Sculptor welcomes controversy over Yakima installation

YAKIMA — Will Robinson isn't normally so controversial.

In fact, the Bremerton-based artist who created a much-debated sculpture installed last month on Yakima's Front Street, was kind of surprised when he discovered the hubbub the piece kicked up.

Speaking Tuesday at the monthly Downtown Yakima Business Roundtable breakfast, Robinson said he didn't realize there was an issue at all until people pointed him to news stories late last year.

"It's not an offensive piece of art," he said of the coil-shaped, abstract granite sculpture.

He suspects some of the criticism may have been just a knee-jerk reaction among people who are opposed to the very concept of public art. But public art like his piece generally helps the aesthetic of an area, something communities need to consider if they court tourists as Yakima does, he said.

"If it's 'Anywhere, America,' if it's Jack in the Box and homogenized, why in the hell would anybody come back? ... You go to the places where it's interesting, where it's beautiful," Robinson said.

In the end, Robinson was glad for the controversy — and the added attention.

"If you don't have controversy, it denotes that people don't care," he told the breakfast crowd of 50 or 60 business and community leaders at the Second Street Grill.

As for the criticism that his art clashed with Front Street's historic character, Robinson was dismissive. He cited the presence of the Yakima County Jail across the street. The jail, built in 1985, is a distinctly modern-looking concrete block of a building.

"So it's sort of a mixed area in any case," Robinson said. "It's hard to imagine there's any validity to that."

The piece's detractors don't have a problem with the art itself. It's the placement, right in front of The Depot Restaurant, that riled a few people.

"It's not the quality of the art," Karl Pasten, Depot owner and leading critic of the installation, said in an interview after Robinson's talk. "It has nothing to do with that. I would love to be in a park somewhere with my wife and a bottle of wine contemplating that art."

That the modern-looking sculpture, a $25,000 gift from the Arts Giving Circle, was put on Front Street detracts from his restaurant's historic brand, said Pasten, who attended the breakfast Tuesday.

There was a moment of mild awkwardness when, upon being told of Pasten's presence, Robinson thanked him for stirring up controversy and interest in the piece.

"Thanks for respecting my business," Pasten replied, sarcastically.

Nervous laughter ensued, but the moment passed.

Aside from that, the crowd was friendly and engaged, laughing at Robinson's jokes and asking him questions about sculpting.

Dan Kelleher, director of the Committee for Downtown Yakima, told Robinson after the meeting that he was glad the artist could come and provide some closure to the issue.

"I feel like it was cathartic," he said.