Carolyn Fath
Members of Madison’s homeless community are dismayed by Mayor Paul Soglin’s decision to remove the public art installation from the area known as Philosopher’s Grove.
“This is bogus and wrong,” says KC Kirkpatrick, a 33-year-old homeless woman who spends her days with friends among the bronze and granite stones arranged as a seating area at the intersection of State and Mifflin streets. “When this is gone, we’ll have nowhere else to go.”
Philosopher’s Grove is notorious for the large groups of homeless people who gather there during the days — a presence city officials say is a public safety risk due to instances of public intoxication, fighting, vandalism, drug dealing and assaults.
Soglin, who has in recent months taken a hardline stance on bad behavior from some of the city’s homeless, announced the plans to remove the stones via a news release on Monday morning.
“There continue to be many complaints and concerns raised by business owners, visitors and residents,” he said in the release. “It is really unfortunate that this step is needed, as these stones, created by local Wisconsin artist Jill Sebastian, are part of a piece of art which have been part of the grove for over 10 years.”
As crews began work on removing the stones, Kirkpatrick and about a dozen others watched and discussed the impending changes. Some said the stones’ removal would simply “move the problem,” and that the homeless would gather elsewhere. Others voiced concern over the availability of resources for homeless individuals in Madison.
“Madison is not doing enough,” says 54-year-old Michael Gransberry. Formerly homeless himself, he periodically brings food and supplies to the people in Philosopher’s Grove and is disappointed with the mayor’s decision to remove the stones.
“These people are transient — a lot of them have mental health issues, they need help getting jobs, they need help learning day-to-day skills,” he says. “They’re here for a reason.”
This spring, city officials approved a resolution aimed at reducing bad behavior in the area. Eleven stones were removed to encourage more foot traffic through the area, and a $25,000 contract with Madison’s Central Business Improvement District has brought a variety of programming to Philosopher’s Grove and the area across State Street in front of Ian’s Pizza.
“When the programming is there, it’s a very transformed space,” Madison city planner Rebecca Cnare says. “But when the programming isn’t going on, there are still behavioral issues.”
Last month, the city approved the removal of a bus shelter at the top of State Street that is sometimes used for drinking, loitering and sleeping. Police have also applied more resources in the area, targeting drug dealers.
“It didn’t have much of an effect at all,” says Capt. Carl Gloede, head of the Madison Police Department’s Central District.
“People will split up into smaller groups and move to other space, but hopefully the smaller numbers will be more easily managed,” he says.
Carolyn Fath
Soglin said in his release that the city would work with the artist who created the stones to relocate the installation to a different area within the city.
But Sebastian, a professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, said the mayor’s office never consulted with her about the removal and that to relocate the installation in another space would fundamentally change the nature of the piece, which is part of a cohesive streetscaping project from the top of State Street to the foot of Bascom Hill.
“The concept is really about groups of people coming together and debating ideas,” Sebastian says. “And from talking with the homeless in Madison, they have plenty of ideas.”
When Sebastian was commissioned to create the State Street art concept that included the Philosophers’ Stones more than 10 years ago, she says city officials asked her to create a “democratic space” where anyone could sit and spend time without having to spend money to patronize a sidewalk cafe.
“If they take the stones out,” Sebastian says, “the only consolation I have is to know that the artwork did become the site of a debate that we need to have as a society.”
