Talk:The Spirit of Spanish Music

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Visual arts: Public art

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California: Los Angeles Low‑importance

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Sources[edit]

The current sources cited in the article are:

"Pomona College 2015 Campus Master Plan" (PDF)., www.pomona.edu/ is a 58 page PDF. The citation should give the page number. It is also not an independent source.
www.askart.com is a tertiary source. It would be better to cite the underlying sources directly.
"1915 Pomona College timeline"., www.pomona.edu/ is not an independent source, nor does it have the depth of detail needed to help much with notability.
Lebus Court, Pomona College"., arthistory.pomona.edu/ mentions the court, but not the statue. It is also not an independent source.
"The Pacific"., Volume LXVI, Number 46, 1916, page 9 \has one paragraph about the statue and its creation. Helpful, but not enough to establish notability
"The Boy With the Flute is Back"., arthistory.pomona.edu, 17 August 2015 is not independent coverage, and is only a single paragraph of coverage in any case.
Blackstock, Joe (17 June 2016). "Local sculptor gets his spot in the limelight again". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. This appears to be purely local coverage, and in any case has less than a sentence about the statue, although it has more about the artist.

As this stands, if put up for deletion as lacking notability, it might well be deleted. Several additional non-local reliable sources that deal with the statue in some detail (2-3 solid paragraphs at least) are needed . DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 20:27, 16 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I have done a major re-write of this article on the Burt Johnson sculpture, as well as the page on the sculptor himself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Johnson). I am very grateful for these suggestions and pointers, as I have learned a great deal (as a new Wikipedia contributor) about standards and practices within the WikiWorld. Thank you.

Allow me to add a few comments to help in the further evaluation of these pages. Considerable attention was given in the comments to the notion that the Pomona College-based materials were not "independent" sources. I see them as sort of semi-independent sources. They come from writers and articles published out of Pomona College, true, but they are mostly written by scholars and faculty of a major, accredited university, whose function is to curate the information as accurately as possible. It is not unusual to me that most of the detailed information about the sculpture ("The Spirit of Spanish Music") is centered at Pomona College, or its umbrella the Claremont Colleges Library, etc. since that's where the sculpture has always been located. As you will see in this revised article, the sculpture is mentioned in a wide variety of sources outside Pomona College, attesting to its importance (even if not adding much to its detailed documentation); moreover, the statue is discussed in many sources at the time of its inauguration (late 1910s), and it has been discussed somewhat widely again now that it has been restored. The restoration itself, it seems to me, is evidence of its importance, not to mention the fact that after 102 years, it is still in its original (outdoor) place.

As for "Spirit of Spanish Music" having its own page, when (in my opinion) it is sufficient for the other works of this artist to be listed on his "personal" WIki page, I have two reasons to offer. First, it is a work of "pure art", with clear influences from the history of art (Florentine sculptor Desiderio da Settignano), and it is an integrated part of the planned expansion of Pomona College in the mid-1910s, in which the style and name of the sculpture was intertwined with the architecture of the buildings. (Those buildings, especially the Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music, where the sculpture stands, were important achievements indeed, at the time - as indicated in several of the references now posted.) Second, the work has been restored. and highlighting it in this way helps further the cause of outdoor sculpture restoration (one of my pet causes, though I get no compensation for this effort, nor do I want or need any).

I agree the sculpture would not be considered noteworthy throughout the world; it is, however, a significant regional work of art by an important regional artist whose work is still evident in several states in addition to California, his home. I trust you will agree and, I assure you, if you have further suggestions, I will consider them seriously and with gratitude.

Seauton (talk) 02:46, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]