IS THIS IMPORTANT?

    Sometime in the past couple of decades the art world hijacked the word "important". "She is an important artist." "This is an important piece."
    No they're not. Well, rarely. What is important is food and shelter, love and compassion, freedom and security, education and productivity, and health.
    I think that the art world's use of the word "important" makes those who bestow this word upon artists or artworks feel important themselves, and they like that feeling. They can do it, and so they do. Both the bestowers and the bestowees should get over themselves.
    For an artwork to actually be important it should be either so beautiful, interesting, or so thought provoking that it moves all viewers, and they never forget the experience. An important artwork is spoken about decades, even centuries after its creation.

    Pictured here is a most obvious example of an important artwork, the Statue of Liberty, designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated in 1886. Is there anyone on earth who is not moved by this sculpture?

    A more controversial choice for importance is the 2008 Obama Hope poster by graphic artist Shepard Fairey. This simple image symbolized the historic significance of that presidential race, and became its unofficial symbol, and always will be.

    Closer to home are two locally important public artworks. The 60 foot sculpture, Cyclisk, constructed by Mark Grieve and Ilana Spector, towers over Santa Rosa Avenue, upsetting the drabness of the business district surrounding it, and announcing that the city has some artistic spunk. On Petaluma's Phoenix Theater's lofty back wall, artist Ricky Watts has produced an unforgettable mural that cannot be overlooked by any passer by, merging Petaluma's deep history with the here and now. These two pieces inspire us to think about our local cultures. That is important.