Letters to the Editor

New 'public art' in Bentonville hard to take

One of the first things we are taught as children is to stay within the lines.

Someone has put up this tall pile of yellow and orange junk bikes near the Subway shop in Bentonville. My reaction was that it was a pile of worthless dung. My wife explained that it was some type of abstract art someone had created.

Here is my opinion on this type of so-called art. Suppose I invented several new coffee flavors. Suppose I created one flavor I truly loved but every one who tasted it vomited it out of their mouth and said it was the worst thing that they had ever tasted. Should I force them to continue drinking it?

Someone built this eyesore and called it art and someone with the Bentonville [Public Art Advisory Commission] authorized the repulsive thing to be displayed so we are all required to look at it. Just like the story about the emperor with no clothes. Any child can see that it is just a pile of rubbish.

I may not be puking every time I see that worthless pile of metal or any other vile piece of so-called art someone else creates, but what am I to do when my eyes begin to bleed every time I see these worthless carnages?

Maybe there should be some type of limits or guide lines for what is considered art and what a worthless eyesore is.

Question: Is this the reaction the artist wanted to hear?

Boyd B. McNiel

Pea Ridge

Development doesn't help south Fayetteville

At first, I was on the bandwagon with the new development in south Fayetteville. I though "OK, this is good. Property values will go up."

Now? We've reached a tipping point. Too much of a good thing is leaving a belly ache. I've learned that "affordability" and "sustainability" are just catch words for profitability. They are words meant to imply philanthropy. I disagree. Affordability? South Fayetteville was affordable until very recently. Now housing costs have skyrocketed. Sustainability? What's sustainable about cramming as much structure on a lot as possible? It only creates high-density infrastructure -- taxing the resources of the land and stressing the breathing space of the people trying to "sustain" within. These are not so-called "tiny houses."

If the current proposed developments continue, the demographics of south Fayetteville will change. Diversity? No. Again, the homes aren't affordable and they are not built for people to age. No one wants to climb stairs to the 2nd or 3rd story when they are over 60, nearing 70. These houses are meant to cycle families through while keeping the kids on the couch with their iPads. Where are the yards? (None of this is about trees, per se, as it is about balance.)

This also kicks in the face those who have lived here a long time and worked hard to procure Neighborhood Conservation zoning (an effort to preserve the older homes that add to the charm or the very reason people want to move to South Fayetteville in the first place). Now the public notices for change to Downtown General are going up so swiftly and discreetly, no one has time to thoughtfully respond.

I am disheartened the train has left the station and is moving so fast the landscape can only be seen through blurred windows. I'm not on the train as I look from the outside in. I intend to be the last old lady on my street living in this centenarian one-story house with a yard big enough for my posse of chickens.

Darlene Graf

Fayetteville

Editorial on 05/23/2017

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