Arts in Public Spaces

The original view of public art has evolved.  The term “Arts in Public Spaces” allows the realm of public art to include visual arts, heritage and performing arts.  It enables the traditional view of public art in regional Australia to expand from time-honoured sculptural and mural works to ephemeral art such as projections on walls, street performances or interactive recreational spaces.  Arts in Public Spaces should be about:

• creating avenues for community participation in the arts
• providing a vehicle for the sharing of ideas, stories and memories
• providing professional development opportunities for local artists through skill and knowledge exchange
• challenging and stimulating informed public debate and be a neutral meeting ground for that discussion
• encouraging the appreciation of difference in the community
• enhancing the growth of the creative and cultural tourism industries
• increasing the appreciation and enjoyment of the arts in our community
• enhancing the aesthetic in our lived and built environment.

Arts in Public Spaces can also sometimes provide an avenue for healing processes for social imbalances or displacement.  But above all else, public art must reflect the place.

Placemaking

'Place Making' is a term that originates from urban design.  It refers to the sustainable urban development of public spaces and precincts balanced by looking at the quadruple bottom line – the social, cultural, environmental and economic dimensions of a project.  The outcome is a place that enriches the community, sustains the environment and creates thriving hubs of activity (City of Melbourne 2004:34).

Integrating this way of thinking into the planning of arts in public spaces projects is vital.  The aesthetically appealing public artworks of the 1980s are not what the community today wants to represent the public face of their city or town.  If the artwork is not somehow connected to the place in which it exists through its people, geography, land use, environment, activities, its past events or future use, it will not connect with the community and will not reflect that community to its visitors (cf. Pisani 2005).

Community participation

There is no question that Arts in Public Spaces should be about engaging the local community in both the creative process or performance and encouraging their use of that public space in a positive manner.  It isn’t only the best aesthetic design that is the solution to engaging the community. 

Consultative and creative processes of working with the community need to be developed to address issues pertinent to them.  These processes can be initiated by the community itself or one of its cultural groups and can be used to determine a theme for an Arts in Public Spaces project or a story that can be told through art. The processes can physically engage the community in constructing or performing that artwork.  This community engagement can be embedded into a public art project at varying levels of intensity.

By creating public art projects that engage different sectors of the community that are connected to the particular place, the community can:

• build a sense of pride
• acknowledge a wrong doing of the past so that the community can move forward
• gain a sense of respect for the place or people involved and therefore of the artwork itself
• strengthen relationships or partnerships between sectors of the community
• exchange ideas
• break down barriers

Art in Public Spaces can be beautiful, healing, uniting, challenging or even confronting. The outcomes can be many and varied, but most importantly the artwork should be of and for the community.

Developing a brief for your project

The first step in developing an Arts in Public Spaces project is writing a brief to inform the conceptual development of the artwork, whether the artform is visual art, design or performance.  Often this is not something that can be done in-house.  A consultation process is recommended to develop the themes that the community or key stakeholders are passionate about addressing through public art.  You can engage an arts consultant to do this for you or perhaps host a community forum to capture ideas.

The project brief should include:

• theme/s arising out of community consultation for the artist to choose from
• information on the type of artwork desired
• information on the space where the artwork will be based
• any expectations of community involvement
• budget
• contact details
• selection criteria

Follow this link to find funding for your public art project - Funding Public Art.

Expressions of interest and concept development

Expressions of Interest (EOI) can be called to encourage artists to tender for the job.  Usually an expression of interest involves the submission of the following information from each artist:

• curriculum vitae
• images and documentation of previous work
• a written response to selection criteria
• a written concept for the artwork

It is not usually an expectation that the artist is required to submit drawings, marquettes or scripts at this stage of the project.  This is something for which the artist is entitled to be paid a fee.

It is recommended that you form a committee to narrow down your selection of artists.  Some communities have a Public Art Advisory Group that consists of artists, community, government and arts sector representatives to ensure informed decision making.

The committee may decide on the right person straight away, or you may feel that paying several artists a concept development fee to produce more detailed information would ensure the best outcome for your community. 

The selected artist/s should then be contracted and paid an agreed fee to develop a concept for the public artwork.  Make sure you outline what is expected to be submitted for final selection and approval from your committee, for example, a Marquette or drawings.

It is often a good idea to have these submissions publicly displayed for feedback. This helps the community to understand and embrace the project.  The final selection of the artist may be left up to the committee or a combination of the committee and public feedback. 

Project management

The successful project management for the development of public art is about:

• finding the right combination of creative freedom for the artist
• community involvement
• place and context and
• managing the project’s processes.

Assign someone to manage the project.  This may be a voluntary position within your organisation or a funded position.  You can apply for project management fees from the previously mentioned funding bodies as part of your grant application.  This allows the artist to concentrate on artistic practice rather than getting bogged down in the administrative issues of the project such as contracting and permissions.

Ensure you have a project plan that outlines the stages of your project, the activities involved in that stage, expected completion dates of the various stages with payment schedules and the expected deliverables.  This provides a clear guide to the artist and the project manager of what is expected of them.  You will need to develop a project plan if you are applying for funding for your project.

Follow this link to download the Public Art Management Flow Chart.

Issues that a project manager should be aware of include:

• local government planning approvals and local laws
• main roads approvals if the artwork is near a road under their governance
• the safety of the public during the production and installation/ performance as well as any ongoing safety issues such as protruding objects or tripping hazards. 

It is advisable to develop a risk management plan for your project; including what safety equipment may need to be provided to the artist and participants.  If the work is taking place near a road, this plan may be developed in negotiation with government authorities.

Public art maintenance

Many permanent public art projects are installed without consideration for ongoing maintenance.  For instance, if a painted mural is graffitied, who is responsible for repairs to the mural?  Developing an ongoing maintenance plan is essential.  Whether your organisation or a local government body takes on this task is something you will need to decide based on local requirements.

It is also important to take this aspect into consideration in the contracting of the artist.  You may be able to negotiate with them an hourly rate for on-call or regular maintenance of the artwork.  If they do not reside locally, the artist may be happy to assign this responsibility to a local organisation, business or other artists.  Ensure you consider the artist’s moral and legal rights when it comes to maintenance.