“Offensive” Sculpture Replaced: City Commission Agrees on Alternative Art Piece

by Agrippina Fadel February 16, 2022

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Dancing Bliss was placed with Dragon Flower after Commissioner Placko found the art “inappropriate”.

By Agrippina Fadel

The sculpture that offended the Tamarac city commission has been replaced by another piece by the same artist.

“Dancing Bliss” by Joni Younkins-Herzog had caused a heated discussion at the commission meeting on January 26. A part of the upcoming “Inspiration Way” open-air exhibit, the sculpture was one of the twelve art pieces chosen by Tamarac’s art committee to be displayed in 2022 at Nob Hill Road between Commercial Boulevard and McNab Road.

At the meeting, commissioner Debra Placko said she found a 7.5 feet tall steel sculpture of multiple legs captured in a moment of dancing “inappropriate.”

“It shows women’s body parts. I do not want to see it anywhere,” said Placko, adding that to her, the sculpture looked like a “woman’s butt with legs coming out.” Other commission members have supported the objection, and the city’s public art consultants Beth Ravitz and George Gadson were tasked with finding a replacement for “Dancing Bliss.”

At the meeting on February 9, Gadson presented the “Dragon Flower,” a 4.9 feet tall and 7 feet long steel sculpture. The commission members agreed to accept the new piece in a record-short discussion, prompting mayor Michelle Gomez to say, “I think this is the fastest we have ever found consensus on art.”

According to the artist’s comment, “Dragon Flower” is inspired by the organic growth of plants and the “architecture of form and function based on chasing the sun.” The piece looks like a “Fibonacci spiral in a leaf of a common fern” that becomes a dragon with a flower head while reaching for the light.

The installation of “Inspiration Way” sculptures is scheduled for March 1-3, with a tentative date for the ribbon-cutting in April.

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Agrippina Fadel

Agrippina Fadel grew up in Siberia and received her master's in journalism from Tyumen State University. A resident of Florida for over 10 years, she also works as a marketing and communication specialist at a local university.