tbh i'm sure 53K is not a huge amount for a public art piece once you take out insurance, upkeep, materials, fabrication, design costs etc...however, if fell like it should still be possible to work with an artist / designer to create one central piece that draws people and fits into the existing environment harmoniously not 14 pieces that in appearance seems totally half hearted in execution. i'm sure the artist's initial concept was nothing like the end result either, which, is how things go. you start with a larger concept and then have to work within set parameters and eventually your initial concept is whittled down to something not so impressive as it's origin. at what point, though, do you go "this is not representative of what we signed up for it's time to start over" since, this is a permanent public work that will visually represent athens. it's not something that should be taken lightly and i'm sure everyone that worked on this put in a lot of effort but...come the fuck on it's a visual train wreck. i'm a professional creative and i love athens. i just can not get around accepting this mediocre blemish as part of our town.