Last night, Jim Power, the legendary Mosaic Man, took to his Twitter and Facebook to post a diatribe on the waning support from his community. Power is trying to raise money to continue his work on the Mosaic Trail: 80 decorated light poles, bedazzled with colorful pieces of tile, spattered around the East Village.
So, lots of ‘Likes,’ RT’s & ‘attaboys,’ but no donations. So, that’s that, then? Is this the end of the Mosaic Trail? http://t.co/0ps20dERhH
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
If you don’t care, please say so and I’ll stop asking, but I’m over the ego-stroking. GUT CHECK TIME: SUPPORT THE MOSAIC TRAIL OR IT’S OVER.
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
Can’t do it forever. Not without real support. Hard work. Poles take a month or two each without help. Can’t get help without real funding.
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
Tried. Have put out calls to the neighborhood and beyond. Doesn’t look like it’s happening here. Not gonna beg. Asked. Made it easy…
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
Folks couldn’t even be bothered to send $1 just to show they were alive and listening. Signal received, gang.
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
Jim started the project 25 years ago, and has never received any significant funding for it, from the city or outside groups. In May, he launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $80,000 to rebuild some of the damaged light poles; by the campaign’s end, he’d only garnered $5,290 dollars. (According to CBS News, some of that went to a scooter for the Vietnam vet, who has faced homelessness several times.)
I get it, though. It is what it is. Big boy here. Sacrificed a lot, but that’s life. “Art for art’s sake?” Yeah, right. Who gives a buck?
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
Guess that’s just not that exciting to people. Again, thanks for the Likes and Tweets, but can’t buy tile with a ‘Like’ or grout w/ a tweet.
— Jim Power (@MosaicManNYC) July 25, 2013
For people who donated $100 dollars or more, Jim started a People’s Pole, personalized with photos of the donors, shown in the video above.
In more tweets, Jim riffed on the legacy and importance of public art, cast a net looking for mosaic work for local businesses (he’s done signage for Porchetta, The Bean, Tompkins Square Bagels and others) and broke down the financing he needed to complete his art. The tweets started off passionately, but grew angrier as he bemoaned his lack of support and posted repeated links to the donation site punctuated with “Did I stutter?”
It’s uncertain how much of this came directly from the Mosaic Man, since his Twitter account is managed by Matt Rosen. But it isn’t the first time Jim has had a public outburst over his work: he was once subdued by police and EMTs after being found attacking his art in an effort to remove it.
In a video posted to YouTube earlier this month, Jim held out hope that the city would support him with more than just a mayoral proclamation. “By the time the city gets involved they’re going to have to give me a million dollars,” he said as he and a helper worked on a lamp pole. “No, no, listen to me, I’ve got them by the fucking mosaics! When they leave office, they’re only going to be talking about me.”
Till then, you can donate here.