POLL: Is It Just Me, Or Is The New Sculpture Near My House Ugly?

They keep trying to put “art” in the middle of an Upper Valley roundabout…and El Paso continues to hate it.  It’s the roundabout at Country Club and Memory Drive. Let me know what you think, in the POLL at the end.

I drive that road at least twice a day so I’m very familiar with the series of art installations that have gotten criticism.

The latest is a sculpture called “Unity” by El Paso artist Laura Turon.  On social media, the piece has been called “ugly," “out of place,” and, “an eyesore." Turon says the sculpture was inspired by water and its importance to the community.

I thought it was supposed to be a folded-up Adirondack patio chair:

It probably doesn’t help the aesthetics that the installation is surrounded by orange traffic barrels and a circular chain link fence.

This is not the first art installation IN THAT EXACT SPOT that people have complained about.

In 2015 THIS thing popped up, seemingly overnight.

That sculpture, called “Uplift” was the work of local artist Margarita Cabrera. This thing was SO hated that it was removed by the city manager almost immediately. THEN the artist threatened to sue the city for removing it. Eventually, the city reached some kind of settlement that involved payment. So, she was paid, with city funds, to create this thing. Then she was paid a SECOND time when it was taken down.

The current sculpture is still up and a city spokesman says the project was approved by City Council and that the design was met with “overall positive feedback."  Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into yet another case of an artist being paid twice for a sculpture that nobody asked for in the first place.

Don't forget to let us know what you think in the POLL below: