Frankly, my dear, they don't give a damn

Frank the Baggage Handler will not be returning to his controversial public spotlight in the middle of a traffic circle. He'll likely never have his stone penis reattached either. So ends the saga of Penticton's infamous nude statue.

Frank is the nickname for a two-metre statue of a naked older man, carrying a suitcase, that sparked a ferocious debate about the nature of public art in this small Okanagan city. He was removed from a busy roundabout in late February after a series of attacks by vandals who knocked him off his mount and lopped off his tiny male appendage.

Local artist Michael Hermesh had asked the city for $20,000 to repair his sculpture. But earlier this week, city council voted unanimously to send The B aggage Handler packing permanently. Hermesh was given $300 to help with the removal and transportation of Frank's extra suitcases.

Curtis Collins, director of the South Okanagan Art Gallery and chair of the city's public-art advisory committee, was sanguine about Frank's fate. Although the vandalism was unfortunate, he says he can't help but be pleased by how the sculpture engaged the city in a discussion about art.

"I'll be honest with you, the idea of installation art is not so embedded here. But the gallery is on the front page all the time. We took a lot of heat at first, but now people are waxing nostalgically about the statue. The public-art advisory committee has doubled in size -- and everyone shows up for meetings. Attendance at the gallery is way up. And now that we're on the map, maybe we'll even nail the Canada Council money we've been trying to get."

Collins will soon be taking submissions for the next installation in this ongoing public-art project. He imagines the competition will be a lot more intense this time around.

And poor old Frank? A bistro, hotel and winery have all expressed interest in relocating him to their properties. Meanwhile, Wayne Collis, lead singer of a local band called Shaker Green ( http://www.shakergreen.dmusic.com) has immortalized his experience in the lyrics of a song called Frank the Baggage Handler:

I'm enslaved in the baggage,/ nobody's helping me.

I'm displayed like a savage/ that nobody wants to see.

Well if you want to run in circles/ I don't care.

Stop and stare/ just beware.

And if you want me to be someone you want to see

Well then you got to believe.

Frankly, you're not being frank with me.