READERS WRITE: Hartsfield artwork

Responses to “Art may come down,” Metro, Aug. 24

Neon pieces bring a lift to the spirit

As an architecture critic who has been writing about art in public places for more than 30 years, I am distressed by the impending removal from Hartsfield-Jackson airport of one of the finest contemporary public art installations in America: Stephen Antonakos’ “Four Walls” light sculptures.

I was reminded of their extraordinary beauty and powerful presence on a frantic one-day visit to Atlanta two years ago because of a tragic death in my family. After a harrowing funeral service and getting stuck in rush-hour traffic, I was racing through the airport to make my flight back to New York when Antonakos’ luminous neons —- which I had completely forgotten were in Atlanta —- began to appear along my route to the departure gate, one after another.

Even though I could not slow my pace, these uplifting and joyous pieces made a tremendous impression on me, and proved how important works of art can be even in places as unlikely as an escalator ceiling. I urge those responsible for protecting the cultural heritage of a great metropolis to prevent the needless and unconscionable destruction of one of your less celebrated but most distinguished art treasures, which has enriched the lives of Atlantans and travelers passing through the world’s busiest airport for almost three decades.

MARTIN FILLER

Filler is a contributor to The New York Review of Books and Architectural Record and author of “Makers of Modern Architecture” (2007).

Keep it; at least it lets you know you’re in Atlanta

I’m not a big fan of modern art, but I’m even less fond of advertising. And I sort of like the neon artwork at the Atlanta airport. Seeing it was to know you were in Atlanta and not Des Moines or Dubuque; a little different look for our busy airport.

The proposed ads would generate needed revenue, yet the same article quotes airport general manager Ben DeCosta as saying a “multimillion-dollar plan” was in place for a rain forest display. Why on earth would Atlanta have, want or need a rain forest display in its airport? There’s got to be a “global-warming” propaganda aspect concealed in there somewhere.

JIM HENDERSON

St. Simons Island

Class and the campaigns

Responses to Jim Wooten’s column “Same old class warfare in this race,” @issue, Aug. 24

Let’s ditch this old rhetoric

Jim Wooten’s column is filled with rhetoric and contradictions. The top part makes an attempt at defending the over-stuffed coffers of the rich, here personified by Republican nominee John McCain, who doesn’t know how many homes he owns. The latter part addresses the fact that so much money is withheld from the paychecks of the middle class and the poor that they always receive refunds! In the vernacular of the hip-hop generation, I ask, “What’s up with that?”

From my standpoint, Wooten’s way of thinking has become, like the dinosaur, extinct. Possibly many young people of this generation are as tired of this kind of rhetoric as some of us independent-thinking black folks are of the rhetoric some of our so-called leaders perpetuate. We need change!

And, to address the comment of Obama “not wearing well,” how well would you wear if you were held under scrutiny multiplied a hundred times that of Britney Spears’ life? Who’s really exposing the “class warfare” card here?

JOAN NELSON HOOD

Atlanta

The parties differ vastly

It appears someone needs to explain the difference between “rich” Republicans and “rich” Democrats to Jim Wooten. Simply put, most “rich” Republicans have either forgotten their lives prior to financial success or assumed wealth through genetic/familial circumstance. Seldom do these particular Republicans lobby on behalf of the less fortunate.

Conversely, “rich” Democrats, regardless of the source of their financial wealth, persist in advocating policies and opportunities on behalf of lower-income individuals, as they wish for others to experience similar successes in their lives. Wooten’s premise of indistinguishable differences between the candidates because they are all rich has no merit. There are huge differences between the political agendas of affluent political candidates, and they are blatantly obvious.

L.S. TORRES

Atlanta