Public Artworks

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Database of Eco Public Art

September 8, 2013Announcements, EcoArt, Open CallsBroader Community, Creative Practitioners, Director Center, Editorial Committee, Environmental Health Clinic, External Constraints, Fenner, International Advisory Committee, Jill Bennett, Natalie Jeremijenko, New York University, Newcombe, Project Legacy, Public Art, Public Artworks, Social Transformation, Sustainable Practice, University College London, University Director, University Of Cincinnati

The Curating Cities Database maps the increasingly important and emerging field of eco-sustainable public art. It is developed as a resource for researchers, academics, artists, curators, educators, commissioning agencies and sponsors working in the field as well as those interested in promoting sustainability via public art. In addition to descriptive information, the database evaluates the aims and outcomes of each project as well as the external constraints (and subsequent negotiations) that influence the production of public artworks. eco-publicart.org

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Jill Bennett, Felicity Fenner, Lindsay Kelly and Veronica Tello. Sustainability Consultant: Jodi Newcombe.

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

T.J Demos (University College London); Ian Garrett (York University/Director, Center for Sustainable Practice); Natalie Jeremijenko (New York University/Director of Environmental Health Clinic); Sacha Kagan (Leuphana University LÃ¼neburg/Founder of Cultura21, Network for Cultures of Sustainability and the International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation); Adrian Parr (University of Cincinnati).

We invite submissions from curators, researchers, academics and creative practitioners.

PURPOSE

Our intention is to develop a resource that will be of value to all those interested in public art, including specialists and the broader community. The database entries are concise but designed to go beyond the short profiles readily available on other sites. To that end, we have developed a template and guidelines designed to elicit key information regarding the sustainability (as conceived within the particular project), legacy, engagement and circumstances of an artworkâ€™s production. Recognising that public art is not always well served by bureaucracies, entries may also record useful information on external constraints and how these were negotiated.

SCOPE

We are looking to achieve expansive coverage and are open to suggestions for inclusion (geographic remit is global). Generally, we interpret public art as a creative art form produced for non-gallery contexts (exceptionally, it may include gallery exhibitions with an explicit external engagement focus). We define â€œeco-sustainabilityâ€ to signify an evident interest in ecological, sustainable and/or environmental concerns. It is not our intent to â€˜policeâ€™ the definition of eco-sustainable public art: we are keen to include work that challenges definitions and expectations. As a general indication, we are interested in substantial work that actively engages with its environmental context (rather than in work that merely represents or symbolises an environmental concern).

SUBMISSION and REVIEW PROCESS

Submissions are peer-reviewed. Each submission should focus on a particular public art project, which must be proposed to the Editorial Committee in advance. Contributors are welcome to profile their own work, either by evaluating their own project or by referencing a larger study or thesis written by them on the same subject. We also invite academics that research and teach in this area to encourage student submissions. We are happy for the template to be used for course assessment exercises and can confer with lecturers regarding the process by which a batch of entries from a class can be peer reviewed/considered for inclusion in the database.

For the template and sustainable evaluation framework and to discuss a potential submission please email v.tello@unsw.edu.au

â€˜Eco-sustainable public artâ€™ mapped in new database

September 4, 2013Culture Futures, Open Calls, ResearchChief Curator, City Of Sydney, College Of Fine Arts, Creative Cities, Curating, Ecological Age, Experimental Arts, External Constraints, International Collaboration, Jill Bennett, Linkage Project, Margaret Farmer, Necessary Transition, New South Wales, New South Wales College, Public Artworks, Richard Goodwin, University Of Cincinnati, University Of New South Wales, Waste Recycling

This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

With searchable artwork themes such as â€˜Atmosphereâ€™, â€˜Energyâ€™, â€˜Renewal & Regenerationâ€™, and â€˜Waste, Recycling, Consumptionâ€™, a new â€˜Curating Citiesâ€™ database was launched on 30 August 2013. It maps â€œthe increasingly important and emerging field of eco-sustainable public art.â€

The â€˜Curating Citiesâ€™ database is developed as a resource for researchers, academics, artists, curators, educators, commissioning agencies and sponsors working in the field as well as those interested in promoting sustainability via public art.

In addition to descriptive information, the database evaluates the aims and outcomes of each project as well as the external constraints (and subsequent negotiations) that influence the production of public artworks.

Curating Cities is an Australian Research Council funded Linkage project led by Professors Jill Bennett and Richard Goodwin, and Chief Curator Felicity Fenner of the National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA) at the University of New South Walesâ€™ College of Fine Arts.

Linkage Partners: City of Sydney, Object: Australian Centre for Design, Carbon Arts, University of Cincinnati.

Research Team: Jill Bennett, Felicity Fenner, Richard Goodwin, Jodi Newcombe, Adrian Parr, Margaret Farmer and Kerry Thomas.

curatingcities.org

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open peopleâ€™s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sectorâ€™s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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APInews: Seattle Celebrates Urban Creeks, Watersheds

July 9, 2009newsArt Project, Bitter Lake Reservoir, Cultural Affairs, Fremont Bridge, Kristen, Neighborhood Art, Public Artworks, Seattle Office, Seattle Public Utilities, Short Films, Splendor, Spring And Summer, Stewardship, Towles, Urban Creeks, Volunteer Park, Water Flow, Water Tower, Watersheds

Scores of Seattleites have been crocheting for months to create artist Mandy Greer’s “Mater Matrix Mother and Medium,” a 200-foot fiber “river” among the trees at Camp Long. Greerr installs the piece this week at Polliwog Pond. It’s part of a spring and summer of temporary public artworks, performances and films commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs “to celebrate the splendor of Seattle’s urban creeks” and encourage stewardship of essential watersheds. They include “Waterlines,” a performance in Volunteer Park where Stokley Towles traces the city’s water flow through interviews with city utility employees; a large, biodegradable water tower at the Bitter Lake Reservoir by John Grade; artists’ new short films on the work of Seattle Public Utilities; and a residency on the Fremont Bridge, plus a neighborhood art project, by Kristen Ramirez.

via APInews: Seattle Celebrates Urban Creeks, Watersheds.