Open Collections

Abstract

This corporate strategy for public art proposes a comprehensive yet incremental process to address the most pressing concerns now facing the City of Vancouver in planning for public art. The strategy, including its implementation, is deliberately incremental. The need for flexibility in planning for public art emerged from discussions with public artists, arts administrators and consultants; interviews with authors of recent exemplary public art plans; review of literature and other documentation, including the popular culture; and my personal understanding of public art from the perspective of public art producer, planner and urban designer. The proposals are informed by a review of the evolution of public art, planning and planning for public art. They are proposed within a historical context of public art planning in Vancouver and build upon the inventory and analysis of processes already in place within the civic administration. The strategy recommends upgrading the existing Art in Public Places Subcommittee into a Public Art Commission and the creation of three new advisory bodies, all with strong professional staff support, to ensure broader participation in public art while increasing the breadth of expertise to deal with aesthetic judgements, commemoration, urban design and other public realm issues in Vancouver. It also recommends restructuring the civic administration by dissolving the Board of Parks and Recreation; consolidating the urban realm design functions of the Board of Parks and Recreation, the Engineering Department and the Planning Department into a holistic urban design group; consolidating cultural planning and development functions associated with Community Centres into the Social Planning Department; and creating a new Department of Parks and Recreation responsible primarily for park maintenance and recreation functions. The proposed definition of public art is all-inclusive to encourage rather than limit or inhibit the most creative, innovative possibilities whether permanent or temporary, physical or ephemeral. The entire process is proposed to be open to wide community participation. It welcomes grass-roots initiatives and promotes project development and management by existing Vancouver organisations involved in the production of public art. The inherent flexibility of this incremental strategy allows responsiveness to the community, civic aspirations, and the evolving nature of our understanding of public art. It facilitates the development of a common and evolving vision in Vancouver for a more humane city through the media of public art. By planning through the use of art to make places public, it begins to allow us to recapture the public essence of urban living.