A triangle, certainly, but where's the love?

The naked truth: Some in Loveland object to sculpture

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 26, 2006 at midnight

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LOVELAND - A number of residents are upset that a sculpture of three nudes will be installed in a roundabout near a planned church and a charter school.

"I see it as immorality hiding behind the name of art," said Melissa Morgan, 33, a Mormon and a mother of five.

"If you're going to portray humans helping humans, it can be done tastefully. I just think it's inappropriate. It represents me as a woman, as a wife and as a woman, and that's not how I want to be represented."

Morgan is among a group of residents who object to the placement of a bronze sculpture called Triangle in the roundabout at Sculptor Drive and East First Street.

The 7-foot-tall piece, which shows a nude man and a nude woman holding a nude woman aloft, is a creation of sculptor Kirsten Kokkin, who has been a Loveland resident for the past six years. She said it represents humanity helping and supporting one another.

"I wanted the image to be eternally linked together," said Kokkin, 54. "I think it's part of the truth about humanity - we cannot survive without each other."

Originally designed in 1999 as a prize for a Norwegian construction company to celebrate health, environment and safety in the workplace, the piece was originally called Playful Togetherness, but came to be known as Triangle because of the shape delineated by the three figures.

The sculpture was chosen by Loveland's Visual Arts Commission last year to serve as a "gateway" piece for the southeast entrance to Loveland.

"It was a monumental-size piece," said Doug Erion, a member of the visual-arts panel when it commissioned the piece and decided where to place it. "As the city grows around the roundabout, we felt it was a good place for it."

Erion, who is no longer on the commission, said the panel liked the message the sculpture conveyed.

"The message that the sculpture makes is the reliance of people upon each other, the idea that people need to rely on each other and need to work together," he said.

"It's something that, in Loveland, we do on a regular basis. Many of our organizations are run by volunteers, and I felt it was a very fitting message to be sending."

But others in the community disagree.

The Rev. Kevin Klug, pastor of Abiding Love Lutheran Church, which is building a new structure near the roundabout where the sculpture will be placed, said he objected to the piece because it shows nudity.

"It's the graphic nature of it," he said. "It's more detailed than it needs to be. If you stood by the statue looking like that, something would happen to you."

Former City Councilman Larry Dassow agreed.

"I don't think it meets the decency standards of the majority of the citizens of Loveland," he said.

"The original title was something about playfulness. It did not symbolize anything that is wholesome and enriches the community."

Kokkin said she chose not to put clothing on the bodies because it would date the piece.

"If I put today's clothing on them, it would stop the flow," she said. "It's a link to all time. For me, the body is just a metaphor for humanity."

Many who objected to the sculpture also felt it should not sit in a public place.

"My kids are going to the charter school there, the Boys and Girls Club is there," Morgan said. "When school starts, I will drive by it every day.

"My children, when they see it while I'm driving the roundabout, they're not going to see it as how people are helping one another. They're going to ask, 'Why don't those people have clothes on?' " Morgan said.

Both Dassow and Morgan said they would like to see the community have more say on what pieces are commissioned by the city and where they are placed.

"The citizens ought to be heard about it," said Dassow. "We should not let a handful of people decide on the decency standards for our community without hearing from the community."

Morgan wants to go one step further and have the commission adopt a set of standards - and have the City Council hold public hearings on controversial art pieces.

"I think they (the commission) went over the line this time," she said.

But Erion said the commission's meetings are open and public input is welcome, and that the commission does abide by certain standards.

"It's a very small minority that's upset with this piece. There are as many or more that are starting to get vocal that are opposed to censorship and opposed to this group censoring this piece."

According to a statement by commission Chairman Jim Baldwin, which was submitted to the City Council Tuesday night, the commission plans to place the sculpture as scheduled.

"We believe that, once the work is in the public venue, the public will recognize that Triangle is a strong addition to the city of Loveland art collection," Baldwin wrote.

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