A front page article in today's Plano newspaper reports on a public art project to recognize the history of Plano's Douglass Community. The Douglass Community is an historically black neighborhood named after Frederick Douglass, a slave and abolitionist.
So what's wrong with this? Well, nothing, I guess. But two things strike me as a tad bit... odd. First, the project is a mosaic to be placed along the train tracks where, I presume, it will only be visible to people riding the DART train. That doesn't seem very public to me, and also hints at the "wrong side of the tracks" stereotype.
Secondly, the two artists featured in the story (I don't know if there are others or not) are white. The photo accompanying the story doesn't show much of the art (which is not yet complete or even partially installed), but I can't help but worry about the style and theme(s). Will they reflect the community and its history (and future)? Or will it be a typical white bread interpretation? The article makes no mention of the opinions, good or bad, of anyone living in the Douglass Community today.
Or am I being a racist by suggesting that only black artists should have been chosen to produce art recognizing a black community?
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