Americans for the Arts

Water Mover by Jenny Heishman

Forty exemplary public art projects were selected by curators, Janet Echelman and Mildred Howard and presented June 20, at the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in Seattle.

The Year in Review saw a record 304 submissions this year, making for a difficult and rigorous selection process.  The jurors scrolled through hundreds of images and project descriptions on a myriad of diverse works projects that debuted in 2008. Of the 304 projects selected, one third were commissioned through percent-for-art ordinances. This percentage seemed smaller than expected, indicating projects are being produced through non-traditional policy mechanisms. In addition, one-third of the projects were developed through a master plan, indicating cities are concertedly implementing long-term public art goals, visioning projects within their city’s urban planning and development.

As Manager of Public Art at Americans for the Arts, I wanted to familiarize our constituents about the Public Art Network (PAN) and the tools and resources available to enable arts professionals to create public artworks and programs in their communities.

PAN was initiated in the late 1990’s by a group of public art professionals from across the nation and Americans for the Arts officially adopted the network in the year 2000. PAN serves a membership of over 1,000 public art programs and artists nationwide and operates with a fifteen member-elected Council of advisors.

One of the first questions people often ask is: “what is public art?”

I woke up this morning all ready to come in and write about the recent NY Times article "Emancipated from the Shadows" (published April 17, 2009) --- as follow-up to my recent post about St. Augustine's Church, the slave galleries, and City of Memory's model to share story about place through technology. [The article is a short read and offers some great background (and a slide show), plus we find out the church will open the restored galleries for tour at the end of this month]. However, sitting down at my computer and looking through my email, I found a great posting from ArtsJournal on place-based public art in St. Helens (England), which I didn't want to lose!

A group of 14 miners - former workers at the Sutton Manor Colliery in St. Helens - working together with The Art Fund and the Arts Council of England, partnered with artist Jaume Plensa (well-known Spanish artist and sculptor --- his works inlcude Crown Fountain in Millenium Park in Chicago, and Blake in Gateshead atop the Baltic Center for Contemporary Arts in Gateshead, among many others) to create the new work, entitled Dream. Part of Channel 4's Big Art Project Initiative,  Dream is a 20-meter (or metre in this case?) high sculpture made from 90 panels of pre-cast concrete, precisely lowered into place (the last piece was added on April 21).

Gary Conley, a former miner says, "There'll never be another mine here and we didn't want the mine to die as a whole."

Plensa says, " When I first came to the site I immediately thought something coming out of the earth was needed. I decided to do a head of a nine-year-old girl which is representing this idea of the future. It's unique."  Check  out the brief article (and accompanying video) on BBC News UK.

When flying to Alaska, I recommend choosing a window seat. The flight was long, but the view out the airplane window, spectacular. The snow covered mountain landscapes sloping down to narrow lines of frozen rivers were one of the mesmerizing experiences from the journey. As the flight descended into Anchorage, the landscape was like none other, pines peaked above the mist and the frozen ice at water’s edge cracked into patterns reminiscent of desert alluvial fans. This was no desert. Welcome to Alaska.

As Manager of Public Art for Americans for the Arts, I was invited to present at the Alaska Arts and Cultural Conference sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Getting out of the office and into the field--connecting with the creative professionals, administrators, artists, civic leaders and more--is the most rewarding part of my job. Meeting the Alaskan arts community was an honor and a rare opportunity as Executive Director, Charlotte Fox attested to in her opening welcome. Traveling to Anchorage from within Alaska is a journey in itself. The joyful spirit of what it took for everyone to get there, to re-connect with friends and colleagues was evident from the din of hugs and greetings heard throughout the hotel ballroom and this same warmth was felt even outside in the cold as many of us took in the beautiful ice sculptures on display this time of year downtown.

Interview by Christopher Jagers (CEO, SlideRoom) with Jay Sullivan, Professor of Sculpture and Chair, Division of Art: Meadows School of the Arts. This is the second of two parts: 1)In the Public Eye and 2) Behind the scenes.

Part II, Behind the Scenes

CJ: In regard to education, is there much communication between Public Art agencies and the Universities?

There is not much. If there is, it usually comes from the University making an initiative. Sometimes we propose to do something. 

Interview by Christopher Jagers (CEO, SlideRoom) with Jay Sullivan, Professor of Sculpture and Chair, Division of Art: Meadows School of the Arts. This interview will be posted in two parts: 1) In the Public Eye and 2) Behind the scenes.

Part I: In the Public Eye

CJ: When I first asked you to do an interview with you about "Public Art," what did you immediately begin  thinking about?

JS: I first thought of Foucault's idea of Heterotopias: spaces within a space, where a certain kind of special activity can take place, both within and also slightly outside of society. Classic examples of this are hospitals, insane asylums or graveyards. These are places where society can have safe conversations about things that they don't want to deal with all the time or everywhere. Ironically, when I think about Public Art, I think about the Percent for Art Project and this notion that we seek to beautify train stations, airports and other things. There is a heterotopic feel about that.  On one hand, it is defining certain structures (usually municipal) as being public in a way that other spaces (like major street intersections) are not.  For instance, if I put a big sculpture at a major street intersection, I could get into more trouble (aesthetic) than if I put the same piece of sculpture in a train station—the spaces are “public” in different ways and we expect different things to happen there.

