The Joliet City Council narrowly approved the "Dome of Unity" sculpture for its downtown area at a meeting Tuesday.
In a 5-4 vote, council members agreed to spend $197,000 for the art piece. The proposed sculpture provoked a controversy, both among residents and city council members.
Council member Jan Quillman said now is not the right time to be investing this much money in an art piece
"We have sidewalks and roads and bridges that need to be fixed," she said at the meeting. "I don't know how we don't have more lawsuits from people tripping on these broken sidewalks. We need to fix our infrastructure before we go into the arts."
Council member Pat Mudron was among those who voted in favor of the sculpture. He said while infrastructure investments will always remain the top priority, there should also be room to fund cultural investments.
"Cultural investments like this do not compete with those priorities; they complement them," he said. "I know nothing about art, but I do believe in the process. There are are lot of people that put a lot of time in that are much more talented than I am understanding art."
During public comment, several people also voiced support for the sculpture, which is an open white dome that would be built according to a paper cut design.
It would be created Sijia Chen of Los Angeles and aims to symbolize community.
"Safe, boring art is forgotten, and bold art endures," said Erick Deshaun Dorris, a former chairman of the Joliet Arts Commission Public. "Art drives economic growth ... Public art improves community health, reducing stress and fostering connection, identity and belonging. Public art strengthens civic identity, reminding us that we are more than just roads and sewers. We are a collection of diverse communities, each with a story to tell."