City leaders could soon consider repurposing the remaining money that was earmarked for a stalled public art project planned for the Duval County Courthouse.<\/p>\n
City Council member and Duval DOGE Committee Chair Ron Salem tells Jacksonville Today he\u2019s working on legislation to reappropriate the project\u2019s remaining budget and is in talks with Circuit Court Judge Lance Day on what Day sees as the best use for the money.<\/p>\n
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville<\/a> told DOGE Committee members March 3 that, since the project was halted last year, there\u2019s about $387,000 remaining of the $728,611 city council approved for the public art project<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n \u2018These Truths\u2019 stalled since August<\/p>\n City leaders had been planning for a signature public art piece on the 3-acre courthouse lawn since the building was completed in 2012. It took four years for city lawmakers to authorize the art project\u2019s budget. And another seven years passed before the city selected Venice, California-based Cliff Garten Studio in 2021<\/a> to design and build the sculpture.<\/p>\n The artwork also faced delays amid COVID-19-related cost spikes and over the content of its messaging. In June 2023, an art selection panel approved the third draft of the text that would adorn giant metal scrolls on the sculpture, including changing the word \u201cequity\u201d to \u201ctruth.\u201d<\/p>\n The city has already paid the artist $315,000 for design and engineering work. <\/p>\n \u201cWe paid the artist $300,000. We\u2019re not getting that back,\u201d DOGE Committee member Raul Aris said at the March 3 meeting. \u201cWe lost $300,000 because there was some sort of communication mishap between the judge at the time (and) you all, the (Cultural) Council.\u201d<\/p>\n In early August 2025, after more than a decade of discussion and work, leadership at the Culture Council said they felt good about the design for the stainless steel sculpture titled These Truths, Voice of Jacksonville and expected imminent final OKs<\/a> from two council committees.<\/p>\n But Day raised concerns during an Aug. 14 City Council Finance Committee budget hearing about the potential for vandalism of the sculpture and the \u201coverall practicality\u201d of the project\u2019s cost, with tight budgets projected in coming years. <\/p>\n Day said at the time he wants to use some of the money for security at the courthouse, installing bollards to prevent vehicles from driving on the lawn or crashing into the building and people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe point is, is it unreasonable to think that if you put a $600,000 to $800,000 art project out on the front lawn, that it isn\u2019t going to be graffitied. It will be. It will be vandalized. And then, as chief judge, I\u2019m going to be sitting there saying, \u2018What do we do?’\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019ve got to get the jurors in so they\u2019re not influenced. I\u2019ve got to make sure that the public response is appropriate for this. What I\u2019m pointing out is there\u2019s a certain place for your public art, a courthouse may not be that place.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief judge said his concerns are not a criticism of Garten\u2019s work, whom Day says he\u2019s never met.<\/p>\n \u201cI recognize that this is a very popular item, but frankly it\u2019s an item that should be paused, should be shelved and should be restudied,\u201d Day said during the August budget hearing.<\/p>\n Kat Wright, the Cultural Council\u2019s director of public art, told Jacksonville Today in an email, \u201cThe City Council Finance Committee asked for the project to be paused, so the August Artwork Selection Panel meeting to review the final design was postponed and is still on hold.\u201d <\/p>\n The Cultural Counsel\u2019s decision to pause the project was met with concern by local authors<\/a> who had contributed to the project.<\/p>\n