(Kelly was a participant in the Americans for the Arts Knowledge Exchange, Public Art Master Planning: Developing a Plan for your Community held Dec. 5-6 in Reston and Arlington VA)

What a vibrant and energetic exchange! The room is resounding with willingness to share. Today's schedule was coordinated masterfully, encouraging learning and interaction, and inspiring individuals toward positive change. The morning began with a presentation by Robert E. Simon on the importance of Public Art to Reston's early master plan. His passion conveyed how timely the bravery of such an innovative development was.  Some of the success of his bravery is evident through the level of cherish-ment held by current and past community members. Simon led us on a walk around the historic elements of Reston, lit with his references to treasured memories - one in particular worth noting: a child embracing a Reston public sculpture so intently as to refuse to his mother to Ever abandon the new found play scape.

Before I start blogging, I thought it would be a good idea to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Diane Ruggiero and I am the Superintendent of Cultural Arts for the City of Asheville. My division is in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department and I oversee public art, cultural arts programs at our 11 recreation centers and 50+ parks, and festivals. The position has been here for almost six years and my one-year anniversary is in January (although some days it seems that I’ve been here longer).

We are really excited to be heading to Seattle for the 2009 Annual Convention. Although Americans for the Arts hosts the convention, it is really YOUR convention. You are the presenters, participants, and consumers of this event. You are the ones who make it successful. We just set the stage for you to connect, listen, and learn from one another. 

We are currently accepting proposals to present. DEADLINE: AUGUST 1.

Below are some suggestions for what separates a good proposal from a weak proposal.

I always look forward to Convention, but this is especially interesting because of the host city—Philadelphia. Last year I applied to a several graduate programs in urban planning, urban design, and historic preservation. Among my primary criteria was the opportunity to live in a city that could serve as an interesting urban lab, one that was experiencing a great cultural renaissance and recognized the value of art and culture within their urban infrastructure. It’s no surprise that I spent a good portion of the year highly considering life in Philadelphia.

Career 360 is a new, innovative dimension of our Annual Convention. So far,
the feedback we have been receiving confirms that lots of people are really
excited about participating in a full menu of discussions, appointments
and sessions.

At Career 360 Clinics, we have the best consultants in the country at your feet.
Looking for advice on your organization’s strategic, fundraising or marketing
plan? What about your community’s cultural policy plan or your local creative
economy initiative? Ask questions about public art master plans. Meet with
some coaches. Talk to arts administration faculty.

To make the most
of this opportunity, come prepared with specific questions, issues and topics.
You will only have 30-minutes – !use it wisely! - but you will get pointed
in the right direction for next steps.

The consultants
listed below will be available for 30-minute appointments. Sign up will be
available at CenterStage on first come, first serve basis.

Even though Congress is still working on the final details, an economic stimulus check from the federal government is likely coming your way in a few months. So if you are not going to deposit your check into your savings account or pay off that nagging debt, why not skip that new designer handbag, iPhone, or flat-screen TV, and put some of the money towards a proven economic revitalizer—the arts?

The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year and supports 5.7 million full-time jobs. The arts provide the key to community revitalization and economic development while still being true to their fundamental purpose: to delight, to inspire, to challenge, to educate. Investing in the arts attracts and retains creative professionals, and helps foster a vibrant environment that is vital to community culture, entertainment and a thriving economy.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce our Council election results. Below are your peers from across the country who will be serving on the following Councils starting next year. Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations and who voted online. We are looking forward to working with these leaders throughout their terms.

Arts Education Council
Emerging Leader Council
Public Art Network (PAN) Council
United Arts Fund (UAF) Council

Recently, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) celebrated 25 years of sponsorship of the arts and they decided to celebrate the public art way. Since they wanted greater logo real estate as corporate sponsors, they decided to commission original works and installations on their own. This session presented a case study of UTC's sponsored public art in Madison Square Park, NYC and Broadgate Arena, London, UK. The most interesting component of this case was how they used surveys, conducted by Audience Research & Analysis, to measure the impact of this endeavor.

How to you measure the value of public art, which by nature, has a more elusive, serendipitous, and iterative visitor experience than say a theatre or museum?
How can you design an assessment survey that documents valued added to both the consumer as well as the sponsor? (The presenters generously shared their powerpoint with me for this blog).

We are pleased to announce our new and expanded employment resource: Americans for the Arts Job Bank. 

You have told us that you are concerned about who will be the next generation of leaders in our field. We hope this service will facilitate your search and become a one-stop shop to help you get connected to top arts employers and job seekers, including new leaders in the field all across America. Our strength is in our numbers-about 60,000 visits to our website per month-which will only increase your visibility.