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City council decided Monday an economic slump is no reason to slash the program that puts creative installations next to major infrastructure projects.

Coun. Peter Demong had proposed cancelling for 2015 the program that sets aside up to one per cent of construction costs for public art, due to concerns that provincial or federal governments would slash infrastructure grants in their upcoming budgets.

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After several days of passionate public debate about taxpayer value and public art’s value, Demong’s motion lost 5-9. It got nowhere near the 10 votes needed to get council to reconsider this year’s budget.

“Obviously, public art is very important to a certain portion of society and they became very vocal,” the southern suburbs’ representative said.

To Charles Blanc, a U.K.-based artist in Calgary for the utilities’ department’s multi-year WATERSHED+ project, the vote and the city’s response represents more than a small segment.