Publicly funded art is like blown glass — it’s lovely to some, considered dangerous by others. The perspective, it seems, rests in the eye of the beholder.

This week, the Langley City Council decided to risk a bit of color by agreeing to fund the temporary placement of public art on Second Street. They were right to do so. Many cringe at the very thought of tax dollars being spent on the superfluous, but cultural expression through public art has been a mainstay of civilization for thousands of years, and the cost, in this case, is hardly excessive.

Imagine how much dimmer the world would be today had the Greeks and later Romans decided that such extravagance was unworthy of public investment, or if Michelangelo’s frescos didn’t decorate the Sistine Chapel, or more recently that the United States turned away France’s gift of the Statue of Liberty, which is perhaps one of the grandest displays of art in the world today and is renowned the world over as a symbol of freedom and liberty.

For that matter, there are masters right here on South Whidbey who have left an indelible mark on Washington: what would Pike Street be without Rachel, the bronze pig created by Clinton’s Georgia Gerber? It’s one of the signature features of a market that has put Seattle on the map.

Of course public art isn’t perfect, and the selection of it can be a tiresome and occasionally controversial headache. The difficulty lies in subjectivity; what appeals to one may simply be an eyesore to another.

The solution is to make the process public, and that’s just what the city did. The Langley Arts Commission called for submissions, reviewed those that came in and forwarded its recommendation to the city council. Those decision makers then endorsed the suggestion of that citizen group, successfully divorcing themselves from the selection and acting only as overseers.

As public art projects go, this is also one of the more clever approaches. The two works to decorate Langley’s recently renovated Second Street are being essentially rented for a period of one year for $600 each. The city has the option to buy them later, but if it’s not a good fit they’ll be gone by this time next year. It’s a nifty way of addressing the prickly issue of subjectivity while also giving both emerging and established artists a chance to shine and represent their communities.

Public art is a vehicle of expression and of a society’s time and role in history. It’s a worthy expense, especially for $1,200.