Create
Storm-damaged Pier sculpture to come down Monday
Instead of gently undulating in the breeze, as it was designed to do, the massive “floating sculpture” on the St. Pete Pier has been hanging like a limp dishrag for months.
The culprits: Debby, Helene and Milton. An unprecedented, successive series of hurricane-force winds tore sections of the net-like Bending Arc from its moorings and turned them inside out.
As part of its Thursday Consent Agenda, St. Petersburg City Council approved $33,000 for removal and repair of the 424-foot-long work of art, which was installed in 2020, during the administration of Mayor Rick Kriseman. It was paid for with $1.5 million in private donations.
Bending Arc will be taken down Monday morning.
Hurricane Milton – the same storm that ripped the vinyl roof from Tropicana Field – did the worst damage. “The sculpture behaved beautifully through Hurricane Ian, through many, many storms,” said Janet Echelman, the internationally-known artist who created Bending Arc. “But this was just a real big one.
“I think we should wait and see what the repair is going to be, and how long it’s going to take. But I would like everybody to rest assured that we’re all working on it and we’re going to get them their artwork back as soon as possible.”
The Net House, a Cocoa Beach company contracted by the City of St Petersburg to perform periodic inspections of Bending Arc, will remove it, take it to a climate-controlled indoor location and perform the necessary repair work. Eventually it will be re-installed at the Pier.
Echelman, whose home and studio are in Massachusetts, said she intends to be involved in the work, whatever it takes. “Well, it was the storm of the century,” the artist said. “I think it’s always smarter to do repairs on the ground rather than when it is up in the air. I think it’s wise.”
“Bending Arc” pre-hurricanes. Photo: Amy Martz.
Beth Hendereen, Managing Director for City Development Administration, said establishing a timeline for repair and re-installation is difficult. “Because it is so unique, there’s no set protocol for how you handle something like this,” she explained. “After the initial assessment, it was determined that there’s not a quick fix to get it back up where it needs to be.
“So we need to take it down, store it, protect it, and have it analyzed. To figure out next steps.”
Tampa-born Echelman’s giant woven-fiber sculptures are installed in major cities on five continents.
She titled the St. Petersburg piece after a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
“If you think about the colors of my sculpture – hues of blue like the sky, in a full gradient from white to black. If you observe carefully, you’ll see that when any single knot moves, all the other knots are affected,” Echelman told the Catalyst in 2020.
“For me, it becomes a chance to contemplate the inter-connectedness of all of us as members of the human race, and our shared destiny as we interact with nature. We are all inter-woven and braided and knotted together – just like the sculpture.”
A-A-RON
February 12, 2025at2:32 pm
Great job St. Petersburg City Council! A bargain and rewarding work for those involved and I look forward to seeing it back!
Christopher Wiand
February 11, 2025at5:01 am
Good point. Maybe we could help our neighbors by helping them stand in line for the never ending process of acquiring building permits for personal homes while continual buildings get rubber stamped and pockets get lined.
Burg4life
February 10, 2025at11:14 pm
This art boondoggle is akin to getting a free puppy. Never should have been installed there in such an exposed environment without a privately funded system to lower on demand for inclement weather. If we keep it, put it over Williams Park where it’s more protected by buildings.
John Donovan
February 10, 2025at8:44 pm
You’ve seen the Barack Obama Library? Me neither. 5 years? IYKYK
John Donovan
February 10, 2025at8:42 pm
50% chance this item doesn’t return to public view in current mayoral administration and much less chance in future.
Danny E White
February 10, 2025at10:42 am
I find it rather peculiar that the installation was left in place to be pummeled by THREE hurricanes that were known to be headed toward the city, or at least that were known to have serious damaging winds. Whoever made the decision to leave it in place should explain why this unnecessary outlay of funds has come to be!
John
February 10, 2025at10:17 am
Big fan of the bending arc and hopeful to see if fixed and repaired soon.
monah
February 9, 2025at9:53 am
According to the Tampa Bay Times in an article from July 2020, private donations paid for the sculpture itself, but the city still had to allocate $1.3 million to pay for most of the design and construction of the installation’s infrastructure.
“[Mayor Rick Kriseman] raised $1.25 million in private money to pay for the sculpture and another $400,000 to help cover costs for the infrastructure, including the foundation, lighting and four pylons.
The city also allocated $1.3 million in tax increment financing funds for the design and construction of the infrastructure. The Public Art Commission also committed $250,000 to the project.”
Donna Kostreva
February 8, 2025at7:35 pm
The string shopping bag got torn up by the storm of a century? Who could have ever foreseen that? Ask some local men to help take it down. Then give the $33k to some schools for books for their library or use the cash for tutoring kids who are behind in school. Council does not care how they waste our taxes.
JAMES R. GILLESPIE
February 8, 2025at7:17 pm
WHATEVER THE ART’S VALUE PLEASE USE PRIVATE DONATION TO RESTORE AND MOUNT IT AGAIN. THE PIER SEEMS ATTRACTIVE WITH OR WITHOUT IT. MY RECOLLECTION IS THE ORIGINAL COST WAS OVER A MILLION DOLLARS
Victoria Rogers
February 8, 2025at6:04 pm
I love Bending Arc. It is beautiful at all times of day and night, and from any angle, near or far. I can’t wait until it is restored and hanging high again—-though I will admit it’s been a delightful opportunity to examine the sculpture up close!
Steve D
February 8, 2025at4:42 pm
Before any curmudgeons comment about how the city should never have wasted money it; please read: it was initially payed for with private donations. Ask yourself, what have I done to instill a little joy in others’ lives during my short existence on this planet?