concern about the first treatments being essentially liquid sandpaper.  There are now 4 more test spots.

I am hopeful that the city will release a survey for the users to fill out that includes removal or a feedback section. The city is very hard up to make this a success and I wouldn't be surprised if the survey was worded to get their desired result.   

The city is doubling, and tripling down of this project like their lives, or jobs, depend on it.  They could quietly remove it with no fuss.  Unfortunately, Pickering is not known for admitting their mistakes.  The mural is now the photo on the cover page of the 2024 Budget. 

I don't believe cultural services should be dictating the use and upkeep of a parks & rec facility. 

I'm assessing how to go higher up the chain to get the park open by the timeline they gave me - May long weekend.  (Update - I've started going up the chain by contacting my Councillor. He has forwarded the message the the person Above Cultural Services.)

By the way, I found this line in 'Call to Artists' interesting.

You wrote this, didn't you Mr Curator?  

(actually, I highly suspect he DIDN'T write this but has been taking credit for it)

UPDATE

Quadrupling Down

The city quietly announced a Surface Testing Event (like that's a good thing) basically acknowledging the park has been unsafe and open for the last half year.  Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.  All the Social Media comments are calling for removal of the mural and one survey has 'Remove the Mural' at 93%

Rants and Confessions.

I have very little trust in the city at this point.  I don't trust them to properly survey. I assume they won't include a 'remove the mural' option in surveys.  I don't trust that they will paint/resurface the park properly and I expect they would do something stupid like put a gritty coating on the coping.  

When I received word that the park was being painted with the original colours this week, I sent a reactionary email completely forgetting they could be painting over the tags I'd reported the day before. They were.

And Now, the Fallout.

The event went just as expected.

There was a great turnout of skaters.

The City had treated a section of the park with 3 different treatments. 

The best part of my day was that the other skaters handled the discussions. They said all the things I felt needed to be said.  

The other skaters expressed dismay at the fact people with no skatepark background were making decisions about the skate spot.  Their lack of experience was evident in the locations they chose to treat.  A down bank. Not an area where tricks are landed and the traction is important.  Additionally, they treated the top of the hubba. A spot that didn't need treating as it's an obstacle meant for sliding and grinding.

The Black & White section of the fish was treated as well as the circled section of the hubba.

I commented the treatments were all unsatisfying. They were sticky and were peeling when someone powerslid it.  It's replacing a slippery problem with a sticky problem.

The survey was also biased. It asked users to rate the 3 treatments and left no option for removal of the mural.  

This is not about the Art, the Artist, Murals or Street Art in general. This is about making the skate spot usable. An improperly installed mural is making the spot a risk to public safety, therefore, it must go. The city is free to mural away anywhere else.

The other skaters all commented that power washing the mural off is the quickest and cheapest option.

The City officials could not provide a good rationale for keeping the mural except they said they  'have to try something' & the mural was expected to remain until 2026.  

We expressed that any of the potential treatments may not work and will leave the spot underused for a longer period of time but it seemed that the city had made its decision to treat the spot and the event was basically a front to let us choose our poison.

I left feeling very unsatisfied although I seem to have gotten under the skin of someone from the city.

Here's an idea.  Give me what I want and you won't have to deal with me anymore. If you keep working on the spot, I'm going to be there.

I have gone back to my councillor and I have the ear of the City CAO.

Updates to follow.

Biggest Update Yet - I won!

new post soon

Check out the victory HERE