Public Art

A Des Moines venture capitalist and his wife have donated a reported $40 million worth of large public sculptures for a sculpture park, part of a significant redevelopment effort by the city.

New public art projects are popping up across the Pacific Northwest. Some of Seattle’s traffic signal boxes are getting a makeover, as artists add decorative touches to them.

The ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan resulted in 1,262 artists temporarily installing their pieces in 159 venues around downtown. The public picks the winner.

A public art park has sprung up on a corner in Manhattan on loan from a local developer waiting to build on the land.

This post from The Architect's Newspaper looks at the park that just opened in St. Louis, and finds it effective at emphasizing the public art and public space that exist in the city -- even beyond the park's edges.

This piece looks at a public art project that placed 30 pianos in public places throughout London in an effort to encourage more public interaction.

The 96th Street Station of the New York Subway is a bustling, noisy place. Artists and MTA staff are hoping a sound installation of nature sounds will calm the urban scene.

A public art piece at the University of Alabama represents the end of the iron industry in the surrounding region, portrayed a as a sleeping, rusted robot.

American artist Mike Bouchet constructed a full-sized replica of a standard American suburban home to float outside the Venice Biennale art exhibition. Instead, the house sank, suggesting new meanings for the artwork.

San Francisco, Houston, and Indianapolis are featuring public art installations that mimic and highlight nature in urban areas.

Art 'on the scale of architecture' is cropping up in Los Angeles, enticing passing drivers out of their cars and onto the street. Chris Burden's 'Urban Light' installation at LACMA is a notable example.

A new parking garage opening in Ft. Worth is actually a full-scale public art project by artist/architect Christopher Janney. Janney's design includes a soundscape of Ft. Worth music and native animal sounds.

A memorial to famed planner Daniel Burnham will be built on the lakefront in Chicago, and three finalists were recently chosen to design it. The designs haven't been made public yet, to the frustration of some locals.

In an effort to reclaim a public plaza at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge that was demolished in the 1960s by Robert Moses, artist Brian Tolle is reconstructing the statues that once adorned the plaza.

Environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, famous for the orange 'Gates' project in Central Park, are planning to run a 5.9 mile silver cloth over a whitewater river in Colorado. Environmentalists aren't happy about it.

Pittsburgh's public art program has resulted in a number of new, contemporary works in public spaces, ranging from a futuristic mural called 'Yesterday's Tomorrow' to a giant, seated rabbit.

Artist Joshua Callaghan paints over utility boxes in his community to make them disappear into their surroundings.

A recent exhibit invited artists to redesign the White House for the 21st century. Artists suggested painting it black, making it fly, and levitating the building. Many suggested making it literally transparent.

Through festivals, lighting master plans, and creative integrations of artistic interpretations, cities across the world are harnessing the power of light to reinvigorate neglected areas and renew public interest.

A giant crossword puzzle has been painted on the side of a 100-foot tall building in Lvov, Ukraine. Clues to the puzzle are planted throughout the city, and the puzzle's answers are revealed at nighttime with the use of special lights.