The public's art

Barry Conway was no cheerleader for the state's Percent for Art program when the New Hampshire Veterans Home began building its dementia wing several years ago.

"To be honest with you, I told everyone, 'Oh come on,' " said Conway, commandant at the Veterans Home, which is located in Tilton. "Money is always hard to get, and there are always cost overruns, and I thought: art?"

These days, Conway is moved to quote Winston Churchill when he talks about the artwork that was installed in the wing and the transformative effect he believes it's had on the residents, staff and the very soul of the facility. "Churchill said, 'We make our dwellings, and our dwellings make us,' " said Conway, who testified earlier this month in opposition to a bill that would eliminate the State Art Fund. "Well, that dwelling made us."

Established in 1979, the State Art Fund - also known as the Percent for Art Program - mandates that 0.05 percent of the cost of any new state building or major renovation be designated for commissioning or purchasing art for that facility. A bill that would repeal the fund has been working its way through House committees this month. Yesterday it reached the House floor, where representatives voted to send it to interim study.

That decision means the fund is safe for now, but it opens the door for re-evaluating the program, which has funded about 600 pieces of art in state buildings since its inception.

In the Veterans Home dementia wing, which was completed in 2004, the fund paid for a series of

paintings that depict some of the first sights soldiers would have seen coming home from World War II. "You see the scenes though different windows - a porthole, a train, a bus, a plane. And the last window is from the soldier's home," Conway said. "As soon as I saw it I thought, 'Wow, that's such a neat thing.' "

The paintings undoubtedly have an uplifting effect on residents, staff and visitors, Conway said. But much more than that, he credits them with ushering in a whole new way of life at the facility. Inspired at least in part by the new artwork, the recreation therapist and public affairs person started engaging residents in creating artwork and writing poetry of their own, Conway said. Shortly after that an art club was born, and a quarterly periodical established to show off residents' art and writing.

"Up until then, we didn't have a lot of artwork in the Veterans Home," Conway said. "Many of them didn't realize they had this in them. They grew up in the Depression and then went to war and then came home and worked in the mills . . . but what a difference it has made. They've become better and healthier people, and I really attribute it in large part to those original paintings."

Finding art that really speaks to the population that will view it is a major component of the Percent for Art Program, explained Van McLeod, commissioner of the state Department of Cultural Resources. Along with designating money for art, the program stipulates a careful selection process that involves the architect, builder, end user and members of the public, as well as representatives from the State Council on the Arts.

"We go through a very public, open process so that what is completed is something that fits in the building, works in the building and is going to be specifically geared to that building," McLeod said.

In many cases, the art has a real impact on the people who find themselves in state buildings, some of which can be high-tension environments such as courthouses and prisons, he said.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican, said he certainly doesn't want to do away with public art and its various benefits.

"In general, we've just been looking at dedicated funds because dedicated funds get much less scrutiny when it comes to budgeting than the general funds," McGuire said. "I just look at it as a place that we could be putting more thought into. . . . Certain kinds of buildings might need more art, and other kinds of buildings might need less art. Why not do it on a case-by-case basis?"

But opponents of the bill argue that the program's structure is crucial to the quality of public art. "I'm not one to spend money on useless things," said Ward D'Elia, whose architectural firm, Samyn-D'Elia, oversaw a series of major renovations recently completed at Hampton Beach State Park. "But (the Percent for Art program) is a very efficient use of tax dollars, and it's a very good process so that the artwork is really relevant and maximized for the particular public building."