A month after its completion, the art installation at 40th and Locust has drawn mostly negative reactions from local residents.
Artist Andrea Blum envisioned the art as a meeting spot for local residents.
"It is a place that will be potentially a mix of two communities. ... [The work] sort of installs itself as a third community," she said.
Robert Christian -- the former president of the 40th Street Business Association and current member of the 40th Street Business Corridor Steering Committee -- wrote an article last week in local publication University City Review calling the artwork "an affront to the community."
"It looks like a cold, mechanical device," said Christian, the editor of the paper, in an interview. "There could have been something constructed that is more amenable to the community."
Anne Dixon, who lives five blocks from the piece, agreed.
"It sucks," she said. "I can't imagine anyone liking it."
Douglas Whiter, the owner of a cafe at 43rd and Baltimore and a local artist, believes the execution of the artwork is lacking.
"Her other work is slightly confrontational and challenges what you expect of a place," he said. "However, you have to want people to interact with the space in order for them to ask questions, and the artwork has no allure."
The lack of appeal could stem from the fact that the piece is not yet completed, according to Susan Davis, the director of public art programs for the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia.
The project was constructed as part of the city's Percent for Art Program, which mandates that 1 percent of the cost of construction on redeveloped land be dedicated to public art.
"The metal part is finished, but there is still landscaping to be completed and the lighting hasn't been working," Davis said.
Christian said in his article that a work by Blum in Carlsbad, Calif., was removed in 1998 by the city council. The piece, which consisted of a reflecting pool, concrete benches and metal barriers, had caused a local outcry.
But Davis said that Blum has had other pieces that have been "well used and greatly loved."
And not everyone in West Philadelphia dislikes the new art.
Tyrone Bailey, who will be working across from the artwork in a few months at Veterans Upward, considers the art "fantastic."
"I love art," he said. "I think it will be wonderful to look out the window and see something pleasant."
Sylvia Brown, a West Philadelphia resident and artist, finds the artwork neither inviting nor offensive.
"It's not particularly comfortable, and I [would have] wanted to put color in it," she said.
But Brown added that how much the piece is used will be clearer once the weather is nicer.
Davis said, "I think people are being premature and unfair in their judgements."
Brown emphasized that public art is inherently subjective.
"There is no one set of guidelines for good public art," Brown said. "It's all about how it works with the space and buildings and how well it wears over time."
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