Current Works of Public Art in Your City:

Forums: Art, Public Art, Public Art Exhibits, City Public Art
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Do you know of any major exhibitions of public art (temporary or permanent) in your city or town? Are they funded by public or private or corporate donations and sponsorships? Are they a spectacle and/or local controversy?

Do you like, love, or disdain these works? What do you think is the purpose of these public art exhibitions?

Recently in NYC:

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/csm-photo-galleries-images/photos-of-the-day-images/2010/0621/12/8180426-1-eng-US/12_full_600.jpg

Quote:

Finn Neilsen from Brooklyn, NY, plays on a piano in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Monday. The piano, one of 60, is part of an art installation touring the world that makes its first US stop in New York. The exhibition has put more than 130 pianos in parks, squares, and bus stations in cities from London to Sydney, Australia.

Richard Drew/AP

http://www.streetpianos.com/nyc2010/

Quote:

Play Me, I’m Yours: New York City 2010
“Play Me, I’m Yours” is an artwork by British artist Luke Jerram who has been touring the project globally since 2008.

From 9am-10pm each day, 60 pianos will be available to play across New York City. Presented by Sing for Hope they are located in public parks, streets and plazas the pianos will be available until 5th July for any member of the public to play and engage with.

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@tsarstepan,

Good thread idea.. I'll think about it, though more re Los Angeles than my present city.

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@tsarstepan,

I love these pianos. Some of the people that sit down and play them are phenomenal. It's an excellent art piece. Many public art pieces, such as the Metronome http://metronome.related.com/statement.htm , are merely as awful as what they surround. Art used to be a part of cities, within the architecture and in the parks, etc. Now it seems that every artist wants to contrast the bitter business of a city with an abstract piece of art which is just as removed from purpose as the buildings are removed from frivolity.

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I don't have my thinking cap on re all this yet - but I'll post an old favorite:

Mustangs of Las Colinas, Williams Square, Irving, Texas

http://irving-texas-home-of-the-dallas-cowboys.visit-dallas.com/mustangs-las-colinas-irving-night.jpg

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I participated with my business partner in a sidewalk drawing event - Pastels on the Plaza - in a nearby city, Arcata, California.
http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=2568&rss=Weekend

Here's a photo of our effort in progress (based on an old postcard I had) -

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@ossobuco,

What a very democratic style bit of public art using pastels toting local artists.

Lovely and accessible art.

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@A Lyn Fei,

The most infamous of the public art works in NYC in recent memory has been Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates sited in Central Park, New York City in 2005. http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/sharedMedia/gate/full/GatesLrg02w.jpg

This massive public art exhibit garnered a massive crowd of tourists and NYC residents alike. Equal parts hating the whole shebang as much as equal part loving the spectacle and the added color to Central Park.

Personally, I took the whole exhibit with fondness and as a successful social experiment where the rare stranger on stranger social interaction/dialogue actually happened in NYC in a far greater level of frequency that I have ever personally witnessed while living here in NYC for 8 or so years.

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@tsarstepan,

It actually does seem interesting. I do believe that there is a cultural place for artwork, but in the business of Union Square, not too many get to stop and talk about the Metronome, I think. I would love more artists to be more aware of creating a positive impact on the people.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/csm-photo-galleries-images/photos-of-the-day-images/2010/0622/02/8188427-1-eng-US/02_full_600.jpg

Quote:

An art installation, titled 'Solar Equation' by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer of Mexico is seen at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday. The installation is part of 'The Light in Winter' festival, which runs until July 4.

Mick Tsikas/Reuters

http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2010/Photos-of-the-Day-06-22/(photo)/2

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

Claus Oldenburg's "Clothespin" has been loved and reviled by Philadelphians for over 35 years. Frnk Rizzo, the mayor when the clothespin was installed, tried to sound like an art critic and he was publically quite critical of the piece. Oldenburg saw Philly as totally blue collar not blue blood. The old line and the "wanabees" hated it.

http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/806bg.jpg

PS, the piano set ups were an installation idea that NYC stole fromm little LAQncaster Pa. where theyve been on the street for almost two years now. Theyve had everything from piano mini oparades and piano bands where theyd gather the pianos and roll them into center city and 35 poeople would play the instruments .

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@farmerman,

Ah, I loved him and his wife.. coosje van bruggen:
plain old fun for me
http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/

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@farmerman,

Claus Oldenburg has a great sense of humor and it's quite accessible to the public at large.

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http://www.guidespot.com/guides/houston_public_art
There is a great deal of good public art in and around Houston. This link takes you to a very good selection.

http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

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On my insane 12+ mile walk home today, I accidentally discovered one of the pianos in the above mentioned Play Me I'm Yours: NYC Street Pianos Project :

At Fort Greene Park,

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@tsarstepan,

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20public%20Art/GoldenDrillerf1.jpg

Tulsa Golden Driller
Golden Driller Statistics · Largest freestanding statue in the world · Weight - 43,500 pounds · Height - 76 feet · Belt size - 48-feet in circumference · Shoe size - 393DDD · Hat size - 112 hard hat Permanently installed 1966. His right hand rests on an old production oil derrick moved from an oil field in Seminole, Oklahoma. The Driller has been ravaged by weather, survived tornadoes, photo sessions with tourists, attacked by vandals, assaulted by souvenir seekers, shotgun blasts, and has even had an arrow in the back. the Golden Driller has guarded the main entrance of the Exposition Center

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@tsarstepan,

Tulsa has these art deco penguins all over the city. Each one is unique.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/180px-Penguin_downtown_tulsa.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/images.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/images1.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/images3.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/imagesCAFVZ010.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/_dr_zoolittle.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/_enfuego-1.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd284/Philis37/Tulsa%20art%20deco%20Penguins/_tripper-1.jpg

1 Reply

I suppose it's time for me to say I don't give a hoot about much public art, through the years.

But, to say that, I need to come up with public art that I like.

Nag me if I fail to post..

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

N A A A A A A G'

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@Philis,

Ok, ok. Manana.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

At the least, I should talk about major murals in mexico, and some in the u.s.
Plus, others.

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