Public Art

Public Art Rejuvenates a City

Less than 25 years ago, Nantes was an old port town languishing in the wake of failing industry. But thanks to a commitment to public art, it has since become a cultural mecca and thriving tourist destination, Frank Browning reports.

June 25, 2012 - The Huffington Post

Public Art Proves Its Worth

Dan Rosenfeld looks at two recent projects in L.A. that incorporate public art components and finds that "investments in public art may provide the highest financial returns of any funds committed to an aspect of a transit project."

May 29, 2012 - Urban Land

Should Public Art Be Censored?

As public art proliferates as a strategy to engage disaffected youth and enliven neighborhoods, Philip Langdon argues that an additional standard must be considered when evaluating such projects -- their content.

May 10, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Berlin to Open the Anti-Tivoli

An amusement park in East Berlin, abandoned for the past 11 years, will be reopened this year as a haven for public art, writes Julie Ma.

April 13, 2012 - Good

A Dating Site for Artists and Urban Canvases

Ariel Schwartz profiles ArtHERE, a matchmaking service intended to link artists with property owners eager to integrate public art into their buildings or landscapes.

April 12, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Using Public Art to Highlight Government Misdeeds

John Metcalfe profiles the work of Spanish art collective luzinterruptus, who have used public art pieces to highlight the failings of Spanish authorities, such as Madrid's dysfunctional drinking fountains.

February 28, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Melding Art With Infrastructure, Without Breaking the Bank

Walter Geiger pens a case study of an Orlando project that melded public art with mass transit, with maximum impact at minimal cost.

February 16, 2012 - ArchNewsNow.com

Art Creates a Sense of Place

Trail Towns, a program that promotes the economic potential of rails-to-trails systems, explains how art can create a sense of place and promote creative reuse along the trail.

December 2, 2011 - Trail Towns

Street Artist Makes Infrastructure Invisible

Street artist Cayetano Ferrer likes to take everyday urban objects like street signs or electrical boxes and use paint and stickers to camoflage them so they basically disappear.

November 24, 2011 - WebUrbanist

New Library Making A Splash With Public Art

West Hollywood, California recently opened a new public library, hiring a number of prominent artists like Shepard Fairey to turn it into a local landmark.

November 16, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

How Art Improved New Yorks Metro System

In New York, Arts for Transit is a program that was started to bring "original and integrated artworks into MTA stations and spaces and to promote design excellence." Director, Sandra Bloodworth sits with Urban Omnibus to discuss the program.

November 15, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

How an Art Event Transformed Grand Rapids

ArtPrize, a yearly art festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is attracting unprecedented crowds to this unexpected destination.

October 10, 2011 - Metropolis Magazine

Turning Grain Silos Into Public Art

A group of local artists in Omaha, Nebraska are putting their mark on old grain elevators located right in the heart of the city, making the art pieces an Omaha fixture.

October 4, 2011 - WebUrbanist

Feds and Orgs Team Up to Boost Creative Placemaking

Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the NEA, has long make the link between the arts and economic development. He is one of the big hitters behind ArtPlace, a public-private collaboration to foster creative placemaking.

September 15, 2011 - ArtPlace

The Art of Abandonment

Artists are using the vacant buildings of the Rust Belt to create their art, and to comment on possibilities and visions for the future.

September 12, 2011 - Rust Wire

Street Art Transforms City

Graffiti artists from around the world were invited to transform the brutalist post-war architecture of Bristol, England's Nelson Street.

August 26, 2011 - Tim Maughan Books

Times Square "Meeting Bowls" Bring People Together

New street furniture being tested in the Broadway pedestrian zone attempts to create a semi-sheltered, intimate space in the middle of the glitz of 42nd St.

August 20, 2011 - PSFK

Why Public Art?

Public art plays a role in cities across the world. But what role exactly, and for what purpose? Glass House Conversations explores these questions in this series.

August 9, 2011 - Glass House Conversations

Urban Art Brightens Dull Sections of Toronto

A variety of unsanctioned urban art projects are scattered throughout Toronto, bringing life and energy to otherwise underused spaces.

July 28, 2011 - The Toronto Star

Giant Marilyn Monroe Statue 'Not an Upgrade'

A new 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe -- recreating a famous film scene in which wind blows up the star's skirt -- has been unveiled in Chicago. Tourists seem to like it, but others argue it's too kitschy.

July 20, 2011 - Chicago Sun-Times

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