AMHERST — Town Meeting this week gave support to public art by adopting a new bylaw ensuring a portion of spending on municipal capital projects is set aside for visual and performing arts.
But before the discussion on the Half-Percent for Art Bylaw was taken up at Monday’s session, members got a history lesson that residents weren’t always so receptive to public art, especially with the first installation at Town Hall in the late 19th century.
As members tested their electronic voting devices, a question on the middle school auditorium’s screen asked whether a statue of an armed and naked woman once stood near the Main Street entrance to Town Hall until it was destroyed. The 87 who voted yes were correct.
The trivia was provided by Select Board member Jim Wald, who said he was approached by Moderator Jim Pistrang to find questions unlike the usual Boston Red Sox-centric ones.
Wald said he recalled learning about the statue, sometimes called “Mounted Amazon Attacked by a Panther” by German sculptor August Kiss, from Planning Director Jonathan Tucker.
“It made sense to do it on a night when we’d be discussing public art,” Wald said.
The statue was donated by the Harriet Clark, the widow of William S. Clark, the founder and president of Massachusetts Agricultural College, now University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and was placed on a stone planter near Town Hall around 1900.
An 1890 Amherst Record article described the statue as “the first art gift of which the town has ever been the recipient.”
But other information from Tucker illustrates the hostility the sculpture faced: “She became a target for those who disapproved of the public image of even a mythical woman displaying unmistakable female attributes while simultaneously demonstrating martial skill and courage in the face of danger.”
It is also believed, according to this write-up, that “armed naked woman challenged the fragile masculinity of local youths.” These may have been town youth or Amherst College students, with speculation that they may have been trying to create a second Sabrina, a bronze statue that once was displayed on campus but was stolen and has been the subject of pranks for decades.
The statue was finally destroyed in 1936 and its pieces were put in the landfill, based on information Tucker obtained from long-time resident Steve Puffer. Only the base for the statue remains and is in town storage.
Wald said the 2005 Amherst Restoration Plan references the possibility of bringing back a replica of the statue.
The sculpture can still be seen in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and on top of a fountain in a park in Shelton, Connecticut.
Amherst and University of Massachusetts Police will team up for the Police Youth Adventure Academy from July 24 to July 28.
Up to 20 youths entering sixth, seventh and eighth grades can sign up for the academy, with preference given to Amherst residents and those affiliated with UMass.
During the day-long sessions, there will be role plays and interactive demonstrations about crime scene invesigations, patrol procedures and defensive tactics during the mornings, with afternoons spent at the ropes course at the Notch.
Applications are due June 16 and can be obtained at the Amherst police station, 111 Main St., UMass police station, 585 East Pleasant St. or at www.amherstpd.org
For more information, contact Office Yvonne Feliciano at 259-3000 or felicianoy@amherstma.gov, or Brian Kellogg at 545-9461 or bkellogg@admin.umass.edu.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman is holding another Cuppa Joe with Paul at the Atkins Farms Country Market, 1151 West St., at 7:30 a.m. May 19.
For 90 minutes, Bockelman will be joined by Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek, who oversees the town’s conservation and development, and will entertain questions and comments.
“Dave and I are here to answer questions and listen to concerns, compliments, and, yes, complaints,” Bockelman said in a statement.
A previous Cuppa Joe event, with Bockelman joined by Police Chief Scott Livingstone, brought out eight residents.
Residents in Amherst and surrounding towns are invited to put canned food and personal care items near the mailboxes by 9 a.m. Saturday as part of the National Association of Letter Carrier’s Union’s Stamp Out Hunger national food drive.
The Amherst Survival Center depends on food drives, as well as financial contributions, to support its food pantry, and currently provides groceries to nearly 700 families a month.
“This has increased the importance of community food drives, including the post office food drive,” said Mindy Domb, executive director of the center.
A list of the most needed foods is online at www.amherstsurvival.org/postoffice.
Six apartments at Presidential Apartments, 950 North Pleasant St., are permanently affordable following recent Select Board action.
The Select Board signed a document to maintain the units for low-income families that will be sent to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
The six apartments are among 54 new units for up to 96 tenants that opened in September 2015.
MONDAY: Jones Library Budget Committee, 9:05 a.m., Goodwin Room, Jones Library; Local Historic District Commission, 3 p.m., First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall; Select Board, 6 p.m., Band Room, middle school; Town Meeting, 7 p.m., middle school auditorium.
WEDNESDAY: Select Board, 6 p.m., Band Room, middle school; Town Meeting, 7 p.m., middle school auditorium.
THURSDAY: Public Art Commission, noon, First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall.