One thing about great art is that it stirs emotion. Alan Berner’s excellent photo of the statue says it all; powerful, thick and heavy, created to reassure a failing Soviet political system of its supposed vitality. Hollow and echoing when knocked, like the political history it was born in. Lenin’s bloody hands, and Ukrainian yellow and blue paint, continue to help this art “educate.”
When the Soviet Union collapsed, I spent two years working on economic stability there. Lenin images were everywhere. I was told that as the system declined, Lenin was promoted even more. In Uzbekistan, I found a Volkswagen Beetle-sized Lenin head, lying on its side, in the mud. That seemed fitting.
As former president of the White Center Chamber, I will pay $25,000 (the asking price is $250,000 or best offer) to buy the Fremont Lenin and move it to the White Center business district, surrounded with educational kiosks to help tell its stories. That statue will increase business foot traffic in White Center by 20%.
Mark L. Ufkes, White Center