|
Introduction
It is a great honor for me to be here in Taipei to speak about and share my thoughts on the field of Public Art in America and Boston in particular and what the trends in education and training are for this relatively young profession. I would like to thank especially Architect Huang Jiahn-Min who extended the invitation for my visit. I also want to thank and greet Mr. Lance Wang, who studied with me in Boston for three months during summer in 2006. He was a model student who you will be happy to learn brings back to his home country extensive specialized knowledge of the field of public art as it is practiced in America. Through him I have established a direct connection to Taiwan which I hope to continue to cultivate in years to come. Finally, I would like to note that Boston and Taipei are sister cities. So I bring very special greetings in that regard as well.
As the City of Boston and its metropolitan area will, in fact, serve as the focal point for much of this presentation, it is useful to provide a sense of its setting and physical aspect. In the image you see before you, a major American city with a rich tradition and history rises from the harbor and the Atlantic Ocean on the Northeast coast of the United States, the capital of the state of Massachusetts. It was founded in 1630 on what were essentially a group of small islands and a narrow peninsula. The modern city thus is in large part landfill reclaimed from the sea. It was of pivotal importance during the War of Independence at the end of the XVIII century., a fact memorialized in many monuments including this one of General George Washington at the entrance to Boston’s Public Garden . Today the city is a center for banking and finance, major medical and scientific institutions and other service industries. Over the past three and a half centuries it has merged physically with other adjacent towns such as Cambridge to form a metropolitan area with a population of more than 3 million people. Of special interest are the many colleges and universities among which the most famous will be known to most of you: Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tufts University, Boston University, and many others. Thus it is a major educational and intellectual center and a hub with a significant cultural tradition. Many of these educational institutions also have important collections of public art easily accessible to all which in turn offer opportunities for teaching.
I offer two contrasting examples of university public art collections. For many decades the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – a privately funded university - has sponsored an impressive collection. Some notable works include pieces by Richard Fleischner, Scott Burton and Kenneth Noland. In contrast, a public institution of higher learning, the University of Massachusetts Boston manages a collection of public sculpture on its harbor-side campus. It is unique in that the pieces are not purchased but are on long-term loan from artists, art galleries, dealers, private owners and artist estates. It is a model program for a public institution of higher learning without the monetary resources of a private university like MIT.
Public Art as a Field of Professional Activity
I have been involved with public art for most of my career over the past 25 years, all of that time in Boston. For the past seven years I have been the Director of the UrbanArts Institute which is hosted by Massachusetts College of Art, the only free-standing, independent public college of art and design in the country. Because the field of public art as it is understood in the United States goes back to the early to mid 1960’s, it is fair to say I have observed the development of this field for a large portion of its history and have been lucky enough to participate in it and contribute to it as well.
To start my exploration of the topic at hand, I would like to quote Jack Becker, Editor of Public Art Review, the United States’ major national journal for public art. This comment is made in the Foreword to the 2006 spring/summer issue dedicated to the current state of public art education in the US. Mr. Becker states: “Of course there are opportunities for young people to learn how to paint, sculpt, act, write, compose, and perform. But with few exceptions, the mention of public art is absent from the classroom. It’s not in the history books, it’s not part of Art 101, and it’s hard to find in the school library. Yet if you Google ‘public art’ you get 590 million hits!”
The number is perhaps startling. What is not surprising to me given my background is the level of interest the audience who experiences public art has for art in public settings. Yet the educational institutions at all levels have only recently begun to consider the need for public art education and only a few options exist for students interested in pursuing careers in public art – either as practitioners (artists) or as administrators. In fact, as of today, there is only one institution planning a public art curriculum through a freestanding minor at the graduate level. This program by the University of Minnesota will have its debut in the 2007 spring semester.
For the past 35 to 40 years artists have nevertheless learned how to work in the public sphere and there have been individuals who have facilitated this work and learned along with the artists to establish a distinct area of professional activity, public art administration. How this happens and how we approach this in Massachusetts is the spring board for my presentation today.
