The Americans for the Arts 2015 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review is open for submissions. The annual PAN Year in Review recognizes exemplary, innovative and creative public art projects completed in the previous calendar year, 2014. Up to 50 projects will be selected and presented at the Americans for the Arts Public Art & Placemaking Preconference happening June 10-12, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.

Two of the foremost banjoists in the world, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, have announced plans to donate profits from merchandise sales at an upcoming concert to the Confluence Project in Eau Clair, WI. The show will take place at the State Theatre in Eau Clair on February 27. 

The winter meeting of the United States Urban Arts Federation (USUAF) took place in New Orleans, LA on January 21-23, 2015 at the InterContinental New Orleans. The USUAF was updated on Americans for the Arts current programs and initiatives for 2015, and many conversations were had over the weekend around central themes of arts and diversity, creative equity, placemaking, and more.

Register today for the 2015 Annual Convention, taking place June 12–14, 2015 in Chicago!

The conference will take place at the Chicago Sheraton, with more than 40 breakouts, three keynotes, three preconferences, two Workshop Intensives, a dozen ARTventure Tours, and an opening reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art! 

Ceramic artist Paul Cummins commemorates the centenary of the outbreak of the first world war there with 888,246 ceramic red poppies gradually planted until November 11. More than 5 million people have visited the 4-month long art installation at the Tower of London which represents the 888,246 British or colonial lives lost during the First World War. The art installation was created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and set designer Tom Piper, and titled after a quote from the will of an unknown solider: “The blood-swept lands and seas of red, where angels fear to tread.”

Artist Mary Ellen Carroll unveiled her work Public Utility 2.0 as part of “Prospect.3: Notes for Now,” an international art biennial taking place in New Orleans until January 25^th. The project “aspires to nothing less than a reshaping of the policies and technology we use for wireless communication” by exploring the use of empty bandwidth dubbed by the Federal Communications Commission as Super Wi-Fi.

Continuing a long-standing partnership with Aetna in Hartford, CT, the Greater Hartford Arts Council has embarked on a project with the company that supports a local artist, raises the level of employee engagement and morale, and increases the presence of art at Aetna and in the community.

Americans for the Arts has just released its 2015-2017 strategic plan with a key focus on building recognition for the transformative power of the arts in all of our lives and communities in new ways.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the newly elected leadership of its four National Network Advisory Councils.

The Center for Innovation, Testing, and Evaluation (CITE) is being designed in Southern New Mexico to be a city without a population, soley for the purpose of testing technologies such as cell phone towers and microwave ovens.

Adjunct professor of the University of New Mexico, Sherri Brueggemann, worked with her students, the investing firm, and the architectural firm to do a call for artists to create public art for CITE. Four winners were selected from this process and their project ideas and artist statements are on display at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.

Artists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming are displaying public artworks showcasing the area as an artistic community. Jackson Hole Public Art artist-in-residence Bland Hoke started the project with a call for artists to develop temporary artworks along a strip of highway that leads into the town center. Artists are using abandoned gas station signs and creating new artworks which highlight the local artist community.

October is the month to #ShowYourArt, meet up for Creative Conversations, and celebrate the role the arts and humanities have in shaping and improving our communities - it's National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM)! 

As people travelled over this summer and took selfies and photos with their friends, often times public art ends up part of the backdrop - or the main focus of instagram photos and the like, whether or not people realize it.

Our CEO, Bob Lynch, reminds people public art can be found anywhere and everywhere - and the value of public art to a community - in this month's Huffington Post article. 

Another “Freedom Rock” was unveiled in Wapello County, Iowa, painted by muralist Ray "Bubba" Sorenson II in a partnership between the Ottumwa Area Arts Council and local Vietnam Veterans groups. The 11.5 ton boulder has been transformed into a Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the town of Ottumwa and will lead the way for a planned Freedom Trail, linking the town's veteran tributes to one another.

Would you like the opportunity to influence Americans for the Arts programs/services? Now's your chance, it’s election season here at Americans for the Arts!

