Art does not have to be "tasteful" to be good art. If I
remember correctly most strong pieces publicly displayed have met with varying
degrees of outcry. People object to non-objective pieces, abstract pieces
and realism. If we want public art short of memorial sculpture, we need to
expect outcry. I cannot see the point in funding "safe"
pieces.
Didn't we have an earlier discussion about memorials? My
feelings then were that we were rushing into memorializing an event before there
was time to come to terms with it emotionally. They are the same now.