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.

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.

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.

This collection of original essays takes a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the theme of failure through the broad spectrum of public art and social practice. The anthology brings together practicing artists, curators, activists, art writers, administrators, planners, and educators from around the world to offer differing perspectives on the many facets of failure in commissioning, planning, producing, evaluating, and engaging communities in the continually evolving field of art in the public realm. As such, this book offers a survey of currently unexplored and interconnected thinking, and provides a much-needed critical voice to the commissioning of public and participatory arts. The volume includes case studies from the UK, the US, China, Cuba, and Denmark, as well as discussions of digital public art collections. The Failures of Public Art and Participation will be of interest for students and scholars of visual arts, design and architecture interested in how art in the public realm fits within social and political contexts.

Public Art acknowledges the trend among contemporary museums to promote participatory and processual exhibition strategies meant to elicit subjective experience. At the same time it valorizes the object-oriented tradition that has long differentiated museums from other institutions similarly committed to public service and the perpetuation of cultural values. To blend and expand these aims, Hein draws upon a movement toward ephemerality and impermanence in public art. She proposes a new dynamic for the museum that is temporal and pluralistic, while retaining a grounding in material things. The museum is an agent, not a repository; and like public art, it interacts constructively with passing and transitory publics. As an actor with social clout, the museum has moral impact and responsibilities beyond those of the individuals that comprise its collective identity. The book should be read by museum workers and students, by arts and foundation administrators, critics, educators, aestheticians, institutional historians and theorists, and by anyone interested in the transmission of cultural concepts and values.

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.

Public art commissions--how to find them, how to get them. * First-hand advice from experienced public artists * Written by an artist for artists * Includes expert information on public art law Learn how to find, apply for, compete for, and win a public art commission. First-hand interviews with experienced public artists and arts administrators provide in-the-trenches advice and insight, and a chapter on public art law, written by Barbara Hoffman, the country's leading public art law attorney, answers questions about this complex area. Packed with details on working with contracts, conflict, controversy, communities, committees, and more, The Artist’s Guide to Public Art shows artists the way to cut through the red tape and win commissions that are rewarding both financially and artistically.

“What artists don’t know—but need to know.” —Jack Becker, Public Art Review A Comprehensive Guide to the Complex World of Public Art Learn how to find, apply for, compete for, and win a public art commission. First-hand interviews with experienced public artists and arts administrators provide in-the-trenches advice and insight, while a chapter on public art law, written by Barbara T. Hoffman, the country's leading public art law attorney, answers questions about this complex area. Packed with details on working with contracts, conflict, controversy, communities, committees, and more, The Artist's Guide to Public Art, Second Edition, shows artists how to cut through the red tape and win commissions that are rewarding both financially and artistically. This new edition discusses recent trends in the field, such as: how the political climate affects public art, the types of projects that receive funding, where that funding comes from, how the digital age impacts public art, how to compete with the increase of architecturally trained artists, and more. Written by an artist, for artists, this guide is packed with everything readers need to know: Finding commissions Submitting applications Negotiating contracts Budgeting for projects Navigating copyright law Working with fabricators And much more From start to finish, Lynn Basa covers all the steps of the process. With The Artist's Guide to Public Art, Second Edition, even readers without prior experience will be more than ready to confidently pursue their own public art projects.

A brief intellectual history of the idea of the art public. The Art Public explores the history of efforts to imagine a collective, general audience for art in the world. Oskar Bätschmann explores both written and pictorial evidence of the development of the “art public” as an idea and disentangles connections between art production, audiences, and actual reception. Two aspects shape the narrative: the transformation of the audience from passive recipient to active agent as well as satirical jabs at audiences by the likes of Cruikshank, Rowlandson, and Daumier. This sweeping account connects the ancient Greeks with Renaissance painters, modern writers, and contemporary movie stars in a deft survey of the ways we imagine art’s immediate impact on audiences and its afterlives in museums, galleries, and the world.

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