The riverbanks of Cumberland River in Nashville will be getting some new artwork along with the park in 2015. Seattle-based artists Laura Haddad and Tom Duggan are in design development of an artwork that will reflect the shape of the river. Forty-five feet high, artwork will be made of stainless steele and at night will be illumniated by multi-colored LED lights. Metro Nashville Arts Commission is commissioning the artwork and currentl has 38 public art projects in it's collection with six more in process over the next two years.

Artist Elizabeth Egbert, recently director of the Staten Island Museum, passed away on Saturday at the age of 69. She had worked around the country as a public artist with pieces in Mesa, Arizona and shown at the Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City. She was an artist, sculptor, and community activist. She was also an educator and taught at Hunter College and the College of the Arts in Philadelphia.

The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs launched the app "MI Amazing Art Tour" in July, with 209 artworks currently and plans to grow. 

Commissioned by art produces Situation, German artist  Michael Sailstorfer buried 30 gold bars stamped with "Made in London" at Folkestone Beach.

Public Art Network Council member Constance White will be the next Vice President of Public Art at the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Originally from Texas, White earned her BFA in art history from Southern Methodist University and worked for nine years for the Percent for Public Art Program at the Office of Cultural Affairs with the city of Dallas. Most recently she has spent the last eight years as the Art Program Manager for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

After 16 arrests throughout his career, street artist Shepard Fairey is completing the first of three murals as a commission through the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Civic leaders in Elko County, Nevada are supporting the arts by commissioning a new public artwork. The editorial news column from staff of the Elko Daily Free Press encourages the growth of public art in the Elko County. In the editorial, public art is stated as a value to the community citing recent projects by the Neveda Department of Transprotation and a 9/11 memorial. Though the abstract works that were prominent civic artworks many have challenged communities, the value of a public artwork enhances a sense of place for the area. 

From August to September of this year, the Boston Arts Commission has commissioned eight temproary artworks to be installed at variouis intervals in the Roxbury neighborhodd of Boston. Artists range from high school students to emerging college studnets and locally-based artists. The artworks reference the history of Boston and the future of the city. As the the director of the Boston Arts Commission Karin Goodfellow stated, "We believe that public art is an expression of our passionate ideals, intellectual curiosity, and cultural narrative.

In Lafayette, Indiana public art is springing up in the West. Local artists Alexandria Monik and Aaron Bumgarner will be creating art that responds to their surroundings in the West Lafayette neighborhood. Monik takes on refurbishing a dilpated and closed bar by creating storyboard paintings on the shuttered windows and doors of the building.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) recently highlighted Sans Façon's "Hide to Show Better," a public art installation in Saskatoon which was recognized in the Public Art Network's 2014 Year In Review. During the program, juror Janet Zweig was invited talked about the judging process, why "Hide to Show Better" was recognized, and the role of public art plays in communities.

Americans for the Arts needs YOU to help us test the Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review Database. The database allows you to search and find details about past works recognized by the PAN Year in Review from 2006-2013. Information about awardees from 2000-2005 will be added by the fall of 2014.

With grant support, a temporary display of public art has been installed along the Yahara River in the city of Madision, Wisconsin. Five local artists were awarded compensation funds to develop artworks that respond to the Yahara River. Some of the artworks are more responsive to the history, such as Thomas Ferrella's “Black Hawk Yahara: A River of Tears”. As stated in the original article, people have come to the river walk to see the artworks and are excited by the visual impact of the exhibition.

The leadership of Intersecton for the Arts in San Franciso has issued a press release pertaining to their recent lay-offs and long-term financial struggles. The organzation has made changes recently to help combat some of the challenges, however the Board of Director Chair and Interim Director still had to make drastic descisions this week. The organzation has laid-off many of their programming and support staff, but are still moving along with their fiscal sponsored work.

On May 24th the new 30-acre park on Governors Island will open to the public and will be the location of several public art pieces and the beginnings of a new public art program. Artists like Susan Philipsz and Mark Handforth have created artworks specifically for the site. Upcoming works will include a permenat sculpture by British artist Rachel Whiteread.

In the beginining of February the Public Art Network (PAN) Council members came together in Los Angeles, CA for thier annual winter meeting.