As I have mentioned, the education and training of individuals drawn to public art is an area of broad interest in the United States. I bring you today not only my insight into the field from my experiences in the city of Boston, but also a broader understanding from my participation in the Public Art Network, a program of Americans for the Arts, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. PAN, as it is known, addresses all issues related to the field of public art in the United States, the training of professionals of course being a major area of interest.
When I speak of education and training in public art one clear distinction needs to be made. On the one hand the particular skills and characteristics of the creative individual – that is the artist interested in public art – need to be addressed. Simultaneously, the individual dedicated to the administrative implementation of public art projects needs to be considered. And the professional skills required in each case are distinct and not always the same although understanding of one by the other is crucial for the smooth progress of any public art project.
So how is public art defined and what is understood by that term in the United States today?
Public Art Defined
At the most basic level, any work by an artist that exists or is placed in a public location which is encountered without a special effort or the payment of an admission fee – i.e. a street, a park, a highway interchange, the lobby of a public building, etc. – can be said to be public art. One could say the Great Wall of China, to name an example I am sure you are all familiar with, is public art . Or that the weather vane on a colonial building in Boston from the 18th Century is public art . Certainly these works – one monumental in its societal values and impact, the other more modest and utilitarian – were designed by creative individuals and are part of the public landscape.
But, more precisely, in the United States today, public art as a professional field of activity is defined by the process by which it is produced and incorporated into the public sphere.
This process, which is used by most public agencies and administrative offices in charge of public art in the United States, with some variations, is the product of the creation of national arts policy in the early 1960’s and the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts specifically. It was during the administrations of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson in the 1960’s that this agency was envisioned and a structure for the support of the arts at a national and federal level created. Based on democratic principles that give a voice and decision-making power to the people through their representatives, a system of best practices has evolved over the past four decades that allows for the participation of the members of a community in the public art process. What constitutes a community – it could be a neighborhood, a town, or a city - varies widely, but once defined for a given project, the standard methods apply. At the heart of these methods we find the system by which a group of interested individuals within a designated community select an artist and by which they facilitate the implementation of the project itself.
Thus, a more exact definition of public art is art accessible to all in the public domain which has come into existence through a system of administrative steps that allow the members of the community where the art will be placed a voice in its selection. This means that the Great Wall of China and the Colonial American Weathervane shown earlier are not public art using this contemporary definition as a basic guideline.
How exactly the public art process happens and how community participation actually takes place has evolved over the years. And it is this process that is the subject of public art training and education.
Merging Fields
There is another important reality that makes the field of public art today especially challenging. This is the fact that public art is actually the vortex where previously distinct disciplines meet. For this reason artist and administrator alike need to have basic knowledge not only of art and the history of aesthetics, but also knowledge of landscape architecture, architecture, urban planning, and engineering. Increasingly it seems instructors of public art are becoming aware of the opportunities to link a broad range of disciplines and topics to the study of public art. One illustrative example – designed for the primary and secondary school system – was created by Barbara Decker and Jane Birdsall-Lander for the St. Louis, Missouri school system. Called the St. Louis Public Art Curriculum Kit, it is “a tool for teachers to help students appreciate public art and increase their understanding of art’s complex role in society.” Special note should be made of the fact it provides learning opportunities in related disciplines like social studies, language arts, math, science, technology and the performing arts. To be sure, public art is where it all comes together, a discipline that would have pleased and challenged the most expansive of Renaissance minds. And therein lies the challenge for the educator and practitioner of public art.
Professional Skills for Artists
When an artist decides to leave the studio and museum world behind and work publicly within the urban landscape, to be successful he or she will be helped significantly if the nature of this environment is understood and how it might augment the artist’s vulnerability to a host of new forces. To some extent, Art schools in the United States have increasingly provided at least some opportunities through isolated courses to become acquainted with the field. At Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where my organization has its offices, a course in public art for artists has been offered for several years. This and similar courses across the country provide information on these basic topics:
- Portfolio development — How an artist presents his or her work to a public art committee, city or state agency is not the same as might occur in the museum and gallery world. In fact, the process is similar to how architects and designers present their work, a fact of wich most visual art students are generally not aware.
