Award to be Presented at Americans for the Arts Convention in Chicago
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
This year, Americans for the Arts is honoring the Association for Public Art (aPA) with the Public Art Network Award. Given annually since 2003, the award honors innovative contributions to, and exemplary commitment and leadership in, public art.
Founded in 1872, aPA (formerly Fairmount Park Art Association) is the nation's first private nonprofit organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. Today, aPA commissions, preserves, promotes, and interprets public art in Philadelphia. They work with artists, communities, and civic leaders to make encounters with art a part of everyday life, creating a Museum Without Walls™ that is free and accessible to everyone. Working closely with city agencies, aPA is a central resource and contributor to Philadelphia’s enduring reputation as an important place to view and experience the evolution of public art. Through aPA’s ongoing acquisitions and temporary installations, interactive public programs and special events, publications, website, and social media, Philadelphians and visitors are invited to experience civic spaces enlivened by artists and art; to discover the city’s vast collection of public art; and to intimately engage with a shared cultural legacy.