Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Lance Day appeared before the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee on Aug. 14 to answer questions the committee might have about the court appropriations in the proposed 2025-26 city budget.
In addition to that business, committee member Ron Salem asked Day to comment on an Art in Public Places project planned for installation on the 2-acre lawn in front of the Duval County Courthouse.
“First of all, I am a proponent of the Art in Public Places initiative. I believe they do help the Downtown area. I think it’s a positive influence,” Day said.
City Council enacted an ordinance establishing the Art in Public Places Program in 1997. It requires that 0.75% of the construction budget for any city building be set aside to commission and maintain public art. In 2006, Council turned over administration of the program to the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
Discussion of public art for the site began while the courthouse was being built in 2009 and Donald Moran was chief judge.
“This project is a carryover from years ago. When I became chief judge, this is one of the first things I looked at. It concerns me from several different angles, particularly security, maintenance, overall practicality and the cost,” Day said.
He told the committee he supports pausing the project for further evaluation.
“We are in a budget crisis. Is this a like or a need? This is a $600,000 like,” Day said.
On Aug. 18, Day provided more detail about his position on the courthouse art project in an email to the Daily Record.
“Since becoming Chief Judge, I have held off on making public comments outside of the periodic update meetings in hopes that the Court’s concerns would be recognized. As the project progresses, I feel compelled to at least bring this issue up for further review and reconsideration and to create a record of these concerns for the future,” Day said.
He reiterated his support of the Art in Public Places Program as a concept and said the court is in no way critical of the artist and any concerns should not be perceived as being directed towards the artist or his work.
“While public art can, and in its proper setting, does enrich communal spaces and create a sense of cultural pride, its implementation in high-security environments, like courthouses, needs very careful consideration.
“The Duval County Courthouse, as a judicial facility, requires heightened security. While it may be visually stimulating, the proposed location is impractical. In addition, the maintenance of the proposed art installation, long term, will be costly; I do not believe the proposed maintenance budget designated for the project is even minimally sufficient,” Day said.
“If this project as currently proposed is to go forward regardless, then I would propose that, at a minimum, a 25%-30% reserve matching the project’s total cost be put in place to ensure immediate/prompt and adequate funds are at the ready for maintenance and/or damage restoration when needed,” Day said.
He also expanded on the subject of the sculpture being vandalized because of its location.
“Courthouses are not immune to protest actions, peaceful or otherwise, or acts of aggression, particularly with high-profile matters. A large art installation will likely become, as stated, a target for vandals, an attractive civil liability hazard, or for use as a backdrop or prop for those wanting to make a public statement. In such cases, not only will the art piece likely become damaged, but security responses would need to be heightened, costing time and resources.”
More security wanted
Day cited longstanding concerns and specific examples of the need for better protection of the courthouse grounds.
“For years, the Court and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office have emphasized the need for protective bollards around the entire courthouse perimeter. The response has been that there is a lack of funds. To date, the grounds of the Duval County Courthouse have been breached by at least four motor vehicles, with two making it to the front steps of the building. It should be noted that within the proposed art design, bollards are displayed. The bollards shown appear artistic in design – if meeting strength requirements, could not this money or a portion thereof, be used to complete that security need?” Day said.
He contends the design of any art placed outside the courthouse must consider the factors that concern the court.
“While public art has great value, the courthouse, particularly in today’s environment, demands strict attention to security, operational efficiency, and resource management. Introducing a potentially high civil liability hazard, a potentially high-maintenance, high-security-risk art installation is counterproductive in this context, and alternate interior designs, or even alternate outside venues, should be considered. The architect of the building specifically left the ground space open for the reasons cited above. The complexity of the proposed art display overwhelms the front grounds and, while the intent is well-meaning, the long-term effect on the Duval County Courthouse grounds will likely be adverse.”
Duval County Clerk of Courts Jody Phillips and his staff also work on the first and second floors of the courthouse.
Like Day, he said he fully supports Art in Public Places, but “What they are proposing to do is not a good fit for the front lawn of the courthouse.
“This is the wrong place for it,” Phillips said Aug. 19.
He joined Day in citing security concerns that could be created by the proposed sculpture.
“We have more protests here than at any other building. Four or five thousand people come here every day. This enormous art on the front lawn, I don’t think it’s a good fit,” Phillips said.
The courthouse art installation was on the agenda for final approval at the Cultural Council’s Artwork Selection Panel meeting scheduled Aug. 27.
On Aug. 19, the Cultural Council issued the following statement:
“We recognize and understand the concerns raised by the Chief Judge, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the City Council Finance Committee in terms of security and budget related to the Courthouse Public Art Project.
As the facilitator of this process for the City of Jacksonville, we have canceled the August 27 Artwork Selection Panel (ASP) meeting. This meeting was to evaluate and discuss final design documents for this project. In the meantime, we will be working with all the parties involved and will reschedule the meeting when appropriate.”
A project years in the making
The Duval County Courthouse at 501 W. Adams St. opened in 2012, but the discussion about how Art in Public Places might make best use of the $619,000 budget created from 0.75% of the construction budget began while the building was first coming out of the ground.
Several years after the new courthouse opened, a group of stakeholders, including members of the arts, business and government communities, civic leaders and court officials, was convened to come up with suggestions for the project.
In June 2020, the Duval County Courthouse Plaza Stakeholder Committee approved a motion to advance the project to the Art in Public Places Committee.
After consulting with judges and court security personnel, a set of strict guidelines was established for the artist or artists who would eventually be selected to design and fabricate the artwork for the green space at the south side of the building.
• No trees could be planted to prevent blocking sight lines for security cameras.
• No long-term seating would be included in the design because that could make it possible for someone to wait to confront someone else entering or leaving the courthouse, a victim of domestic violence, for example.
• No water features could be included in the design because the city will provide minimum maintenance – no more than mowing the grass, blowing leaves, edging the sidewalks and pressure washing.
When the call for artists was put out, more than 140 applicants submitted conceptual designs.
On June 1, 2021, at a news conference in front of the courthouse, Cultural Council Executive Director Diana Donovan announced that Cliff Garten of Cliff Garten Studio in Venice Beach, California, would design the installation, titled “These Truths.”
The sculpture as designed comprises two stainless steel ribbons emblazoned with the words “Justice,” “Equality,” “Truth” and “Freedom.”
The design includes excerpts from the foundational documents of American democracy, such as the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. There are additional contributions by local authors and poets.
“This will be a proud symbol for our community,” Donovan said.
Since the announcement of the artist’s selection, the Cultural Council and Garten have been fine-tuning the locally contributed verbiage for the sculpture.
“Cliff Garten Studios is known for his innovative approach of merging text into his design work. As the city determined the text would be a form of government speech, it took time for the Artwork Selection Panel to ensure the local poets and historians’ interpretive text was appropriate with the foundational text on the sculpture and approve that component,” Cultural Council Director of Public Art Kat Wright said in a story published in the Daily Record on Aug. 1.
After the final design is approved and permits are issued by the city, the timeline included with the design documents shows 11 months for fabrication of the ribbons, two months for site preparation and one month for installation.