Tomorrow on Wednesday the 9th, the Public Art Commission will consider accepting into the public art collection an existing mural commemorating muscle cars.
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| On the backside of a building across from the Police |
The notice says
The painting pays homage to the long-time former use of the property as home to multiple car dealerships in the area, in addition to recognizing significant points of interest in Oregon, specifically Mt. Hood and the Oregon State Capitol. The intention was to bring vibrancy to the building and property and to highlight its historical association with automobiles, which goes back to the 1950’s. These businesses have a long history of participation in our city, selling and repairing various vehicle makes and models. This mural, depicting two iconic car models, is a salute to these dealerships and their many years of involvement in our community.
The rhetoric here isn't false, but it shows the way we launder the legacy of our autoism by appealing to long-established businesses and "classic" cars. The mural looks more like an ad for cars than any homage to long-time businesses and civic involvement.
Indeed, it was apparently initially promotion for a lubrication business, and was featured in a multi-page spread for a trade publication.
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| Multi-page spread in Oil & Lube trade pub |
The mural is certainly better than a blank wall, but it also indirectly commemorates dangerous driving and climate pollution.
The history of our autoism is totally deserving of commemoration in public art, but unambiguous monuments to muscle cars aren't the right mode.
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| One of several photos the Mill posted |
The other day the Mill posted a note about a set of employee photos from McKay Chevrolet in 1955.
Over at his research blog, historian and anthropologist David Lewis recently discussed McKay's Indian policy:
As mentioned previously, Douglas McKay was the Secretary of the Interior for the federal government at the time of the termination of the western Oregon tribes. McKay had been a car salesman in Salem, was a city council member and then Mayor of the city (1932). He then was elected to the Oregon State Senate (1934) and served four terms. He entered the military as a major in 1940. McKay was elected to be governor of Oregon in 1948. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed McKay as Secretary of the Interior in 1952 and McKay resigned as governor on December 27th. McKay had been working with 17 other states to understand and plan for the broad termination of tribes across the United States since he was elected governor. In 1950 McKay had a famous meeting with the tribes of Oregon and heads of the various branches of the Oregon government and prominent Indian experts in Oregon to address the problems in the relationship between the state of Oregon and the tribes. The tribal leaders stated that there were being treated with discrimination in the state, there were still laws in Oregon that disallowed them from marrying white people or buying or possessing alcohol and that there would not be any freedom and equality until these problems were addressed. By 1952 the two laws were changed.
Once McKay took the reins at the Interior Department he was ready to push for termination. He had already had a lot of experience with Oregon tribes working through the termination and liquidation concerns and he worked to get the western Oregon tribes terminated as expeditiously as possible....McKay’s push for termination of the western Oregon tribes and the Klamath Reservation was based on his extensive experience with them. He knew that Grand Ronde and Siletz did not have much in the way of claimed lands of money, so they could not fight termination.
Car history is way more complicated than mere nostalgia, and deserves more nuance and context!
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| February 10th, 1928 and July 21st, 1954 |
Maybe as that area redevelops there will be other opportunities for additional murals that offer a bit of counter-narrative and flesh out a fuller history of our autoism.
See also:
- On the most prominent early car dealer, "Santiam Bicycle's Building in Transportation History: The Story of Otto J. Wilson" (2012)
- On the first cluster near Wilson's garage, "Soil Contamination and Monitoring Wells Point to History of UGM Site" (2018)
- On the neighborhood, "Traces of Old Hotel at New Police Station Site? Archeology Day Offers Glimpse of Older Salem!" (2018)
- "Vick Bros Sell to Watt Shipp et. al., who form Valley Motor Company" (2019)
- "Christmas in 1920: Vick Bros. Building, Music, Appliances, Santa" (2020)
- "Celebrating Muscle Cars, we Miss a Chance to think more Deeply about Safety" (2022)
- And see Salem Reporter in September on the last mural the Commission considered, "Cherry mural proposed for NE Salem warehouse."
3 comments:
Isn't where the police building is where Salem first began along Mill Creek? Boon's Treasury seems to be the only historic building left. Seems sad that nothing in the area commemorates Salem's history.
Disappointing to see how the Salem Art Commission always seems to miss the mark on public art.
Cars? Well, I guess advertisements can be broadly called "art." Since Salem lacks direction why not?
Yes, broadly I agree! But in this particular case the Art Commission isn't originating anything. This is an existing mural and might otherwise be out of compliance with our new mural code, so that's why I think there is this action. The Notice and Staff Report is not actually very clear on why they are considering it. It's possible that there is no actual need to accept it into the Public Collection for any compliance, and proponents merely wish for enhanced legitimacy/validation as "art" from acceptance. (Perhaps because of the speech/sign issues, the rhetoric around murals is a little slippery.)
But to your more general point, you are right it would be very nice to have more commemoration of the Lee Mission and early development, pre- and post-statehood, in this immediate area.
A little more: In the public comment in support of the mural, one person wrote, "I just read that the city is requesting that First Lube removes the mural on their wall because it’s illegal advertising." So that suggests it was in fact a compliance matter, and a way not to have it regulated as a sign.
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