ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — A fresh update to a juicy controversy practically heard around the world.
After raising eyebrows last fall, a judge ruled that a larger-than-life peach sculpture could stay put outside the Georgia Grace Cafe on Main Street.
This comes after the Howard County Historical Preservation Commission ordered otherwise.
Sculpture here to stay after legal fight
Many were quick to point out the sculpture and its eggplant counterpart (known as the Aubergine) located across the street at The Wine Bin resemble emojis that texters may use for sexual innuendo.
While the board was fine with the Aubergine, it took issue with the peach's size and placement, finding it would "obscure and detract from the historic building in front of which it has been installed."
There wasn't an issue, until the county received an anonymous complaint. That was followed by a threat of a violation by the Planning and Zoning department.
Cafe owner Paula Dwyer calls the update a sweet victory.
“So many people had asked me for an update about the peach and all I could say is: I don’t know yet, it’s in court,'" she recalled. "I'm super excited. The town is excited. It’s just not that serious.”
“I’ll just say the Aubergine is extremely excited and standing at attention, watching the peach, looking down the street, happy his best friend is here," owner of The Wine Bin Dave Carney said.
Cheeky intentions or not, the community embraced the sculptures’ whimsy and petitioned to keep them.
“It’s bright and vibrant and fun. I love it," cafe patron Amanda Goeke said.
No guidelines on public art
Without proper guidelines under Howard County code, the commission likened the peach sculpture to "lawn furniture."
“Which is like benches and trash cans and one of my big points is that art’s not a trash can and it shouldn’t be evaluated in the same way," attorney Megan Reuwer said.
Reuwer also serves on the board of the Art Fund of Ellicott City which the two art installations created by Eastern Shore artist Jan Kirsh are on loan from.
"In my opinion, it was a fairly straightforward case because the commission didn't have authority and even if it did have authority, they didn't have criteria to evaluate the public art," she explained. "And when we got before a circuit court judge, he agreed pretty quickly. The whole hearing was about 20 minutes and he made his decision, then and there."
The Howard County Office of Law didn't show at last Thursday's hearing, and in response to WMAR-2 News' inquiries, the commission said it had "no comment".
Produce may establish new precedent
Reuwer expects the commission to revisit its design guidelines, which haven't been updated since 1998, with public art in mind because of the case.
“When they do that, I hope that we’re not limited to just art that reflects history," she said. “Art says a lot of different things to different people, and it’s not meant to blend, it’s supposed to stand out. It’s supposed to be provocative, sometimes.”
"This building is historical and its architecture is beautiful, but there's no reason modern, bright, vibrant new art can't be in front of it. We can join the two and enjoy them together," Goeke said.
Rewuer hopes there may be no issue with new guidance, but if so, they'll be back in front of the commission. Until then, consider this peach, preserved.
