Arts Intranet

Liesel Fenner

 

We had a variety of best practices covered during our annual Public Art Network (PAN) Blog Salon this week. Let’s wrap it all up with a major thanks to our 'lucky' 13 bloggers who shared their experience and lessons-learned of best practices from across the country. According to Jimmy LeFlore’s post, we can have cake and eat it, too. If only public art were so easy to produce: mix ingredients, stir, set timer for one hour, ding, it’s done! And cake baking requires partners as Jessica Cusick espoused, for the creation of all public art ‘Takes a Village!’ However, as Jimmy also said, we can’t eat our cake if we don’t if we go to the (best practices) gym. Other lessons covered this week included:

• Potential worst practices in the field.
• A reminder to make sure you take care of yourself when working on any aspect of public art projects.
• Artist selection was a big umbrella for the inclusion of lots of ideas on how best to administer the process, including best practices in RFPs.
• The thorny issue of copyright must be addressed in contracts before completion of a project.
• How well pieces will be maintained and conserved is vital. Dare we dictate a de-accessioning date?
• No public art administrator must go it alone.
• Remain connected to the PAN and form a regional group of colleagues in your locale.
• Our networks are how we not only get technical assistance and shore-up support, but it’s the critical lynch-pin in marketing your program and projects. 
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Americans for the Arts' Public Art Network Year in Review program is the only national program that specifically recognizes public art projects. Up to 50 projects are selected annually through an open-call application process and selected by two to three jurors. The projects are available on CD-Rom in our bookstore and include a PowerPoint, data and project list, and hundreds of project photos. With our 2013 Public Art Year in Review nomination process slated to open later this month, we will be spotlighting a few former winners on ARTSblog.

Today's project is From Here to There: High Trestle Trail Bridge which was honored in 2012.

Photo by Kun Zhang

Americans for the Arts' Public Art Network Year in Review program is the only national program that specifically recognizes public art projects. Up to 50 projects are selected annually through an open-call application process and selected by two to three jurors. The projects are available on CD-Rom in our bookstore and include a PowerPoint, data and project list, and hundreds of project photos.

Our 2013 Public Art Year in Review nomination process is now open through April 5, so be sure to nominate a project as we continue spotlight former honorees on ARTSblog.

Today's project is The Peanut Farmer which was honored in 2012.

"The Peanut Farmer" by Charles Johnston

Americans for the Arts' Public Art Network Year in Review program is the only national program that specifically recognizes public art projects. Up to 50 projects are selected annually through an open-call application process and selected by two to three jurors. The projects are available on CD-Rom in our bookstore and include a PowerPoint, data and project list, and hundreds of project photos.

Our 2013 Public Art Year in Review nomination process is open through April 5, so be sure to nominate a project as we continue spotlight former honorees on ARTSblog.

Today's project is Your Essential Magnificence by James Edward Talbot which was honored in 2012.

"Your Essential Magnificence" by James Edward Talbot (Photo by Philip Rogers)

Nadine Wasserman

Each year as a highlight of the Public Art Network’s preconference, a panel of jurors presents its selection of exemplary public art projects from the previous year. The 2013 Year in Review jurors were Justine Topfer, Curator, Out of the Box Projects & Project Manager, San Francisco Arts Commission, CA; Norie Sato, Artist, Seattle, WA; and John Carson, Artist and Head of the School of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.From 350 submissions they selected 50 that were completed in 2012.

Since 2000, PAN’s Year in Review uses an open call submission process from which the panel selects up to 50 projects that represent the most compelling works from across the country. This year’s jury prefaced their presentation by explaining that although they had different points of view they agreed on all of the choices and were careful to recuse themselves during the deliberations from those projects where there had conflicts of interest.

In their introduction, the panel explained that this year they noticed an increased number of projects using light and technology, an interesting trend towards multiple or groups of artists working on one project, and the use of different funding sources with an increase in the number of projects initiated and funded by private developers. They also noted that there were fewer land-based projects and that in general it seems that the field is getting broader.

Every Beating Second

Former PAN Council member and Year in Review Award winner, Janet Echelman’s Every Beating Second, just premiered at Terminal 2 in the San Francisco Airport. Additional SFO artworks will be highlighted in the Travelers as Cultural Audience Public Art Preconference Session.

While all of that work is already being spotlighted at this year's Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, you still have time to share that spotlight.

The 2011 Public Art Network Year in Review is accepting project submissions until next Friday, April 22, 2011.