The May 24th 2007 Vail Trail features an article about the history of the Vail Valley art scene, with a fascinating vignette on a Claes Oldenburg piece that was vetoed back in 1983. (Here in Denver we are fortunate to have a wonderful Oldenburg Dustbin sculpture in front of the new DAM Hamilton building, in addition to one of his clothes pin brass sculptures on the 3rd floor. As I write this I'm in Philadelphia and plan on stopping by Oldenburg's 25 foot version of the miniature DAM clothes pin, in front of the Comcast headquarters at 15th and Market.)

Seems that the town just wasn't ready for the piece (from the article)

The proposed $190,000 sculpture would have formed a 160-foot-long arc, almost half the length of a football field. Dangling from the tip would have been a 50-gallon tin can sitting in Gore Creek in Lionshead.

Some called it sacrilegious. Others, like Vail Mayor Rod Slifer, liked the idea. Slifer is quoted in The New York Times as saying that Oldenburg’s steel fishing pole would have given Vail prestige and provided a “cornerstone'” for further artistic development.

The town of Vail had received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. A nonprofit group led largely by Slifer and Chuck Rosenquist raised the remaining $140,000.

But the residents of Vail wouldn’t hear of trashing the area’s natural beauty with a giant orange fishing pole and tin can in the name of modern art, assuming that Lionshead is a bastion of natural beauty. So in September 1983, the Vail Town Council voted 4 to 3 to end Vail’s involvement with the project.

The article also mentions Denver artist Patrick Marold's "Windmill Project" which was brought to fruition by the efforts of Vail's "Art in Public Places" program at a cost of almost $100,000. The piece was on display from March to May 6th to mixed reviews: “Even if you didn’t like it, at least it wasn’t your regular bronze bear” (AIPP Coordinator Leslie Fordham)

Patrick Marold "Windmill Project" Installation, photo by Preson Utley