What is public art

The term ‘public art’ refers to a genre of art whose form, function and meaning are intended for the general public, and which is installed or staged in physical public space or the public realm.  

Public art must therefore include the following criteria:

• a public process:  the public must, formally or informally, sanction the work as public art

• broad accessibility:  the public must be able to physically and visually experience it 

• aesthetic quality:   it must have artistic significance 

What is not public art

Independent art created or staged in or near the public realm (for example, graffiti, street art, yard art/lawn ornaments) which lacks official or tangible public sanction, cannot be classified within the public art genre.  Such unofficial artwork may be on private property immediately adjacent to the public realm, or it may be on public property or even in natural settings.  But however ubiquitous, this art falls outside the definition of public art by its absence of any public process or public sanction as bona fide public art.   

The following distinctions are useful:

• Museum art, gallery art, private art:  Artwork that is privately exhibited and curated, or where public access is not free or is highly limited, is not public art.   Exceptions may be where museum artworks are permanently installed in a public space of unrestricted public access.    

• Commercial advertisement:  Artistic work that is produced for commercial purposes or serves primarily as commercial advertisement is not public art.     

• Signage:  Artistic works that function primarily as identification, such as municipal entrance signs, promotional event banners, directional signage, or landmark and memorial markers/plaques, are not public art.   Such works, even if created by an artist, are not public art if they are not stand-alone, titled, and/or signature artworks.

•  Sports tributes:  Commonly in the form of murals, sports tribute artworks often function primarily as promotional signage for existing sports individuals, teams or clubs, and as such are not public art.  Exceptions exist where artworks, created through a public process, may include a sports theme but are memorial, historical or cultural  tributes to significant persons or events.

• Graffiti and "Street Art":   Artistic writing or drawings made on surfaces in the public realm, without a public process or public funding, is not public art.  Street artists throughout the world have produced incredible works that are undeniably artistic.  The high public exposure or the longevity of such artworks does not, in itself, classify them as public art where there is no public process determining artist, theme, content, appearance, location, production, and/or maintenance. 

• Yard  Art":   Artworks created and/or placed by individuals on their private property, even when intended to be publicly visible, are not public art.  These artworks can be hand-made or commercially produced, such as decorative banners, flags, sculptures, and fountains, as well as the familiar plastic pink flamingos and ceramic garden gnomes.

De facto public art

Artworks that do not qualify as public art may, over time and over events, become de facto public art to the extent that the general public explicitly accepts and defines them as such (for example, by not having them removed, or by physically maintaining or changing them).  Such public acceptance of an artwork as public art should be tangible, such as with public identification (label, plaque, marker), with public placement (in public space), or with public maintenance.  

Characteristics of public art are public process, public accessibility, artistic/aesthetic quality   These characteristics usefully distinguish public art from both "non-public" art (e.g., graffiti, yard art) and "non-art" in public (e.g., signage, commercial advertisement, private promotional efforts).

Public process

Public art is artwork that is planned, created, procured, and/or maintained through public processes that can define public art forms and goals, community participation, artist and artwork selection, and funding mechanisms (such as municipal Percent-For-Art programs or Art in Public Places programs).

Public accessibility

Public art is accessibility, both visual and physical, to the general public.   When public art is installed on privately-owned property, physical accessibility is vulnerable to restrictions from underlying private property rights.  Such access restrictions, however, are greatly limited by general public access rights (Kayden, 2000).

Some public artworks can only provide distant visual accessibility, such a s building-mounted murals and large digital and lighting installations (for ex., LAX Pylons).   In contrast, interactive public artworks designed for hands-on accessibility have been especially popular in public places and playgrounds.

Artistic/aesthetic quality

Public art is artistic to the degree that it demonstrates an “expression or application of human creative skill and imagination…to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power" (Oxford).   Public art therefore demonstrates clear aesthetic qualities in form or theme. 

The forms of public art identify the extent to which public art can be physically integrated with the immediate context or environment. These forms, which can overlap, employ different types of public art that suit a particular integration.  We list the following five forms and some common public art types used to achieve the degree of context integration:

• stand alone:  sculptures, statues, structures

• integrated (into façades, pavements, or landscapes):  bas reliefs, mosaics

• applied (to a surface):  murals, building-mounted sculptures 

• installation (where artwork and site are mutually embedded):  transit station art

• ephemeral (or non-permanent):  performances, temporary installations

We have found much popular confusion with the use of the term "art in public places."  Formally, the term is applied to official government arts programs.  Informally, the term has been used as a broad classification of any artistic feature existing in the public realm. 

The term "art in public places" commonly refers to local government and community arts programs, whereas public art specifically refers to artworks planned, created and installed as public artworks and in public places. For example, "Art in public places" programs may include arts education, art performances, community outreach, or programs for the provision of public art such as community murals and artworks.