Sometime, in the early morning of August 20th, two pieces in the current sculpture trail were violently vandalized. The Sculpture Trail is approaching its 20th year of bringing public art to downtown Cloverdale. In its history, pieces have occasionally been tagged but have never experienced destruction on this level. Diego Harris’s piece, Tidal Wave, on the corner of Cloverdale Blvd and third street was pushed over. Thanks to a kind citizen (or more), the piece was up-righted and suffered minor damage, the artist was able to come and buff it out, and the city of Cloverdale has secured it with bolts. Unfortunately, Peter Crompton’s piece, Celestial Poodle, in front of the Arts Alliance, did not fair so well and is beyond repair. It was pushed over and the legs broken off and it had to be removed immediately due to safety concerns. This is a sad incident in our community. Public art is everywhere and has been around for centuries. The first public art in America came about under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which was created in 1934. The program identified public art as essential and put hundreds of artists to work. Public art is meant to enhance, invigorate and educate a community and Cloverdale is extremely lucky to have this unique program. However, if vandalism continues, the Cloverdale Sculpture Trail will cease to exist due to one or more individuals careless, ignorant and hateful actions.
Anyone who may have witnessed or has knowledge of this incident can contact the Cloverdale Police Department, where a report was filed. We would also like to thank the individual(s) who erected Diego’s piece, so please let the police department know. It was greatly appreciated.