{"id":66672,"date":"2022-08-29T02:19:14","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T02:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/?p=66672"},"modified":"2022-08-29T02:19:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T02:19:14","slug":"in-defense-of-public-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/blog\/in-defense-of-public-art\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Public Art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yBPm7DWrTbI?autoplay=1&#038;mute=1\"><\/iframe>If you think public art is important and valuable, you are in the minority.<\/p>\n<p>If you believe that public art is important and valuable, chances are that you have never made a work of public art. And if you have, more likely than not it was met with angry resistance from those who disagreed with your premise.<\/p>\n<p>The very idea of public art is offensive to many people, whether they are aware of it or not. The idea of someone being paid to create art is offensive. It is offensive to the deeply held notion that artists should be poor. If artists need money, then they aren&#8217;t really artists; they are just people who make stuff. Let them be plumbers or electricians or bakers or whatever they want, but put them out of the temple. Or even better: Let them become rich and famous so that we can hate them for it later.<\/p>\n<p>Truly great art comes from the soul, it does not need money to be made, it does not need to be displayed in public for it to have value\u2014and yes, I know about Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci and everyone else who had patrons and why don&#8217;t I go do something useful like clean up after them?<\/p>\n<p>But I am using this language precisely because it has such<\/p>\n<p>Art has a powerful and far-reaching impact on people of all ages. It is no secret that art can inspire emotions, promote positive behaviors and change a person&#8217;s outlook on life. Public art can be a permanent reminder of these benefits.<\/p>\n<p>The artistic process is one that is used to stimulate the mind and soul, making it an ideal tool to showcase in a public setting. The International Association of Public Art defines public art as &#8220;works of visual art created specifically for the public realm.&#8221; This definition implies that works of art placed or installed in a public space are intended to reach out to the public. A strong argument can be made for placing this type of artwork in a public place.<\/p>\n<p>Truly great public art does not just stand out from its surroundings but also manages to enhance them with its presence. Once something like this has been created, it will remain in a space for years or even decades. This means that it will have an impact on people of all ages who come across it.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, art may seem counter-intuitive when placed in an area where people might not expect to see it. However, when done correctly, the artwork itself can help create an environment that makes sense for what is being presented.<\/p>\n<p>Art can inspire people from all different<\/p>\n<p>I am very much in favor of public art. I see a world with more public art as one where people will have more opportunities to interact with each other, and become more engaged in the community. In my city, there are several art centers where students, professional artists, and the general public can gather to share their interests and talents. I have had a number of art shows there myself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not an artist&#8221;, you protest. &#8220;I&#8217;m not creative&#8221;. I think most people feel this way about themselves. There is no reason for that. Everyone has creativity inside them; it just needs encouragement &#038; guidance to come out. Art centers can be great places for this to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Tolerance is another factor that public art encourages. We have all seen the &#8220;Keep Austin Weird&#8221; bumper stickers &#038; t-shirts around town (and if you haven&#8217;t, check out their website!). This movement is celebrating the fact that we accept people who are different than us, who may even be weird by our standards (though what we consider weird changes over time). This attitude helps us be open-minded about other cultures &#038; lifestyles; it helps us accept that people act differently, dress differently, and even look different \u2013 and we still like them! Public art helps stimulate<\/p>\n<p>I am the founder of a website called Circle of Existence, a blog devoted to art and its positive role in the community. As an artist I have a passion for art and what it can do for us. Art is something that is supposed to bring people together, and instead it has been used as a tool by governments and corporate institutions to drive people apart. But more than anything, I want everyone to feel free to express themselves creatively. And with this blog I hope to show how art is something we can all enjoy, regardless of our social status or nationality.<\/p>\n<p>\/\/I hope this blog will be able to provide even more information about how art can open doors for people and help improve quality-of-life in general. I also hope you will contact me if you have any questions or comments about art or this blog itself. You may reach me at info@circleofexistence.com<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of public art is to stimulate thought and discussion about the subject, often on a large scale. This may be done by creating a physical structure that is seen by many people or by placing art in a location where it can be easily seen and enjoyed. The hope is that the topic will be discussed, debated, and become more relevant to the community.<\/p>\n<p>A good example of this type of art is &#8220;The Waiting Room&#8221; by Sarah Sze at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The piece consists of 100 cast-iron chairs arranged in concentric circles with an empty chair in the center. Visitors are invited to sit in one of the seats and contemplate their own mortality. Other individuals or groups can then sit in one of the other chairs and contribute their thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Another example would be Paul McCarthy&#8217;s &#8220;Cliff Hanger&#8221; which was recently exhibited at Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The piece consisted of a mannequin dressed as a woman wearing only panties, stockings, and high-heeled shoes placed above a sheer drop. Visitors were invited to pull on a rope attached to her pantyhose and see how far they could raise her into the air before she fell off the edge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Cliff Hanger&#8221; provoked conversation<\/p>\n<p>Art is one of the most important parts of human culture. It provides a way for people to express their creativity, and can be used to teach lessons and express ideas that are hard to convey in other mediums.<\/p>\n<p>Tropical Storm, AKA Public Art Project in Tucson, Arizona:<\/p>\n<p>Art can be seen as a way for people to express themselves and tell others how they feel. This is true especially when it comes to the visually impaired. Art is one of the only ways they are able to get their feelings across. For example, sculptor&#8217;s work with stone, which is then mounted on a base and put in front of the public for everyone to view. Sculpture brings out great emotions as you look at it; this is because the artist made it with great care and passion. They also have handicaps, just like other people, so art shows that even though we may be physically different from each other, there are some things we all have in common. When you look at an art piece you can see how hard the artist worked on it by looking at the details he or she put into it. Each piece has its own story, which can make you feel a certain way when you look at it; like sadness or happiness, depending on what<\/p>\n<p>Because of the way the internet is set up, people often suggest that they can&#8217;t find good quality art on it. But in fact there is so much art on the internet, but most of it is not accessible to the average person. Most of the art on the internet is posted by artists or art organizations themselves and you have to know where to look to find it.<\/p>\n<p>The best places for finding free public domain art for commercial use are deviantart.com and openclipart.org . Both sites are full of good quality material made by artists from around the world.<\/p>\n<p>TIP: Search &#8220;openclipart&#8221; or &#8220;deviantart&#8221; with quotation marks to get better results when searching for something specific like a clipart.&#8221;<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/svd2bQTXgUs?autoplay=1&#038;mute=1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you think public art is important and valuable, you are in the minority. If you believe that public art is important and valuable, chances are that you have never made a work of public art. And if you have, more likely than not it was met with angry resistance from those who disagreed with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66672"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66674,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66672\/revisions\/66674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artspainter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}