The Greene County Board of Supervisors recently approved a new public art policy for the courthouse and the surrounding grounds.
County Attorney Thomas Laehn drafted the policy and said at the Supervisors meeting on Monday that the intent of the policy was to ensure the beauty of the courthouse, allowing for accessibility to the building and maintaining the safety of visitors and employees to the courthouse from dangerous structures. Laehn added that the policy protects the Board from violating the First Amendment of free speech.
Under the policy, the Board will solicit applications for works of art via resolution with an attached message of what the Board wants to convey. The Board will then approve the work(s) of art via a separate resolution and the placement of the display. The Board will maintain editorial control throughout the process and establish a timeline for how long a display can remain in the courthouse or on the grounds.
During the discussion, Jefferson Matters: Main Street Tower View Team Chair Deb McGinn requested a Supervisor to be on their art subcommittee, so they are aware of the decisions the committee makes concerning public art. She also asked if art displays could remain on the courthouse grounds all year instead of a specific time frame. The Board agreed to have a board member be on their committee. However, the Board felt that through a separate resolution, they could determine the timeline for art displays and not include it in the policy. McGinn also asked if the current sculptures on the grounds from Ring Out for Art could remain there until April 2020. The Board agreed to consider a resolution at a future meeting to grandfather the current sculptures.
Supervisor Chair John Muir pointed out why the Board needed this kind of policy
“We needed to have more ultimate control over what we wanted at the end to have displayed on the courthouse county property. It’s just giving us, by resolution, authority to solicit things that we want to have on display and when we want to have them on display.”
The policy was approved unanimously by the Board. To see a copy of the policy, click the link below.