Arts on the Point's latest initiative has been to open lines of communication with the community to facilitate further installations. Wendy Barring Gould is the latest member of the Arts on the Point team. Since June, she has been working as the director of educational programs and community outreach, seeking to establish community discussions. Gould claims that when the sculpture park was launched, its directors assumed that a community liaison at the college would be handling such communication. Tucker reports that he did not originally know of the existence of the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, but had deliberated plans with the merchant organization, Columbia Point Associates. And since controversy didn't explode until the second major outdoor piece was to go up, the deteriorating lines of communication proved to be a time bomb.

"I don't think it's so much about the art, but changing the landscape residents have come to know and love," claims Gould. After all, students at UMass Boston witnessed the installation of five uncontested pieces that have already elevated UMass in the contemporary art world. "Huru" was the only massive work on public grounds; the other pieces were set up within the university's bounds. "Steelworker," a figurative piece by Chicano artist Luis Jimenez, stands proudly in a Statue-of-Liberty-esque pose over the plaza. Though intended as a symbol of humanity against the bleak brick, "Steelworker" doesn't quite appeal to some beholders. Student Jeff Barret believes that the piece is "in keeping with the overall brutalist, industrial theme" of the UMass campus. "Looking at 'Steelworker,' I see something chrome, hard, cold. He doesn't look happy," comments Barret. "This whole place is brutalist. It could use a little levity," he adds.

The levity and aesthetic variation intended by Arts on the Point is more predominant in the organic forms of William Tucker, whose "Rhea," "Kronos," "Ouranus" and "Vishnu" sculptures dot the platforms by the Clark Athletic Center and McCormack building. "Vishnu," the most humanoid of his works, stands solo while the other three godlike representations are grouped together, as if involved in a secret dialogue. Dennis Oppenheim's playful pieces literally converse with each other. Located on the veranda of the Quinn cafeteria, "Black" is an installation of large pots and kettles that seem to have jumped straight out of Alice in Wonderland. With lids jutting out like pouting lips, the kitchenware sculptures resemble insulted individuals. The scene is narrated by a recording of Oppenheim's own voice muttering "B-b-b-b-black," a stuttered word that serves as social commentary and amusing dialogue as the all-black pots and kettles try to insult one another.

Alexander Calder, renowned for his kinetic sculpture, had his piece "Mobile" temporarily installed in the fifth floor atrium of the Healey Library. The lyric piece was loaned to UMass by the Fleet Financial Corporation before being sold a year later. The last series of installations is a group of 10 fantasy coffins from Ghana, on loan from the west Los Angeles gallery of Ernie Wolfe (Tucker's college roommate.) The coffins are an integral part of burial rites practiced by the Ga and other coastal Ghana communities.

Essaibi attributes the lack of contention over these pieces to their inconspicuous placement; they did not require public deliberation. The community group is not picking on the artwork itself, but on the infringement of public space-the association is likewise upset about the university's building of a campus center and acquisition of a pump house. Gould emphasizes the artistic strength of the Columbia neighborhood, calling it a "hip community" replete with artists and art-appreciation projects of its own. "I would 100 percent support a piece of artwork, whether I liked it or not, if it was preceded by a community process," states Essaibi herself.

In light of such feelings, a community advisory committee has been established, effectively breaking the silent spell with a community meeting on Oct. 19. The 15 members represent groups involved with Arts on the Point, like the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, the Boston Harbor Association, the Massachusetts State Archives, Boston College High School, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art, among others. Opening the lines of communication has spurred Arts on the Point back into action, as Tucker enthusiastically plans the installation of five new pieces: Tony Smith's infamous "Stinger," Ursula von Rydingsvard's cedar "Large Bowl with Mechanic," Gillian Jagger's "Resurrection," Willem DeKooning's "Reclining Figure" and Dennis Oppenheim's "Searchburst." He is financially fully committed to all the pieces and hopes to make installation progress over the next six months.

Such an advancement would inch Tucker towards his dream of enhancing UMass's environment while providing an educational opportunity to the greater Boston community. The artwork adds a humanistic element to the bland, monochromatic buildings of the UMass campus. More importantly, Arts on the Point seeks to bring challenging art to a population that might not otherwise encounter it. "I'm excited to be a part of a project that would place major works of contemporary sculpture in a very public setting where the population, by and large, would not ordinarily be exposed to it," says Gould. She recognizes that a spur-of-the-moment road trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York is not financially feasible for most students, and even local opportunities like the Museum of Fine Arts have become unduly pricey.