Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/09/2025

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An early observer of American political life,Alexis de Tocqueville (183 5) observed that the new American democracy offered both an equal access to opportunity for wealth and equal conditions for all, and resulted in an excessive possessive individualism. He notes that this tendency toward individualism results in a loss of compassion and empathy as each man focuses on individual material pursuits. He writes: Each of them, withdrawn and apart, is like a stranger to the destiny of others: . . . he is beside them, but he does not see them; he touches them and does not feel them; he exists only in himself and for himself alone. (Marina 1991, p 663) However, it has been argued that the expansion of individual imaginative capability is a way to counteract the oppressive domination of popular opinion in democracy(Maguire 2006) It is the `spirit of liberty' in American democracy that is intimately linked to the spirit of community that is reawakened both by religion and artistic expression (Boros 2010). Public art can provide a community experience, on an individual level, that challenges and rearranges the status quo that we may take for granted. This in turn allows us to recognize new possibilities in our everyday life. The desire of individuals to collectively engage in society is based upon a unifying experience. Robert Putnam (2000) successfully demonstrated that participation in civic associations has declined precipitously over the last century. This decline in social and political community correlates with the rise in technological advances, capitalism and the growth of the middle class. It is these forces of society that have us, as Putnam (2010) uniquely describes, `Bowling Alone' as a collection of independent and competitive individuals. The experience of art in the public square is meant to be disruptive in the sense that it is confronts the individual and their daily routine. Art serves to promote a collective consciousness of universal thought that, in turn, creates empathy for others. The transformational experience of art encourages 42