Presented as the opening address at the conference, Public Art Dialogue - Southeast, sponsored by the Durham Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, held in Durham, North Carolina, June 8-11, 1989.

[The author hopes to] provide an outline of the development of public sculpture and public art in America during the past one hundred years and to touch on some of the major themes this subject encompasses. . . . [and] to call into question a number of issues surrounding public art. First, what does the notion of invention imply with regard to the topic? Can we invent something that has been around for many thousands of years? Second, is the public art in this country so specifically American that it can be considered non-European and non-Asian? And finally, what is public art? Is it different from art in public places? [The author] noted three primary themes or missions that public artists have addressed continuously over an extended period of time in America:

1. The relationship of public art to memory and history.
2. The relationship of public art to landscape, to the American psyche, and to the whole notion of place.
3. The social utility or functionality of public art. (Summary, p. 4-5)