Art for the Masses

Providing everyday opportunities for artistic viewing, these creatively functional diversions are just a few examples of public art. But what exactly constitutes public art varies.

Renee Piechocki, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Public Art Network, said the definition of public art should remain very wide. "Anytime you have an artist involved with a public project, you have public art," she said.

But what sets public art apart from other types of art is not just its public display but the potential for artists and their works to form interactive relationships with the people who will be viewing the works on a regular basis.

Public artist and UNC art Professor Juan Logan said public art should engage its viewing community by encouraging public discussion.

"It will hopefully engage them on some level, interacting with them on a daily basis without their having to do anything out of the ordinary," Logan said.

Kimowan McLain, an art instructor, serves on the Chapel Hill and University public arts commissions. He emphasized the importance that public art go beyond aesthetic appeal to become a poetic and diplomatic way to bring important issues to the forefront of public discussion and grapple with them.

"It's very difficult to have public art that is apolitical," McLain said. "If something is sitting there in a static, modernist position that isn't thought-provoking, that is beautiful to look at -- that, itself -- is a political statement."

"At its worst, public art could be neutral to the point of being boring," he said.

With such ideas in mind, UNC's Public Art Planning Committee is currently revising a proposal for a campus public art program. Art Professor Jim Hirschfield, who has created public art works all over the country, is serving on the committee and stresses the importance of art's everyday presence on campus.

"(The institution of a public art program) would make art a part of the students', faculty's and staff's everyday lives, a very positive direction in which to move," he said. "When art becomes available to everyone, it's very democratic."

The all-embracing nature of public art can also assert itself through each work's planning process. This process involves either the direct commissioning of an artist by a selection panel, a limited competition in which certain artists are invited to submit proposals or an open competition in which any artist can submit a proposal.

Hirschfield said the extent to which the public should be involved in the planning behind any given project depends on the project's intended audience. In addition, Hirschfield stressed the importance of selection panels that are composed of artists and experts with a broad historical point of view.

"People, artists and experts have learned a lot of lessons since the late '60s since there was a resurgence in public art," he said. "Selecting something that is popular for the moment is not necessarily the best work."

Logan chooses to emphasize the importance of heavily involving the public in commissioning processes such as choosing an artist. He believes there is merit in involving the community well before the work has been completed.

"It's about including the community that you're talking about to develop a greater dialogue in the community," he said. "It truly does involve and is about the public, something greater than the artist."

Logan also said it's important to incorporate the public's input into the planning of works of art. He cited as an example one of his former projects, which was a large, mosaic sundial that he crafted for a Durham elementary school. In designing the sundial, he let students at the school contribute their own ideas.

"It was about (the students) wanting the piece to be there," he said.

McLain echoed this praise for the ability of public art to engage a wide variety of people.

"Art shouldn't be something just to be elite," he said. "It should be available and a part of our lives."

He also said this democratic quality of public art goes hand in hand with the atmosphere at UNC.

"I think that Carolina and Chapel Hill are wonderful places," he said. "We could be one of the best at creating one of the best public art collections around."

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.