This past April John Street army of tow trucks took my car from right outside my house. This event affected my blood pressure so much I decided to visit City Hall to discuss what they considered to be the difference between "abandoned" (trashed out vehicles) and drive-able cars with temporarily lapsed registrations parked outside taxpayers homes. Apparently, they saw no difference. Since the check to Harrisburg got lost in the mail I guess I can blame the post office.

My English friends sat waiting amused that they had stumbled into a true life episode of NYPD Blue. Since the subtleties of this burning issue were lost on the people manning the Mayors Action Office and I said my piece, we proceeded upstairs to see the art.

Walking through City Hall with it's imposing Victorian neo-classical architecture that emanates old-style authority from every brick is a most unlikely place to see art. The problems with showing work here in a hallway are multifold and little has been done to address this or aid the delivery of the work beyond the glass cases which are highly inappropriate for two dimensional pieces, They are badly light and certainly don't elevate the art to any status higher than a exhibition at a grade school. "Wildlife" is the second show I've seen here and I can't help wondering about the rationale behind this space. Perhaps it's the bureaucratic nature of the animal, no pun intended, the art chosen by committee. The show itself has no basis apart from the theme itself which is thin. The work ranges from mere illustrative images to pieces where crafting the work is more important than the overall content. Most of the work included depicted animals in fairly conventional narrative styles rather than using animals as a element within an art context. As far as a theme goes, it was a bad choice to begin with, not based in any concept apart from the simplistic notion "let's show pictures of animals". The written copy from the press release is a giveaway. Unfortunately this seems typical of art in the public sector (much of the art sponsored in the city in fact). It has the hallmarks of too many cooks with a lack of knowledge or consensus on what constitutes contemporary art.

The nature of juried shows comes to mind, where a chosen hodge podge of work co-incidentally fits into an arbitrary theme. These two scenarios keep the gallery from having any real impact and addressing the issues of contemporary art. This is art of a mediocre quality that fits into a conservative mold that is guaranteed not to upset anyone or question anything.

I got my car back without any dents and I learned something about the city of Philadelphia. The postal system is retrograde and the public sponsored art needs a definitive kick up the backside. In my resulting letter to John Street I didn't breech the subject of his City Hall Gallery. I did suggest his manifest car towing sweep was not a great idea and that he would have been better off buying a few snow plows for the winter months so I can navigate my street after a big snow.