Here's a quiz for public art lovers.
What do you think when you pass the Grape Crusher statue south of town? For most the message is unambiguous: You're entering "wine country."
But what to make of the newest piece of public art -- a 24-foot-tall heap of green striped pods -- that just got erected next to the First Street roundabouts?
For early commenters on social media, this work, titled "Circulation," is a headscratcher. Or even worse, an abomination.
News stories have conveyed the artist's intended meaning, but these locals profess to still not get it.
What we have here, folks, is a public art controversy. They are to be found in any community so bold as to sponsor art for public viewing.
As artist Ana Teresa Fernández explains it, her creation is a stylized prickly pear cactus that pays homage to the Mexican immigrants whose labor helped make Napa's wine industry what it is today.
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The green lines on the seven intersecting pods represent vineyard rows, the color evoking the safety vests worn by ag workers.
If on first glance none of these associations come to mind, not to worry, Fernández says. Accept the ambiguity. This is conceptual art, not something as literal as the Grape Crusher or Upvalley's Bunny Foo-Foo.
The most vocal Facebookers are not appeased. "Nothing says Napa like a cactus," one snarky commenter said. The piece should grace a roundabout in arid Arizona, said another.
Some questioned the $375,000 price tag -- they'd rather the money had been spent on pothole repair. (The funds came from the city's 1% public art assessment on commercial projects.)
Many worried that having this green monster so close to traffic will trigger collisions. Motorists need all their concentration to get through the roundabouts alive without being asked to puzzle over high-concept art, their thinking goes.
Traditionalists would prefer something explicitly grapey, something like the Grape Crusher. Perhaps a behemoth grape cluster, one suggested.
None of the criticism surprises me. I knew "Circulation" would raise some hackles. How could it not -- it's public art!
But I wasn't prepared for my own reaction when I saw the partially completed work earlier this month. Cheryl and I pulled over a safe distance away and walked up for a closer view.
The work resembled what was promised, but if you'd asked me what it was, I wouldn't have said "cactus." It seemed too playful to be anything so specific.
Cheryl wasn't awash in ambiguity. It's a deconstructed clown, she said.
When a pedestrian from out of town strolled by, I asked what he thought. He cocked his head this way and that. "A cactus," he said.
A jury of art professionals nominated "Circulation" for the entry to downtown. The City Council ratified the choice on a 4-1 vote.
Councilmember Bernie Narvaez, an immigrant from Mexico, spoke emotionally in praise of the work. Some 40% of Napans are Latino, he noted. "Circulation" brings visibility to an often-overlooked segment of the community.
When I dug up the Register story about the council's deliberation, Bernie's words resonated with me. This was public art with a social-cultural mission. I respected that.
When I revisited "Circulation" a second time, it appeared fully installed. Now there was no doubt what I was looking at: an exuberant succulent with a backstory.
Most people, of course, won't know the backstory. At least not initially. "Circulation" will have tourists and locals alike scratching their heads for meaning.
But the symbolism embedded in the work will gradually spread -- by word of mouth, debate on social media, updated tourist guidebooks.
People will accept it or not. In either case, "Circulation" will be with us for a long time. Eventually we'll forget there was a time when it wasn't there.
I have one bit of advice for motorists whirling through the First Street roundabouts: Keep your eyes on the road. Let your passengers do the peeking and puzzling for you.
Kevin can be reached at kfcourtney@yahoo.com.
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