Public Art

Do the 'Art Everywhere' Billboards Support Art, or Advertising?

With so many eyes trained obsessively on mobile phones, the outdoor industry is supporting a campaign to place famous art on billboards around the country. Will people notice? Should they?

August 29, 2014 - Pacific Standard

Placemaking in Communities of All Sizes

A new article from Smart Growth America portrays the successes of placemaking in communities as diverse as Soldotna, Alaska (population 4,163), Orlando, and Philadelphia.

August 25, 2014 - Smart Growth America

Bus Stop

Baltimore Bus Stop Design Leaves No Doubt

Part street furniture, part advertisement for public transit, part public art—the designers of a new bus stop installation in Baltimore call it "an obvious bus stop."

August 11, 2014 - Slate

Friday Eye Candy: Social Pool in the Middle of Mojave Desert

Alfredo Barsuglia's latest work, "Social Pool," is located in an undisclosed location in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Visitors only receive keys and GPS coordinates as their directions on the day of their reservation.

August 1, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Making Space for Art in the 'Science of Cities'

An article by Adam Frank argues that a discussion of quality of life in cities, as an emerging of "science of cities" claims to improve, must include a discussion of public art.

July 30, 2014 - NPR

Celebrating Public Art: Chicago in the Summer

What's better than a great plaza in the summer? Some compelling public art to go along with it.

July 8, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Does the 'Playable City' Improve the 'Smart City'?

Conceived as a counterpoint to the "smart city," the "playable city" would think beyond efficiency and utility in applying technology to the urban experience.

June 30, 2014 - Next City

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

In the celebratory spirit of Cinco de Mayo, Scott Doyon invites you to let your freak flag fly.

May 6, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Warhol Billboard

Coming to a Billboard Near You: The 'Art Everywhere' Project

Voting for a new project called "Art Everywhere" is currently open to the public on works from five of the country’s largest and most respected museums. The vote will help decide which images get placed on some 50,000 billboards this summer.

April 8, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

'Living Innovation Zones' Activate Public Space in San Francisco

San Francisco recently launched the Living Innovation Zones program to generate space-activating public art installations around the city. The city hopes the program will create “catalysts for exploration, innovation and play.”

April 7, 2014 - The Architect's Newspaper

Denver Launching New Public Art Program

The Imagine 2020 program calls for partnerships between public agencies and the private sector—not to mention residents—in delivering new public art around the city of Denver.

March 5, 2014 - The Denver Post

The Remnants of Atlanta's Demolished Past

The permanent art collection of the Atlanta BeltLine just added a relic from the city’s past—a thirteen-ton sculpture crafted out of old train tracks—but it's not the only example of repurposed detritus from the city's history of demolition.

February 7, 2014 - Atlanta Magazine

Public Art on the Cheap: Providence's Custom Metal Trashcans

In Providence, Rhode Island, local craftsmen are turning trashcans into art. The metal bins are custom-worked with designs celebrating local businesses and more general themes.

December 24, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Downtown Defrost: Pittsburgh Engages Artists to Warm Up Public Spaces

Keeping public spaces active and attractive during the winter months is a common challenges in cold weather climates. Pittsburgh is seeking ideas from artists to help enliven downtown's Market Square during the depths of winter.

August 19, 2013 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Crowdsourced Project Turns British Streets Into Massive Art Gallery

At 22,000 sites across the United Kingdom, space normally reserved for billboards and poster advertisements will become frames for great works of art. For the Art Everywhere project, the public played curator and donated online to help pay the costs.

August 10, 2013 - The Guardian

Great Placemaking Begins with Acknowledging the Obvious

Our brains simply tune out anything that might suggest that our behavior is in some way complicit in our problems. Scott Doyon zeros in on the obvious, but often overlooked, problems with our auto-oriented culture.

March 20, 2013 - PlaceShakers

Transforming a Train Station on the Cheap

For only $155,000 a light sculpture has helped transform Stamford, Conn.'s unloved train station - “a building that has a harshness almost unequaled in contemporary architecture” - into a pulsating beacon "reminiscent of a Mondrian" painting.

March 10, 2013 - The New York Times

S.F.'s Second Bridge Gets a Rare Turn in the Spotlight

One of the few times the Golden Gate Bridge's older sibling made headlines was for frightening reasons during the Loma Prieta earthquake. This week, the utilitarian Bay Bridge received a dose of elegance, as the world’s largest LED light sculpture.

March 7, 2013 - POLIS

Art Competition Brings Urban Vitality and Civic Pride

Mark Stryker writes on Grand Rapids' ArtPrize, a citywide art competition that awards prize money based on public vote, and has been a boon to artists and the local economy. It is now inspiring other cities to host their own such events.

September 18, 2012 - Detroit Free Press

A Fractal View of Urban Design

Benjamin Wellington reviews a new book by Mark C. Childs, which paints a picture of the city as the product of a complex and highly detailed design hierarchy, from regional topography all the way down to the arrangement of indoor spaces.

July 5, 2012 - THE DIRT

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