


Art in public space
There are many disciplines and talents, so before I lose a lot of time describing such important topics myself, I paste the text that describes exactly what I would like to share about Public Art Spaces:
(https://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/PublicArtNetwork_GreenPaper.pdf)
Why Public Art Matters
Cities gain value through public art – cultural, social, and economic value. Public art is a distinguishing part of our public history and our evolving culture. It reflects and reveals our society, adds meaning to our cities and uniqueness to our communities. Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas. Public art is freely accessible.
Cultural Value and Community Identity
.... cities and towns aspire to be places where people want to live and want to visit. Having a particular community identity, especially in terms of what our towns look like, is becoming even more important in a world where everyplace tends to looks like everyplace else. Places with strong public art expressions break the trend of blandness and sameness, and give communities a stronger sense of place and identity. When we think about memorable places, we think about their icons – consider the St. Louis Arch, the totem poles of Vancouver, the heads at Easter Island. All of these were the work of creative people who captured the spirit and atmosphere of their cultural milieu.
Absent public art, we would be absent our human identities.
The Artist as Contributor to Cultural Value
Public art brings artists and their creative vision into the civic decision making process. In addition the aesthetic benefits of having works of art in public places, artists can make valuable contributions when they are included in the mix of planners, engineers, designers, elected officials, and community stakeholders who are involved in planning public spaces and amenities. Artists bring their own creative skill set to those conversations, which can also inspire creativity in others, ideally bringing the means of decisions and problem-solving to a more responsive and imaginative result. There is a public art continuum that appreciates the varied creative intentions and roles that artists may bring to a project. Artists may be invited by an official entity, a project may be artist-initiated, or work may take the form of a non-sanctioned artistic endeavor. However, artists inevitably bring personal and distinctive interpretations to each idea, site, social construct, and aesthetic potential. In this way, artists can be social and civic leaders, advocating through art for alternative perspectives that can challenge assumptions, beliefs, and community values.
