Public Spaces: Art
Public Art is a valuable tool for creating dynamic and sustainable places. Art that is created by the community and displayed prominently at locations within the community serves as an effective tool for creating unique and diverse locations and destinations. Public Art can also bring added texture to otherwise indistinguishable places.
RATIONALE
Today's national development patterns have become monotonous, resulting in an "Anywhere USA" of similar-looking strip malls, subdivisions, corridors and office parks. Public Art can be used to add fresh detail and uniqueness to an otherwise bland and repetitive landscape, helping distinguish a development or a community from its competitors.
Communities of “cookie-cutter” developments are ill-prepared for long-term sustainability because they lack defining characteristics that distinguish them from any other community. These developments fill up quickly when they are newly built but begin to flounder when the next, virtually identical development begins. With nothing to distinguish one development from the next, these developments will ultimately fail. Public Art helps create long-term distinctiveness that counteracts this trend. Public Art is also a full-fledged investment in the community by the community. When public funds are used it is a community investment. When local artists are employed to create the art it is a community investment. And when the community interacts with and engages with the art it is a community investment.
EFFORT REQUIRED
Typically Public Art is funded by the local municipality. In some cases a local government will dedicate a percentage of the budget of a public project to the design, construction and installation of Public Art. Some communities have used local bond referendums to aid in the funding of Public Art throughout the community. Other communities require new private developments over a certain threshold cost to include Public Art.
BENEFIT
- Provides an opportunity for public investment
- Introduces unique design characteristics into otherwise indistinguishable developments
- Can serve to create a destination and a draw
- Can provide the "postcard" opportunity for a community in need of a defining image
RISKS
- Many of the benefits generated by community art are not tangible – you can’t always quantify it or identify revenue generated from it.
- Art can be controversial, so it is important to understand what the community will embrace
- Public Art must be properly integrated into the built environment and ensure that public flow is preserved
ACTION AGENT(S)
Planning Department, Economic Development Department, Mayor and Council/Commission, Public Art Commissions or advocacy groups, local development community
COST
Policies that require minimum investment in Public Art by public or private developments can be adopted at little or no cost. The cost of design, construction and installation of Public Art varies according to the project.
