Two Hour Parking -

"Pub Dart"
The Totem Project
public sculpture - wood, metal and coated wire by Mick Mather & Rick Destito

In 2002 I began a journey into the realm of Public Art. In my home town, Syracuse, New York, I saw that the City was replacing parking meters with parking meter pay stations, leaving hundreds of headless parking meter posts behind. What to do with these? My idea was to sleeve public sculptures over the old posts - using them as a foundation for installation. To that end I began applying for funding and formed partnerships with The City of Syracuse Department of Community Development within the Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today (TNT) Program, The Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse & Onondaga County, 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, The Downtown Committee and The Armory Square Association. To give the early cross-eyed looks and skewed glances a better idea of what I meant, my own design for a sculpture, the Pub Dart seen here, was passed around the table. 4 years later, this project is finally being installed with 16 artists siting 16 different sculptures in 16 different places in Downtown Syracuse, New York. Can you say road trip? I knew that you could!