Public Art

Art May Be Coming to New York City Sidewalk Sheds
Scaffolding and sidewalk sheds being a fixture of life in NYC, the city has decided to let artists do their thing with all that blank canvas.

Graffiti Wins Protected Legal Status in New York
A landmark judgement potentially paves the way for graffiti to be protected under the Visual Artists Rights Act.

Rise of the Instagram City
Cities have become obsessed with going viral.

The 'Deliberately Unkind' Public Art of the High Line
"You could be forgiven for reading the art as a message to less-than-opulent New Yorkers: You’ve lost your place," writes Michael Friedman.

Friday Eye Candy: Portraits Made Public—For Community Awareness and Placemaking
The "Inside Out Project: We Are Edison" installation posted large portraits of residents in the Kalamazoo neighborhood of Edison on the side of a building. The exhibition invites the community to take a look at itself.

Could Public Art on Utility Boxes Displace Communication?
There will be important functions in public space that are not always “art” whose value is not in proportion to their prettiness.

Trafalgar Square Shows How to Reuse Pedestals Where Statues Once Stood
Baltimore tore down its Confederate monuments, now they have an opportunity to showcase the city's artists.

Activating Artists as an Urban Resource
Planning and art don't traditionally mix, but that's changing. Embedded at NYC's Department of Design and Construction, artist Mary Miss envisions public art as an infrastructural aid.

Using Public Art to Make Sense of Wastewater Infrastructure
The city of San Jose and designers from the University of California, Davis have completed a community-led design process to raise awareness about the connections between the kitchen, sewers, and the environment.
Chicago's Wabash Lights Concept Could Expand
An art instillation of colorful LED lights hanging under the L on Wabash looks to grow.
Friday Funny: A Bus Stop With Funk in Melbourne
"All aboard to funkytown," writes Chloe Booker, transporting readers to a time and a place where the trains had soul and the bells had bottoms.

A Community Planning Process—Even a Good One—Is Not Enough
Simply inviting residents to participate in design charrettes or a community planning process does not mitigate the significant loss they feel as they witness the physical destruction of their homes and lived history.
Faced With Declining Population, Japanese Village Is Repopulated By Scarecrows
The population of Nagoro, Japan has declined in recent years from 300 to just 30 people. Local artist Tsukimi Ayano has populated the village with scarecrows to replace some of the familiar community figures who are now gone.

Horsey! Grassroots Public Art Connects People, Past, and Present
Never underestimate the power of whimsy in the built environment. A genuine and unconditional spirit of welcome and inclusion can be found in the most unexpected forms of participatory art.

Artist to Help Los Angeles Meet Vision Zero Goal
LADOT’s first artist-in-residence will engage the city’s many subcultures, and its lively art scene, in his effort to improve pedestrian safety.
Friday Eye Candy: See Boston's Invisible Poems
The "Raining Poetry" art installation hides poetry in plain sight—the words of poets like Langston Hughes are stenciled on sidewalks around Boston and only revealed when water is added.

Art at Seattle Bus Stops Only Appears When It's Raining
Seattle celebrates a transit project with public art that plays to the city’s strength: rain.

Street Artist Shepard Fairey Tackles Detroit
After billionaire landlord Dan Gilbert commissioned a mural, less-legal works in Fairey's style began showing up around the city. Detroit's case against the artist brings gentrification's ironies into focus.
The Lost History of D.C.'s Murals
Washington City Paper creates a record of the many murals that have been lost to new construction and shifting demographics in neighborhoods around Washington, D.C.

Public Art and the Urban Experience
A retrospective of a billboard art exhibition at the 2013 Biennial of the Americas on the occasion of the 2015 Biennial's kick-off implicates an excellent model of citizen engagement and possibly some lessons for civic leaders and urban planners.
Pagination
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