Editor,

Regarding the “Angel” statue survey, I was an art broker in Carmel, Calif., for years and my experience taught me a few things about art and the general public. Many people believe that anything identified as “art” is special.

The main questions I was always asked were, who was the artist, how old is he — hoping he will die soon and double the value — and is he well known.

Here was my bottom line: just because something is labeled as art does not mean it has any value. Most people cannot pick art; it picks them. The best pieces of art purchased are the ones that grabbed one’s heart via a memory or a thought.

It is often the image that you saw on Monday and had to go get on Tuesday because it had a hold on you. Perhaps it showed as visual poetry or it is like the shelter puppy you had to adopt because he chose you.

The “Angel” sculpture, in my opinion, has no connection to Whidbey Island or to any memory here. The carved Salmon Woman at Rosario beach flushes me with feeling. Roger Sherman’s work makes me proud of Whidbey’s heritage.

A carved stone found on a local beach would mean more than the Angel sculpture that has nothing to do with our lives here. Please do not judge art because it is labeled as art. Wait for something that you feel in your heart.

Mike Starring

Depot Bay, Ore.

Formerly of Oak Harbor