Public Art Approach Proven National-Level Public Art Practices Public art has a long and celebrated history of support in U.S. cities. Over the decades many best practices for public art programs have been established at a national level. These practices are proven to work and have been tested many times in municipalities across the country. Funding public art through a “percent for art” ordinance, which requires a percentage (which ranges from .5% to 2% and is usually 1%) of total project costs in capital improvement projects, is an established national best practice model stretching back to 1959. In fact, percent for art funding is the most common source of funding for public art programs in the country. Some municipalities have even expanded to incentivize private developers to include percent for art projects in new developments.
ABOVE: Artist Robertus van der Wege standing next to the utility box he painted. Photo courtesy of Robertus van der Wege.
Resource: A wealth of information about a wide variety of details to help develop a strong municipal public art policy and procedures can be found on the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network website, particularly in the web resource’s FAQ.
Public Art Opportunities and Needs in Garland The City of Garland has seen an exciting increase in activity around the development of new public art in recent years. The Garland Cultural Arts Commission managed the development of the “Vision of the Arts” sculpture by the artist Barvo in front of the Granville Arts Center. The Office of Neighborhood Vitality has included public art in its work with neighborhood groups,
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such as the mural on the Oates Road retaining wall, which local residents helped to paint. Private partners have even gotten involved through public-private partnerships like the downtown outdoor gallery 506 Art, developed in partnership between local property developer Robert Alan Smith and the Downtown Development Office.
Specific Strategies | Public Art Approach
All of this activity makes it an exciting time for public art in Garland. It also means that now is the right time to build new policy, funding, and administrative systems that can support more public art by many different project partners in order to serve residents and increase the vibrancy of the community.
GA R L A N D C U LT U R A L A R T S P L A N
