Artist Application Resources
Technical Workshop Recordings
How to Apply for Calls
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
Please refer to Public Art & Civic Art Collection - Frequently Asked Questions
General Public Art Resources
Public Art Resources
Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network (PAN) develops professional services for the broad array of individuals and organizations engaged in the expanding field of public art. More than 350 public art programs exist in the United States at the state, local and national level. PAN connects the field by stimulating dialogue, discussing critical issues, developing public art products and services, and providing information through the website and the PAN Listserv.
Public Art Review is the only national journal focused on exploring the many dimensions of public art. Each issue provides opinion, analysis, criticism and discussion about the nature and trends in public art. Published semi-annually since 1989, its readership includes artists, architects, curators, city planners, educators, design professionals, program administrators, community leaders, writers, and students.
CAFÉ, Call for Entry, is a Web-based service that allows organizations and administrators to easily and cost-effectively manage artist-application and jury processes related to calls for entry. The service is especially designed for use with public art projects, artist fellowships, and juried visual-arts competitions.
SlideRoom was founded in 2006 with the belief that creative materials are an important part of the application process and they should be easy to send and review online within a private environment. Since this inception, SlideRoom has blossomed into a widely used applicant management system capable of handling media, forms and references all in one place.
CultureNOW dedicates itself to celebrating our vast cultural environment as a gallery that exists beyond museum walls through cultural tourism and arts education. CultureNOW believes that the three facets to understanding the world around us are art, architecture and history. Mapping these empowers the public to better visualize the place they live in making it a powerful tool to understand the richness and diversity of a community.
Reading List
The Artist’s Guide to Public Art by Lynn Basa
The book shows how to start and build a career in public art and assists in navigating the “system,” working efficiently, and standing up for the rights of artists. First-hand accounts from experienced public artists and arts administrators provide tips for the best ways to find, apply for, and win public art commissions.
Public Art by the Book by Barbara Goldstein
A nuts and bolts guide for arts professionals and volunteers creating public art in their communities. This is a definitive resource for information on public art for local government, arts agencies, arts professionals and artists.
Dialogues in Public Art by Tom Finkelpearl
The work presents a rich blend of interviews with the people who create and experience public art. The twenty interviews are separated into Controversies in Public Art, Experiments in Public Art as Architecture and Urban Planning, Dialogues on Dialogued-Based Public Art Projects, and Public Art for Public Health.
The Art of Placemaking: Interpreting Community through Public Art and Urban Design by Ronald Lee Fleming
This work offers an engaging and comprehensive introduction to planning, funding, and designing public art to enhance sense of place. With its unique function as a guidebook and catalogue of examples, and its wealth of practical information, it is an essential handbook for professionals in architecture, city planning, and public art.
One Place after Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity by Miwon Kwon
Informed by urban theory, postmodernist criticism in art and architecture, and debates concerning identity politics and the public sphere, the book addresses the siting of art as more than an artistic problem. It examines site specificity as a complex cipher of the unstable relationship between location and identity in the era of late capitalism.
Conservation and Maintenance of Contemporary Public Art by Hafthor Yngvason
This resource brings together 27 papers presented at an international conference on contemporary public art conservation. The publication features essays by some of the most renowned artists, administrators, critics and conservators working in the field of public art.
Information Available in Alternative Format
The following binders are available in braille for public inspection:
1) Jon Rubin and Harrell Fletcher, Photos of People from the Neighborhood Attached to the Building and Fortunes in the Parking Spaces: Information about the artwork, physical description of artwork, biographical information of individuals in artwork, biographical information about artists
2) John Wehrle, Words Fly Away: artwork description, project information, biographical information.
3) Robert Arneson, Ying and Yang: artwork description, project information, biographical information.
4) Isis Rodridguez, Los Ninos del Sol: artwork description, project information.
5) Public Art Projects commissioned by the SFAC 1984-2000. Introduction of program and collection; Information is organized by city location (Downtown, South of Market, The Waterfront, etc) and includes artist’s name, project site, artwork title, materials used, year completed and brief description.
6) Public Art Projects by SFAC 1999-2000. Includes description of the artwork, artist’s name, project site, artwork title, materials used, and year completed.
7) Public Art Projects commissioned by the SFAC 2001-2003. Includes description of the artwork, artist’s name, project site, artwork title, materials used, and year completed.