- Resume preparation — A similar situation applies here, Beyond aesthetic considerations, the reality is that art selection committees – whatever their makeup – are just as interested in an artist’s negotiating skills, budget management skills, community building skills, etc. The resume needs to reflect any experiences the artist has had in these areas. Therefore getting the first commission that provides this experience for an artist is a particular challenge.
- How to respond to a Call to Artists, Requests for Qualifications and Requests for Proposals, including budget development . The terms alone are often new to the inexperienced artist. Even today, this knowledge is more often than not acquired through the actual practice of public art and it is here a good administrator can serve as both mentor and protector.
- Speaking and presentation skills — The articulate artist who is able to speak clearly and intelligently before an audience benefits. Again, the experienced arts administrator can help the shy artist’s work get a fair hearing, but the reality lobbies for the acquisition of basic oral communication skills. Fair or not, the artist who is confident and at ease in front of an audience has a distinct advantage.
- An awareness of the legal rights of the artist and the formulation of artist contracts . While an understanding of copyright law, artist rights laws etc. apply to any professional artist, public art has developed its own formats and traditions.
Beyond this, the instructor of these courses – very often an artist him or herself - also needs to prepare student artists to work collaboratively within complex environments as most public art projects involve many other professionals. This fact has lead many well-trained public artists to acquire basic knowledge in related fields such as landscape design, architecture, urban planning and engineering, a fact clearly stated in my introduction. And finally, the artist must also work with the arts administrator – who has the task of smoothing the way for the artist – and members of the community where the work will be placed.
Professional Skills for Administrators
While there is some overlap in the skills required of the Arts Administrator – e.g. skill in dealing with many individuals in complex environments - there is a separate list the person interested in public art administration needs to consider. In the United States today, there are many programs at Universities that offer training for individuals interested in arts administration as a career. There are very few – as I have previously indicated – that provide a specialty in public art administration. In addition to the basic areas covered in general arts administration programs such as financial management skills, marketing, time management, team building, etc., the new public art administrator needs to learn about the following:
● The history of public art within the context of contemporary art. A strong sense of contemporary art and aesthetics is vital. It allows the administrator to speak the language of the artist and serve as a link to everyone else in the process. While the process itself may seem unbearably bureaucratic at times, it is important to remember that the aesthetic quality of the piece is what will imbue the final work with meaning and relevance.
● The public art controversies that have shaped public art policy. While every project is different, there are enough similarities and enough experience over the past 35–40 years which allow us to avoid making many mistakes. A knowledge of this history makes our lives as administrators much easier and provides us with the tools to guide the artist, the selection committee, the developer, the press, city and state officials, etc.
● How to write a Call to Artists, a Request for Qualifications and a Request for Proposals. In most cases it is the administrator who writes these documents with feedback from the client that mark the progress of an artist selection process. An important aspect of this portion of the process is the identification of project criteria – those characteristics that apply specifically to an individual project.
● How to communicate with a neighborhood or community and form an artist selection panel.
● How to facilitate public meetings.
● How to write an artist contract.
● Knowledge of materials and basic conservation guidelines. Mundane no doubt, but the most frequently asked question from local public officials or private clients inevitably is “How well will the materials proposed by the artist last? And how easily can they be maintained and repaired if there is damage?”
One of the public art administrator’s greatest challenges will be the acquisition of the skills and knowledge necessary to fairly protect the interests of both the artist and the community. This should be noted carefully as it is most often the community in one form or another that is the art administrator’s “client.” And yet it is often the administrator’s task to protect the artist’s interests which may at times not be those of the client. This is something which perhaps can only be acquired through experience, but it is an area which will benefit from knowledge of the pitfalls and mistakes made in the past.
