The Utopian Collection
While the stalling continues with respect to plans for rebuilding the historic City Hall, some of us have been thinking about the kind of collection that would best be suited to display in a major museum there. I had an idea a couple of months ago which I have brainstormed with several individuals in Atascadero, as well as persons with whom I am acquainted in New York and the Bay Area who are knowledgeable about art. The reaction has been uniformly favorable. So I want to put the idea out there for more widespread consideration, in the hope that a seed will be planted which will take root in the months ahead.
Most of you are presumably familiar with my proposal to make the old City Hall into a major museum. (See the May 5, 2008 posting on this blog entitled “A Major Museum in the Old City Hall Building.”) That idea aims to take advantage of the architectural refinement of the City Hall by making it into an attraction around which we can focus the revitalization of downtown Atascadero. In order to create a major museum in the old City Hall, we will eventually need to recruit a world class permanent collection of art or artifacts to put on display there. I use the word eventually, however, because we would not necessarily require a permanent collection from the day the museum opens. For a few years, while we are assembling a permanent collection, the museum could feature works lent by private collectors or institutions such as Hearst Castle and other museums with items that space limitations prevent them from displaying on their own premises. The option to display loaned items gives us some assurance that we will have adequate time to put together a permanent collection that is right for our unique venue.
With regard to the kind of collection that would be right in the old City Hall, the idea occurred to me of creating a Utopian Collection. This theme would be ideally suited to Atascadero, as a community that was founded as a utopian community, and to the old City Hall, as a structure that was built to be the centerpiece of that utopian community. In addition to some selected artifacts from the original Atascadero Colony, the collection could include significant works of art depicting utopian ideas or scenes, historically important artifacts from utopian communities and societies around the world, rare books and original writings on utopian themes, and possibly even films focusing on utopian themes. With the wealth of diverse materials that exists on utopian-related subjects, putting together a world-class Utopian Collection to house in the old City Hall would be a fascinating and rewarding project.
Based on the preliminary research that I have done, there does not appear to exist anywhere else the kind of Utopian Collection of which I am speaking. If we were to assemble such a collection, therefore, we would have the advantage of being unique. Though there is not already an existing collection of utopian art or artifacts, the importance of the concept of utopia has received considerable recognition, especially in scholarly circles. For example, there is a Society for Utopian Studies, a Utopian Studies Society, a Utopian Studies Journal, a Utopian Visions website and the Arthur O. Lewis Utopia Collection of more than 4,000 rare books at Penn State University. The interest in the topic is understandable, as the idea of a perfect world or society has exerted a powerful influence over man since the beginnings of civilization, in both the west and the east. Utopian visions have inspired governments, religions, movements, societies and cults throughout history, and they continue to do so. Because of this, a major collection of artworks and artifacts on utopian themes could be expected to arouse considerable interest and draw many visitors to our showcase building in Atascadero. A big-time Utopian Collection could also excite the interest of some university professors in the Central Coast, who might be influenced by the availability of the museum’s resources to develop curriculums and scholarly centers devoted to utopian themes, adding further to the importance of the collection. In addition, schools throughout the area could use the museum and its resources to augment courses on social studies, history, literature, art, philosophy, sociology, political science and anthropology. And the commercial possibilities would be plentiful as well: Plaza Utopia, Utopian Village and Utopia Corners are just some of the positive images that developers might want to use in projects to be built in the surrounding area.
Those of us who recognize that the old City Hall can and should be rebuilt as a major museum need to give some thought to making it the site of the Utopian Collection. Showcasing a unique collection of utopian-themed artworks and artifacts in our architectural masterpiece would be a fitting way to bring life back not only to the old City Hall, but to Atascadero’s comatose downtown. As the site of such a Utopian Collection, we could be certain that Atascadero’s most important building has been put to its highest and best purpose.