Military Cuts Yet State Department Can Purchase Artwork. Make Any Sense To You?

Would You Pay $400,000 For A Fiberglass Camel In Pakistan? The State Department Would

April 2, 2014 by Sam Rolley

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“The cupboard is bare. There’s no more cuts to make. It’s really important that people understand that … We cannot have cuts just for the sake of cuts.” — Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) in September 2013

As the U.S.’s debt continues to spiral out of control, the State Department has a plan to spend $400,000 in taxpayer money to place a fiberglass statue of a camel staring at the eye of a giant needle at the U.S. embassy being built in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A copy of “Camel Contemplating Needle” on display at Hall Wines in Napa Valley, Calif. CREDIT: HALLWINES.COM

Buzzfeed broke the story on Monday:

The work, by noted American artist John Baldessari, depicts a life-size white camel made of fiberglass staring in puzzlement at the eye of an oversize shiny needle — a not-so-subtle play on the New Testament phrase about the difficulty the wealthy have in entering the kingdom of heaven.

Officials explained the decision to purchase the piece of art, titled “Camel Contemplating Needle,” in a four-page document justifying a “sole source” procurement. “This artist’s product is uniquely qualified,” the document explains. “Public art which will be presented in the new embassy should reflect the values of a predominantly Islamist country,” it says. (Like the Bible, the Qur’an uses the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.)

The State Department’s “Office of Art in Embassies” (yes, it’s a real thing) is reportedly responsible for the decision to procure the fiberglass camel statue. A State Department official told Buzzfeed that the cost of art at newly constructed embassies is usually only about .5 percent of total construction cost.

The art dealer working with the government told Buzzfeed that $400,000 “is actually a very a reduced price for this sculpture… There is an art market that makes these prices, and this is one of the most prominent American artists.”

In a letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, questioned the spending on art that “the vast majority of U.S. citizens will never have the opportunity to view.”

The Representative also questioned the Department’s use of a sole-source contract, which eliminated any competition that could have provided for cheaper decorating options.

This isn’t the first time in recent history that the State Department has been accused of wasting taxpayer money.

Last year, the officials spent $1 million for a stack of granite blocks assembled into a cube by Irish-born artist Sean Scully to be installed at the new U.S. Embassy in London.

Other expenditures, as listed by The Weekly Standard, include:

[A] bronze sculpture, “Flowers”, by American artist Donald Baechler ($150,000), for the new U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; a mosaic mural by Miotto Mosaic Art Studio in Carmel, NY ($150,000), for the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil; and a work entitled “The Black Arch” by Saudi Arabian writer Raja Alem and artist Shadia Alem, for the new U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.