Public Art
"Studies have revealed that the arts and culture sector is a potent one for economic spin-off. It creates jobs, enhances tourism, and general quality of life, and results in spending in other sectors. The arts also promote community pride and offers healthy opportunities for participation by people of all ages, from children to seniors.” Smart Growth BC
A Public Art Plan for Strathcona County
Today, many communities in Canada have public art programs including the following places: Kelowna, Victoria, Whistler, Lethbridge, Moncton, Red Deer, Thunder Bay and Waterloo. There are over four hundred communities in North America that administer locally based public art programs.
Over the last two decades, Strathcona County has developed its permanent public art collection through direct artist commissions and community donations. Now is the time for us to formularize our public art interest through the development of a plan that:
- Sparks community participation in the building of our public spaces and encourages citizens to take pride in public cultural expression;
- Provides leadership in public art planning to develop the County’s cultural uniqueness, profile and support of the arts;
- Complements and/or develops the character of Strathcona County’s diverse urban and rural areas to create distinctive public spaces, which enhance the sense of community, place and civic pride;
- Increases public awareness, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts in everyday life;
- Provides equitable and accessible opportunities for everyone to experience public art; Encourages public dialogue about art and issues of interest and concern to Strathcona residents; and
- Supports public art projects that work towards achieving a more sustainable community, environmentally, economically, socially and culturally.
Public art has the ability to define a community by sharing stories, animating local traditions, transforming landscape and expressing community values and aspirations. Public art fits a much broader definition than art reserved for exhibition in a gallery or a museum space. In simple terms, public art is any work of art or design created by an artist to be sited in a public indoor/outdoor space. Public art can tower several stories high or call attention to the pavement beneath your feet. It can be cast, carved, built, assembled or painted. Whatever its form, public art attracts attention.
Why public art?
The impact of public art on a community is priceless and immeasurable and once experienced, the value only appreciates. Public art has the power to energize public spaces, arouse creative thought and transform the places we live, work, and play into more welcoming and beautiful environments that invite interaction. Public art can make strangers talk, children ask questions, and calm a hurried life. Public art can enhance the quality of life by encouraging a heightened sense of place and by introducing works of art that can touch viewers today and generations to come.
What are the benefits of public art?
Beyond its enriching personal benefits, public art is a true symbol of a community’s maturity. Public art increases a community’s assets and expresses a community’s positive sense of identity and values. It enhances roadsides, pedestrian corridors, and community gateways; it demonstrates unquestionable civic and corporate pride in citizenship and affirms an educational environment. A community with public art is a community that thinks and feels.
Last updated: Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Page ID: 7624