Jyväskylä drops market-square artwork after contract talks fail

Jyväskylä has abandoned plans for an artwork on its new market square after contract negotiations with the artists broke down, Yle reported. The city initially said the artists had not submitted detailed construction plans, but later acknowledged that wording in its statement was inaccurate.

The planned work, “Vipusen laulu” (“The Song of Vipunen”), was inspired by Antero Vipunen, a figure from the Kalevala. Visual artist Joonas Salusjärvi and poet Olli-Pekka Tennilä were behind the proposal. Tennilä accused the city of misleading the public after it said the plans had not been delivered.

“It is quite serious to give the impression that the city did not receive a plan from us,” Tennilä said.

Jyväskylä art coordinator Kirsi Pitkänen said the artists and the city had failed to reach an agreement and that the artists eventually withdrew from the project. She said the city council approved a draft in 2020, not the more detailed plan developed later.

Dispute over work and responsibilities

Tennilä said the artists prepared an initial proposal six years ago and later produced a detailed plan covering, among other things, an estimated two years of work and the basis for their fee. He also said he spent months working on the project without pay or a contract, describing the arrangement as exploitative.

The artists had no active commission from the city after May 2020, and the project resumed only around the turn of the year. Pitkänen said the cost estimate needed to be updated to reflect current prices before a contract could be signed. She said the artists could invoice the city for work already completed, adding that the city does not commission unpaid work.

Tennilä also objected to what he described as excessive liabilities compared with the fee. He said the artists would have faced the risk of hundreds of thousands of euros in contractual penalties for a net payment of about 20,000 euros.

Pitkänen said public art projects differ from, for example, exhibitions, and artists are typically responsible for contracts and materials related to their work. Construction calculations and fixings must be handled by building professionals, she said. The cost of subcontracting that falls to the artist is paid in addition to the artist’s fee.

Construction work on the new market square is under way. Its completion has been delayed in part by construction of a parking garage beneath Kirkkopuisto, which opened in November 2024.