Despite budget woes, public art 'about soaring possibility of man'

By MARIA RECIO, McClatchy Newspapers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Maybe it was the fairy. Or it may have been the toad. But the combination of a fairy riding a toad as a finalist in a sculpture competition at a new federal defense complex - along with the $600,000 price tag - set off howls of protest from disgruntled residents, with local critics dubbing the artwork "the gurgling toad."

It's the latest flap over public art - the movement born in the 1970s to set aside a percentage of federal, state and local construction projects for artwork - and it reached a fever pitch last spring in northern Virginia, stretching from a congressman's office to local critics to the blogosphere.

In cities across the country, art at public buildings and public spaces is burgeoning, sometimes generating controversy and sometimes becoming instant landmarks. Read more