Public Art By The Book

This is a nuts and bolts guide for arts professionals and volunteers creating public art in their communities, with information on planning, funding and legal issues.

The Everyday Practice of Public Art: Art, Space, and Social Inclusion is a multidisciplinary anthology of analyses exploring the expansion of contemporary public art issues beyond the built environment. It follows the highly successful publication The Practice of Public Art (eds. Cartiere and Willis), and expands the analysis of the field with a broad perspective which includes practicing artists, curators, activists, writers and educators from North America, Europe and Australia, who offer divergent perspectives on the many facets of the public art process. The collection examines the continual evolution of public art, moving beyond monuments and memorials to examine more fully the development of socially-engaged public art practice. Topics include constructing new models for developing and commissioning temporary and performance-based public artworks; understanding the challenges of a socially-engaged public art practice vs. social programming and policymaking; the social inclusiveness of public art; the radical developments in public art and social practice pedagogy; and unravelling the relationships between public artists and the communities they serve. The Everyday Practice of Public Art offers a diverse perspective on the increasingly complex nature of artistic practice in the public realm in the twenty-first century.

"In this wonderfully bold and speculative anthology of writings, artists and critics offer a highly persuasive set of argument and pleas for imaginative, socially responsible, and socially responsive public art.... "--Amazon.

This book takes a bold look at public art and its populist appeal, offering a more inclusive guide to America's creative tastes and shared culture. It examines the history of American public art – from FDR's New Deal to Christo's The Gates – and challenges preconceived notions of public art, expanding its definition to include a broader scope of works and concepts. Expands the definition of public art to include sites such as Boston's Big Dig, Las Vegas' Treasure Island, and Disney World Offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional rhetoric and criticism surrounding public art Includes insightful analysis of the museum and its role in relation to public art

Examining the changing attitudes toward the city as the site for public art.

This exciting new collection of essays by practicing artists, curators, activists, art writers, administrators, city planners, and educators offers divergent perspectives on the numerous facets of the public art process. The volume also includes a useful graphic timeline of public art history.

What makes a good schoolhouse? Beyond the basics of classrooms and library, a good school inspires students and teachers and enhances the learning environment through its architecture and its art. Nowhere is this principle better demonstrated than in the New York City school system, the largest in the United States, where a collection of more than 1,500 artworks has been assembled over nearly 150 years. This extraordinarily diverse group ranges from stained glass by Tiffany Studios to vast mural cycles commissioned by the WPA to modern and contemporary works by Hans Hofmann, Ben Shahn, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, and Vito Acconci. Education has been a priority for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and school construction and public art have expanded dramatically under his leadership. New school buildings have been commissioned from noted architects including Polshek Partnership, Pei Cobb Freed, and Arquitectonica, with installations by Tony Oursler, Sarah Morris, and James Casebere. Public Art for Public Schools provides a comprehensive and insightful account of the history and future of this program, lavishly illustrated with archival images from the Department of Education and handsome new photographs by the noted architectural photographer Stan Ries, which were specially commissioned for this publication.

In this groundbreaking anthology, twenty-two artists, architects, historians, critics, curators, and philosophers explore the role of public art in creating a national identity, contending that each work can only be understood by analyzing the context in which it is commissioned, built, and received. They emphasize the historical continuum between traditional works such as Mount Rushmore, the Washington Monument, and the New York Public Library lions, in addition to contemporary memorials such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Names Project AIDS Quilt. They discuss the influence of patronage on form and content, isolate the factors that precipitate controversy, and show how public art overtly and covertly conveys civic values and national culture. Complete with an updated introduction, Critical Issues in Public Art shows how monuments, murals, memorials, and sculptures in public places are complex cultural achievements that must speak to increasingly diverse groups.

"Public art is a manifestation of how we see the world-the artist's reflection of our social, cultural, and physical environment." Thus, Penny Bach introduces this fascinating history of public art in Philadelphia, narrated throughout with surprising anecdotes, biographical sketches, and more than 450 illustrations. She explores the artistic, historical, political, and social trends and events that caused the city to acquire such a rich and diverse collection of public art. Philadelphia's tradition of public art reveals the origins of our cyclic longing for public expression: the spiritual roots of Native American culture, the utilitarian needs of the colonial period, the civic glorification of American patriotism, the planning instincts that emerged from the industrial era, and the pursuit of originality and invention in the twentieth century. Guiding the reader through a chronological tour of the city's aesthetic holdings, Public Art in Philadelphia provides a sort of history of American monumental art in microcosm and offers a way to appreciate the public art we encounter, whether it is cast, carved, built, assembled, or painted.As the nation's first capital, Philadelphia began early to commemorate heroics figures, popular leaders, patriotic ideals, and historic events. From Lazzarini's marble figure of Benjamin Franklin to Pinto's Fingerspan in Fairmount Park, form Laurel Hill Cemetery's celebrated sculpture garden to Lipchitz's controversial Government of the People, and from William Penn atop City Hall to the colorful murals by the Anti-Graffiti Network, public art has continued to enhance, define, and challenge Philadelphians' perception of their city.With perhaps the largest collection of public sculpture in the world, Philadelphia's art acquisitions span the history of the United States. Bach examines the gradual transformation over three centuries of style, theme, and reception of statues, murals, and other art forms. Shorter thematic essays make "connections" between works, ideas, artists, and civic missions. A catalogue focuses on more than 200 individual works, noting the materials, dimensions, location history, and commissioning process, and suggesting the vast range of public art. The armchair tourist, for example, can visit Dickens and Little Nell in Clark Park, the John Wanamaker's Eagle, the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors in Fairmount Park, or the Julius Erving Memorial on Ridge Avenue, among many others. A set of maps encourage readers to view the works in their public context.Public Art in Philadelphia offers a unique tour of both the familiar and the overlooked treasures that give meaning to the public environment, that reconnect art to daily life, and that remind Philadelphia's visitors and residents of what was considered important to previous generations. Author note: Penny Balkin Bach is Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Art Association, the nation's first non-profit organization dedicated to the integration of art and urban planning. She is also the author of Form and Function: Proposals for Public Art for Philadelphia.

The definitive book on High Line art, the public art program on the High Line, one of the most popular destinations in New York City. High Art surveys the first five years of art on the High Line, the unique elevated park in New York City created through the repurposing of an abandoned railway line. Since 2009, when the High Line was opened to the public, nineteen million visitors have been witness to more than 100 public art projects animating the grounds of this unique "park in the sky." The works include sculpture, installation, billboards, video, performance, and sound works by a range of artists, from established figures such as John Baldessari, El Anatsui, Maurizio Cattelan, Gilbert & George, and Ed Ruscha, to critically acclaimed mid-career artists such as Carol Bove, Sarah Sze, and Mark Grotjahn. The High Line is steadily broadening the audience for contemporary art while pushing the boundaries of traditional public art programs. This beautifully illustrated volume features the High Line’s diverse projects thematically, including full-color images and short texts on the various projects, along with an introduction by curator Cecilia Alemani; an essay on the High Line’s effect on Chelsea, the neighborhood cultural hub where it is located; and a roundtable discussion about public art today.