Re: [Cz-L] Need details of arrangements with sculptor about Popovici plaque

No commitments were made; we told him he'd hear from Maita. none of
us have a particular stake in him, but he is there, respected, and
experienced with the local authorities. And Joseph Zissels recommended
him, and JZ knows how to get things done in Chernivtsi.


We're just back from the Ukraine and Israel and want to clarify a
couple of issues:

1. the reason I, Marianne, suggested a small committee was in no way
to undermine Mimi, but to simplify the decision-making process.
Making these decisions in a group of several hundred strikes me as
inefficient and time-consuming and we could easily delegate to Mimi
alone or a small group. Then you could inform us of the conclusions.
And make genuine progress. The number of emails have been dizzying.
And quite removed from the realities on the ground.

2. There is a local municipality with its rules, laws and red tape.
Someone has to understand and navigate it. Some one local. This is not
a city priority so it will take some doing. This is not going to be
our decision but the city's.

3. The plaques in Chernivtsi are rather uniform, they fit into a
local iconography. I doubt they will accept just anything, esp sent
 from the US, esp. in a prime location such as Kobylanska. There is
great advantage to working with some one local.

4. We will scan the proposal we received and sent to jerome. It was
a quick sketch.

5. A central consideration: IF WE CANNOT RAISE $1000 AMONG THE GROUP
INTERESTED IN HONORING POPOVICI, THEN WE SHOULD DEFINITELY STOP WITH
THIS PROCESS NOW. WITHOUT FUNDS TO COVER AN INITIAL RETAINER FOR THE
ARTIST AND THE ACTUAL EXPENSES OF PRODUCING THE PLAQUE, OUR BACK-AND-
FORTH E-MAILING IS TRULY A WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY.

best, Marianne and Leo



On Jun 10, 2008, at 10:05 AM, Miriam Taylor wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> In order to proceed with the Popovici plaque project,
> I intend to get estimates from a number of artists/artisans,
> In Chernivtsi and vicinity as well as in the US.
> (a bronze plaque could be sent to Chernivtsi)
> Hopefully, I will get a number of proposals, which may vary
> in the material the plaque is made of, the exact design
> and the cost. We could then vote on the most desirable proposal
> and have the plaque made and mounted.
>
> Before I contact other sculptors or engravers in Chernivtsi,
> I need to be sure that Marianne, Leo, Florence and Cornel
> made no binding arrangements with the sculptor Anatoly Piantkovski
> himself and also not with the city administration, about him being
> our artist/artisan of choice.
>
> Do you, Marianne, Leo, Florence and Cornel have a copy
> of the sketch he presented to you? Do you have a photograph
> of any of his other works?
>
> If you do, would you please send these to Jerome, so that they
> could be put on the "ehpes" website for viewing.
> (Jerome, I hope you will agree to this?)
>
> Marianne, in your letter to the list of June 3rd, you wrote:
>
>> We left it that
>> we would report back to the group and that Maita would be our
>> representative onsite. We told Anatoly that he would next hear
>> from Maita.
>
> Does that mean that we have to decide whether to accept
> Anatoly Piantkovsky's proposal on the basis of the description
> by Marianne in the same letter of June 3rd? Let Maita know
> of our decision and she would inform him?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mimi
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> the sculptor Anatoly Piantkovsky. He came
> back with a proposed sketch design and some price quotes. Bronze is
> the most expensive. He suggested black basalt stone with a carved
> text and an attractive subtle design, consisting of a border
> representing lots of people on the street (to symbolize the many
> saved) and also Popovici's signature, signaling the importance of a
> signature in determining life or death. This, with our text (he
> strongly urged us to cut it back significantly) would cost $1000. If
> we added a carving of Popovici's face in bronze on the left corner (we
> gave him all the photos we had ) it would come to $2500. We noted
> that most memorial plaques in Chernvtsi have faces (eg Stainbarg,
> Meerbaum-Eisinger, etc) but we feel that though this is definitely
> part of the city's iconography, it is certainly not a requirement.
> In any case, we would get to approve the design, this was just a
> sketch.
>
> The problem with the conversations was that we could not speak for the
> group. Nor are we an official organization anyway. We left it that
> we would report back to the group and that Maita would be our
> representative onsite. We told Anatoly that he would next hear from
> Maita. If we authorize him in writing to do so, he can take care of
> the entire permission process -- I would recommend that. I inquired
> with Natalya and she told me he was trustworthy. He will certainly
> need a retainer fee before going further. Joseph Zisses told me that
> he himself is not in the position to oversee this project, since he
> only goes to Chernivtsi once per month.
>
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Received on 2008-06-10 14:48:04