Fire. Police. Roads. Water. Sewer. Schools.
All important and things that our local government MUST provide for its citizens.
Would you put art installations, parks, trails, etc. over having the police/fire show up when you need them most? Or keeping your utility rates from increasing?
These are the questions, we the citizens of the Town of Plainfield need to be asking ourselves and the Town Council.
For example, the Town Council has spent MONEY on the following:
Added March 20, 2026
This art has been installed on the south side of the Town's parking garage, in the alley.
The art cannot be seen from US 40; only partially seen from Vine St. or Center St. but only if you look down the alley.
This art cost $88,000
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$50,000 for the art
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$38,000 for curation (community engagement, project management, documentation)
Added March 20, 2026
This art, which includes two (2) additional smaller statutes, has been installed at Swarn Park, at Hobbs Station.
This art cost $100,000.
Editorial Thoughts and Comments by Kim White
I am not anti-art. I am anti-waste.
Our Town should be spending our tax payer dollars on things that are important: fire, police, water, sewer, roads, and schools. Not art.
We have over $320 Million dollars in debt; yet we are wasting money on the Town of Plainfield's Art in Public Spaces Master Plan.
Our utilities rates are being increased because of operational costs, inflation, and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure. But we have money to spend on art?!
Is this a wise use of our money? I think not.
When you drive in to Indianapolis on I-70, look south next to the freeway, as you start to enter the downtown area (around the Holt Rd. exit). What do you see? Different art installations as you enter downtown. Do they look nice? Are they taken care of? Did they add any value for the money it cost? Art's beauty is in the eye of the beholder but using tax payer dollars to make art should be a no no.
The Town of Plainfield needs to prioritize the spending of our tax payer dollars on things that actually matter. The town could have used that money on a million other things that actually impact our lives; not try to put on airs about how diverse and cultural Plainfield is.
We didn't even have local artists do the work. We hired an non-profit organization, Ganggang, to be a middle-man with artist Andrea Myers for We Are Interwoven. Ganggang provided that service for $33,000. Seriously?
Added March 20, 2026