Maggie Kunze’s farkled bus is about 3 feet over the line. That is, the property line over which the people next door want to build a privacy fence. And according to Kunze, they want to build the fence so nobody will have to look at her bus anymore.
Maggie's Joy Bus
But Kunze says the bus isn’t going to budge. She says it sits in a driveway the two properties have legally shared since 1924.
Besides, she says, if the owners next door, investors who live in another city, would talk with her, she could suggest several solutions for screening the bus that don’t include fencing her in.
Kunze lives in a 1900 shotgun house whose once generous lot was carved up in the 1920s, leaving her only a 10-foot-wide panhandle of a backyard. The shared driveway doubles the width of that part of her property.
The bus has been there for years, but property owners next door want to hide it now, says Kunze, because they’ve been unsuccessful at selling their property for the past year. They think Kunze’s farkle art may be part of the problem.
Farkling is the process of taking ordinary objects and making them “fun” and “sparkle.” Like this:
Farkled mirror and bust
And like this …
Farkled carport
And like this …
Farkled William Shatner shrine
Kunze’s house on North Washington is farkled inside and out (she’s a must see on your yard art tour…along with North Wood street, but that’s another post).
While many people enjoy her art, Kunze says she understands that farkle isn’t for everybody.
But she’s still not moving the bus.
So, the neighbors started the fence anyway, planting all the fence posts except for the one that would go directly under the bus’ radiator. They might have resorted to towing the bus off the property, but Kunze got a lawyer.
So what happens next?
The fence-building neighbors have turned down mediation. So, everybody goes to court– August 20th.
And, as you might guess, if that fence is ever built, Kunze plans to farkle it.
Farkling manniquin butts
Credit
Big thanks to well-connected Kate Forgach (whose Tattle Tales blog covers all Fort Collins arts doings) for alerting me to this one!
