A giant sculpture called Angel de la Creatividad once again inspired really long discussions.

An update on public art works planned for the Windjammer Park area prompted city council members during a meeting last week to revisit questions of where to install the 37-foot, metal Angel de la Creatividad sculpture and even whether to continue with the project at all.

But in the end, they decided that even more discussion between stakeholders in the future was needed.

Despite largely negative responses from city residents to a June 2021 survey, council members approved two agreements last September that allow the controversial project to move forward, including one with Sculpture Northwest, a nonprofit leading the charge to get the piece installed in the city. A tentative timeline set out for the sculpture’s installation requires the council to take official action to accept the art work around June.

According to city attorney Hillary Evans, Oak Harbor’s legal liability would be minimal should officials decide to back out of their agreements at this point; the city would only have to reimburse Sculpture Northwest for any costs the organization has expended on the project so far, as well as any foreseeable reasonable expenses it is obligated to expend.

Councilmember Bryan Stucky suggested the council vote to accept or turn down the sculpture before June to minimize the amount the city would owe if council members choose to back out of the agreement.

He also questioned whether project operations such as sandblasting the sculpture could be put on the hold to prevent the city from accruing any more costs before the council decides how to proceed.

Council members brought up the survey results in their discussion April 19, citing the public’s attitude toward the art as a reason to consider other locations besides Windjammer Park or, potentially, withdraw from the agreements.

Councilmember Shane Hoffmire said while he initially thought Windjammer Park was a good location for the art, he found during his city council campaign last year that residents he spoke with were overwhelmingly opposed to installing the sculpture there.

He hopes to see the city accept the sculpture, he said, but encouraged council members and city staff to explore other potential locations, adding that he will not support the sculpture being installed at Windjammer Park.

“I don’t feel it fair to the arts commission, and I don’t feel it fair to the piece of art to just turn it into this albatross by bowling ahead with it,” he said.

Councilmember Tara Hizon said she also feels Windjammer Park is not the best location for the Angel de la Creatividad but is willing to support it because it is the location that was recommended by the arts commission.

Other council members and city staff worried that making a decision based solely on the survey results would set a precedent that would leave the council beholden to all future survey results, restricting members’ ability to lead as they otherwise might.

“I did a survey. It was called an election,” Councilmember Dan Evans said. “We were elected to represent the people, and they trust us to make these decisions. They might not like the decision, but they trusted us to do it. I don’t think that we can be governing by survey, especially a round two.”

Hizon added that the public comment period at city council meetings already serves as a mechanism for gathering community feedback, rendering surveys redundant.

“Anybody who has anything to say can call, they can show up, they can submit a public comment,” she said.

Hizon said that prior to the survey going out, most of the public feedback the council received regarding the sculpture was positive.

Members of the Oak Harbor Arts Commission were also not inclined to hang their hats on survey results, saying the survey was rushed and not fully representative of the community.

Arts commissioners also worried that city residents responded to the survey without completely understanding the scope of the sculpture project.

Therese Kingsbury, president of Sculpture Northwest and a member of the Oak Harbor arts commission, said more than half of the survey responses were not related to the Angel de la Creatividad, but were concerned with installing a windmill art piece to replace the one torn down in 2017.

Arts commission member JR Russell said residents who responded to the survey incorrectly believed that the Angel sculpture would preclude the addition of a new windmill.

Russell stated inaccurately that the Whidbey News-Times reported that the Angel sculpture would be installed instead of a replacement windmill. While the News-Times did not report this, it did report that some residents had this concern and that city officials assured residents that plans for a windmill were not off the table.

The sculpture’s proposed location is near the basketball courts on the west side of the park. Arts commissioners have told the public on multiple occasions that the installation of the Angel de la Creatividad would not interfere with plans to rebuild a windmill art piece, which could be built in a number of locations.

Russell warned the council that they were “setting a dangerous precedent” by adhering too strictly to public survey results.

“You want to do a survey for this? We should do a survey on the minimum wage. We should do a survey on whatever else you voted for,” he said.

Arts commission and Sculpture Northwest members urged the council to prioritize public art and consider the benefits arts have on the community.

“It’s public art, and most of you would agree that public art benefits the community,” John Kingsbury of Sculpture Northwest said. “Whether you like that piece of art or not is irrelevant.”

Installing this sculpture could set a precedent for protecting art and arts programs in the future, Russell added, whereas backing out of the Angel project could discourage local creatives across all artistic disciplines.

“What are you for, and what are you doing to people that are working hard to bring culture, creativity and stuff to Oak Harbor?” he said.

Council members agreed to instruct staff to assemble a meeting involving representatives from Sculpture Northwest, the arts commission and the city council to further discuss the project and make sure all parties were on the same page about the sculpture installation.