Vandals mar bucks, lack fourth R: Respect

A bunch of idiots has turned the herd of bucks in Bellevue into an endangered species. Seven of the 26 artist-decorated statues have been damaged, several so severely they can't be repaired.

Expect the herd to roam soon to a more-protected environment. And you can't blame the organizers who tried to brighten downtown. They also have been victimized.

The bottom line of Bucks for PACE — the long-planned fundraiser for the Performing Arts Center Eastside — will be reduced because of these vandals. The survivors will be auctioned at a gala Oct. 21.

"We hoped to make $500,000 for the performing arts center," said Suzanne Hutchinson, director of guilds and guild events for PACE. "Now we're missing almost one-fourth of the herd. I'm heartbroken."

The first casualty occurred the weekend of June 24-25, shortly after the fiberglass statues were installed around Bellevue. They've been mounting steadily ever since.

And mounting may be the problem.

The first time I saw a buck, I could see the temptation to climb on its back. In my wilder teenage days, I might have tried. The obvious handle would be the antlers — apparently the most vulnerable part on an otherwise sturdy creature.

The Bellevue bucks don't stand alone in the field when it comes to damaged art projects.

Herds of decorated fiberglass critters have been raising charity dollars since 1998 when Zurich, Switzerland, first debuted art cows. There have been giraffes, horses, ducks, cats, dogs, dragons and llama replicas. Seattle went hog wild over pigs in 2001. Buffalo stood on street corners in Buffalo, N.Y. Moose invaded Toronto. Bears currently lurk in British Columbia towns.

Each city has faced similar problems, said Mary Pat Byrne, the arts specialist for the city of Bellevue. She noted that when Chicago had fiberglass cows "roaming" the streets, organizers set up a repair shop.

"They called it the barn and people would daily round up the damaged cows and take them to the barn for repairs," Byrne said.

It was apparently worth the herding efforts. In 1999 Chicago's more than 200 of the artist-decorated cows milked a cool $3.5 million for charity. According to a July 12 Christian Science Monitor story, the most common vandalism is the addition of graffiti to the colorful statues. The writer also noted that cow tipping in Madison, Wis., has become a popular activity.

Personally, I think it would help to fund better arts education in our public schools. Arts education has too often been cut for the "hard" stuff — the reading, writing and arithmetic. We need to add both arts appreciation and a fourth R — respect. Respect for one's self, one's actions and one's community.

"I think it was a cowardly act of violence," Hutchinson said. "It makes me sad for the perpetrator that they have such a small mind and lack of respect."

Coupled with the recent vandalism of the temporary sculptures on display in the Downtown Park in Bellevue, I wondered if there's been an increase in damage to public art.

The good news is no.

Artech, a Seattle company, maintains public art for a number of cities, including Bellevue and Kirkland. Peter Lane, a manager with Artech, has seen no increase in damage to permanent collections — usually made of bronze — in the past five years.

"It always seems random and happens more during the summer than winter," he said. "People start out to have fun and the fun gets out of hand."

Alas, there's a big difference between destroy and play.

I was not surprised when big wooden balls perched on a hillside in Bellevue's Downtown Park were targeted — apparently by teenagers. Obviously someone couldn't resist the temptation to roll them downhill.

The other piece victimized in the annual outdoor sculpture display consisted of three 7-foot vinyl balls in a tree. Even though someone had to climb the tree to get the balls down, in a way it is a compliment to the artist that people want to play with the art.

The classic Seattle example of people playing with art is Richard Beyer's statue in Fremont, "Waiting for the Interurban." Street artists routinely dress up the group of people and dog. In downtown Kirkland, the "Cow and Coyote" statue often sports holiday-themed accessories and I've seen helium balloons added to statues of children.

Tracy Burrows, a senior management analyst with Kirkland, said there's been little damage over the years.

"Our statues are all so beloved and in such conspicuous spots that it protects them," Burrows said.

The only major destruction happened a couple years ago as the bars in downtown closed. A small ceramic sculpture that had been donated by Dennis Brown, the owner of Kirkland's Reasons to Believe, was destroyed.

One can only hope that whoever that was, like the thoughtless vandals who have damaged the PACE Bucks, ended up with nothing but coal in their Christmas stocking.

What better punishment for someone who takes a baseball bat to Brown's statue of Santa Claus?

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times researcher David Turim contributed to this article.