The city of Columbus is requesting bid proposals to develop balanced historic contextual material that could potentially mean the "conditional" return of the city's hastily removed Christopher Columbus statue, which for more than six decades sat outside City Hall.
A special 14-member statue committee created by the city and the Columbus Art Commission recommend that the statue be redisplayed — conditioned on an appropriate location being identified and that it be accompanied by the new materials presenting historical background about the explorer, whom historical documents show engaged in enslavement and violence against indigenous people.
A consultant "specializing in the research and development of narrative content, its display, and associated community learning opportunities for the purpose of public education" would develop that "contextual information," which must include:
- Information on indigenous communities, including their history, experiences with European explorers and settlers, the erasure of their culture and appropriation of their lands, and why they view some historical statues negatively.
- Columbus the man's story, including not just his landmark exploration milestones but his unpeaceful behavior toward indigenous people he encountered.
- The story of the artwork itself, its creator, and its donation as a sister city gift from Genoa, Italy, in 1955, including the behind-the-scenes work of the Columbus Italian-American community in securing the gift, and what that often-discriminated-against group intended the statue to represent.
- Details of Italian immigration into the United States, and the cultural, political, economic and social discrimination they faced, and the changing national and local demographics that would also include the story of migration of African Americans from the South.
- And the story of the city of Columbus, including how it was named, its historic use of Christopher Columbus imagery, what the city represent today, and "why the city is considering re-installing the Christopher Columbus statue."
Columbus controversy over explorer's statue
Statues of Columbus and other controversial historical figures became lightning rods for controversy and the targets of vandals during social-justice riots and protests in the summer of 2020, following George Floyd's murder by since-convicted Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin.
The Italian explorer, while often celebrated as the "first person" to discover the Western Hemisphere despite that it was already inhabited, is better remembered by native people for genocide and exploitation.
But to Italians, he is commonly regarded as a historic icon. The goal of the city's Italian-American community, which helped bring the statue to Downtown, is to have a decision on its fate by this Columbus Day, Oct. 10, said Landa Masdea Brunetto, a member of a city committee examining the future of the statue and who represents the Italian-American community.
"It's not a done deal," said Masdea Brunetto. "Anything can happen at any time. I don't think any of us feel it's definitely coming back."
However, the fact that the city is now committed to spend at least $50,000 to develop a historic presentation that could allow the statue committee to view the artwork as a teaching opportunity is a drastic turnaround.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther ordered the statue removed in July 2020, saying it represented to many "patriarchy, oppression and divisiveness," and didn't represent "our great city, and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past.”
But the pendulum swung back when many residents reacted that they had never realized or thought that's what the statue had represented.
"The statue was given to our club (as a gift from Genoa, Italy, where Columbus was born), and we gave it to the city," Joseph Contino, a spokesman for the Columbus Piave Club, told The Dispatch in October. "I don't understand why it's just not a no-brainer to just give it back to us. They (city officials) were very disrespectful to us. We didn't get a phone call.
"Just give us the statue. We'll find a (privately owned) place for it."
What it would take for statue to go on display
Potential city-owned sites have been considered, both indoors and outdoors, Masdea Brunetto said. She declined to elaborate.
According to the request for proposals on the city's website, the city aims to identify a new home by the time the statue committee is asked to vote "on the return of the Christopher Columbus to a public location with accompanying consultant work product."
After that, the Columbus Art Commission, which controls all city-owned art, including the statue, would also have to vote on it.
"It's a very complicated situation that we're looking forward to the entire community having a say," said Diane Nance, who chairs both the statue committee and the Columbus Art Commission. "The mayor's request to us was to first find out if it should go back, and then if should go back, where. We're skating that line between if and when."
The statue committee's 14 members represent the Native American and Italian-American communities, the mayor and city council, the Art Commission, and other interests, and has a diverse range of views of its historic appropriateness.
What will happen to the statue?
Nevertheless, the committee agrees on some things: The statue won't be given away, nor dismantled, but will remain "part of the city’s art collection whether it remains in storage or is installed in a new location." Also, it should not be re-displayed anywhere "within the city's downtown campus," according to the request for proposal.
"Some issues transcend the physical sculpture," the statue committee agreed. "These issues are significant and may need an outlet beyond this committee to be properly addressed."
Members of the committee "have expressed their positions with regard to the statue, while striving to be empathetic to the concerns and positions others have expressed. Most of the discussion focused on the contextual information that the committee felt needed to accompany the sculpture should it be returned to a public location."
The statue committee unanimously passed a motion on Nov. 10, with one member absent, that said it does "conditionally recommend the return of the Christopher Columbus statue to a public location with accompanying contextual information," said Jennifer Fening with the city's Development Department.
Three members will take part in the hiring process for the consultant.
The consultant's completed work product is to be returned to the statue committee for review, after which the it will entertain a request that the panel "recommend the Columbus Art Commission approve the design and placement of the Christopher Columbus Statue to a public location with the accompanying contextual narrative, preferred design proposal and ongoing learning opportunities."
@ReporterBush
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/01/13/columbus-ohio-hidden-christopher-columbus-statue-may-get-new-display/9178048002/
2022-01-13 11:20:56Z
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