Committee Refines Public Art Plans at University

After the revisions are completed, the recommendations will be resubmitted to the committee for final review in April. Once finalized, they will be presented to Chancellor James Moeser, who publicly expressed support for the program at the committee's Dec. 1 meeting.

Main tenets of the recommendations include the integration of public art planning into other campus plans, such as the Master Plan, which is the 50-year blueprint for campus growth. Also key is the inclusion of public input into planning of works and commissioning of artists.

The draft also proposed selection processes for site and artwork approval, as well as policies for maintenance, conservation and removal of works.

Revisions to the document were made by nine committee members, which included representatives from Arts Carolina, the Department of Art and the Department of Facilities Planning and Construction.

Included in the additions to the recommendations was a general plan for funding. The committee planned to request a flexible pool of funding that would comprise a minimum of 1 percent of the University's budget for building expenditures or construction.

UNC's construction budget for the next eight years is $1 billion, said Bruce Runberg, vice chancellor for facilities planning. If the committee's proposal is instituted within this time frame, public art works would receive $10 million.

Runberg said the request is potentially feasible, referring to the state's former budget policy of requiring that one-half of 1 percent of construction funding be reserved for public art works. "There will be quite a range of opinions regarding the plans, considering the current state of the budget," Runberg said.

Funding was the only issue cited as a potential barrier to the program's success. Art Professor Jim Hirschfield said the willingness to fund a public art program ultimately determines the true interest in it.

"I get the sense that (the possibility of a public art program) is in the air and people are wondering, but I'm not sure if people are going to follow through because they come up against funding, and that's a critical issue," he said.

At the request of Judith Blau, a sociology professor, the committee also agreed to add to the program's goals and principles. Blau said the program should provide opportunities for artists from a variety of backgrounds, as well as incorporate a goal to bring cultural and sociological issues to the forefront of public discussion.

"(The program) should foster cultural diversity and sociological aspects ... and this, in turn, may foster debate and controversy," Blau said.

The recommendations are geared toward emphasizing the program's goal of enrichment. Hirschfield noted, however, that enrichment might not always equate with beauty. "We don't necessarily need to stick to the notion that ... our campus is too beautiful to have something that is challenging," he said.

The last wave of revisions will take place at the committee's April 15 meeting.

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