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Public Art 101

Public art is often site-specific, meaning it is created in response to the place and community in

which it resides. Though an asset to the community, the development and management of public

art can be a complex process. Learn here what public art is, why it is important to a community,

how it is developed and created.

WHAT IS PUBLIC ART?

Simply put public art is art in public spaces. The term “public art” may conjure images of

historic bronze statues of a soldier on horseback in a park. Today, public art can take a wide

range of forms, sizes, and scales—and can be temporary or permanent. It often interprets the

history of the place, its people, and perhaps addresses a social or environmental issue. Public art

can include murals, sculpture, memorials, integrated architectural or landscape architectural

work, community art, and digital new media.

WHY IS PUBLIC ART IMPORTANT TO COMMUNITIES?

Public art instills meaning—a greater sense of identity and understandings of where we live,

work, and visit—creating memorable experiences for all. It humanizes the built environment,

provides an intersection between past, present, and future, and can help communities thrive.

Public art has been found to provide a positive impact on communities by supporting economic

growth and sustainability, attachment and cultural identity, artists as contributors, social cohesion

and cultural understanding, and public health and belonging.

Finding public art in your area or places you visit can easily be found by searching online. Many

public art programs have created smartphone apps or online digital maps and databases of their

collection.

HOW IS PUBLIC ART DEVELOPED AND CREATED?

Public art is typically developed and managed by a municipal agency such as a local arts agency

or private entity such as a nonprofit arts organization. Public art may also be artist-driven, self-

funded, and created outside of an institutional framework. Public art projects, especially when

publicly funded, are typically part of development or construction projects that are part of a

larger urban development or cultural plan.

Public agencies that may implement public art include City Planning, Parks and Recreation, and

Economic Development departments. The commissioning entity distributes a request for

proposals or a request for qualifications for a designated project and selects an artist or team of

artists to implement the proposed work. Frequently, the selected artist(s) works with a design

team of interdisciplinary professionals including public art administrators, planners, architects,

landscape architects, and engineers. The most successful public art projects involve both the

artist and the community at the onset of the project.

HOW CAN I GET PUBLIC ART APPROVED FOR MY COMMUNITY? WHERE DO I

START?

The design for a proposed public artwork is typically approved by city’s art commission or art

council. Appointed members to an arts commission may include: artists, visual art and public art

professionals, designers, landscape architects, and planners. Following the art commission

approval of the proposed public art design, the permit to build the public art work typically goes

through a city’s building and zoning/permitting department. If the public artwork is temporary,

the project is often categorized as an event and goes through a city’s event permitting

department.

HOW IS PUBLIC ART FUNDED?

Public art is typically funded through the government, but increasingly through public-private

partnerships as well. Percent for Art is an ordinance or policy specifying that a percentage of a

city’s capital improvement project funds (CIP) are set aside for the commission, purchase,

fabrication, and installation of public artwork. Percent for Art ordinances typically designate

around 1 percent of the total construction or renovation budget. Percent for Art projects are

typically incorporated on a city-owned site such as civic center, library, plaza, or park.

Private developers are increasingly incorporating and funding public art in private development

projects. These public art projects may be funded through grants or loans to a program.

HOW ARE ARTISTS IDENTIFIED AND SELECTED TO CREATE A PUBLIC ARTWORK?

Public art programs commissioning public art projects either directly contact an artist(s) or use

an open or limited competition process. The most common is an open competition Call for

Artists giving artists the information they need to apply to be considered for a project. Call for

artists can be one of two types: Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or Request for Proposals

(RFP).

“Public Art 101.” Americans for the Arts, 27 June 2019, www.americansforthearts.org/.