In my own teaching of public art administrators – I teach a class in this subject both at Massachusetts College of Art and at Boston University - I have the students examine many of the projects in the United States which have been problematic and from which lessons can be learned. One, for example, is the famous case of the demolition Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc , which lead to the articulation of federal and state law for the protection of the artist’s rights. Or the case of the Flying Pigs sculptures designed as part of a park landscape for the city of Cincinnati, Ohio by British born artist Andrew Leicester. In this last case one comes to understand two key facts:
1. The better an artist understands the community and the context in which his or her work will be placed, the more prepared he or she will be for the public’s reaction.
2. The public’s perception and reaction to some works of art changes over time, often for the good, but not always.
In the case of the Flying Pig images in Cincinnati, a park element initially rejected by the community has over time been embraced and become a beloved symbol of the City of Cincinnati.
Some Examples of Public Art in Boston
To give you an idea of the kind of work produced in my city and from which I draw for many of the case studies I use in my teaching, I will show you some examples of the public art in Boston from an earlier period and then some my organization has been involved with over the past 25 years.
1. The Shaw Memorial
Dedicated on the Boston Common in May, 1897, the Colonel Robert Gould Shaw Memorial by American master sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens is even today one of the City’s most important public monuments. It memorializes the African American regiment lead by Colonel Shaw during the American Civil War. A piece with a complex planning and implementation history, it foreshadows many of the issues and concepts which define what we mean by public art today. For example, this is a piece whose site is integral to its meaning, that is it is site specific. Indeed, the regiment passed by this very location in front of the Massachusetts State House on its way to battle where a majority of its men were killed. Second, it portrayed in a memorial for the first time the images of actual African American soldiers. Thus the social context is clearly defined and included, a precursor to the importance of multicultural issues and a diversity of cultural heritages often reflected in public art today. And three, this is a collaborative piece where the artist worked hand in hand with the architect for the planning of an entire environment for the bronze relief which forms the centerpiece of this work, an example of the merging of disciplines which now helps define the field of public art.
2. The Holocaust Memorial
In a city known for its ongoing attachment to traditional, representational art, this is a major example of a thoroughly contemporary design. It is also an example of a major piece of public art funded by means of a public / private partnership. While well liked and respected, the contemplative piece’s location in a very busy traffic island is still problematic to many observers.
3. Art on the Red Line and Orange Line
One of the major early projects of UrbanArts, the public art on Boston’s subway system served as a model for other transportation art projects across the country. The project did what at the time was highly unusual, which was to incorporate artists into the design of subway stops throughout the system.
4. Mission Hill Park
This is a more modest, but highly successful neighborhood effort. The interactive fountain was created by artist Ross Miller for the Mission Hill district of Boston. Its great appeal is the interactive elements which allow children to bring the fountain to life – and of course get wet in the process! This is a very good example of a project which sprang from the community and was lead by the community.
5. The Harbor Trail Master Plan
In this example we see an overall plan for a bike and pedestrian trail that will link Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood to the sea. In this case a large master-planning effort was undertaken that included the incorporation of artists into the final design. Still not complete, this is also an example of the length of time it often takes from project inception to completion for public art projects. This can often last many years, as in this case.
6. Harold Connolly Tribute )
Installed in 2005, this is a tribute to Olympic athlete Harold Connolly who came from the community where the figure is placed. A high quality work of bronze figurative sculpture, it is also an example of the tension that exists in Boston as well as other cities that continue to commission traditional statuary, usually a reflection of the wishes of the public itself. The challenge here - in a world where extraordinary traditional sculptors are harder and harder to find – is to create works of true aesthetic distinction. In this case, with the work of artist Pablo Eduardo, I feel this goal has been met.
Year in Review
To end my presentation, I would now like to show you a number of recent works of public art from across the United States as selected for presentation at the annual conference of the Public Art Network. It represents some of the most interesting work produced in America today and provides a wider vision of the public art that is produced in Boston.
Conclusion
I would be remiss if I did not mention in closing a new book which has recently been published through the auspices of the PAN, the Public Art Network and which I highly recommend to you as an invaluable resource. It is a book I am now using as a basic textbook for my teaching. It provides information on every aspect of the public art process including best practices for every step. The book is Public Art by the Book, edited by Barbara Goldstein, University of Washington Press, 2005.
| 
