This document discusses perspectives on public art and the per cent for art scheme in Ireland. It touches on several topics: the importance of understanding context for public art commissions; the benefits and challenges of county-based structures for organizing public art; greater ambition and professionalism among artists and commissioners in recent decades; and the need for strong leadership, vision, and support for curatorial processes to successfully realize high quality public art projects. The document advocates for engagement and relationships between artists and commissioners that allow for curatorial direction while navigating institutional systems and cultures.
1. Per Cent for Art Irish Context Threads leading to a personal perspective Sarah Searson 14 October 2011
2. Please open the hyper-link to see a number of video interviews relevant to this presentation http://prezi.com/oaoim69jby-r/copy-of-/
3. I never know why everything gets broken down into categories (eg.public) ...art is art! Dorothy Cross
4. Much wider understanding of Art Practices within the public realm Openness to the potential of the scheme Clarity about understanding Public Art and Per Cent of Art
5. Contexts and Processes for commissioning arereflecting changing environments. Overall developmental approach which is leading toopportunities. Through pooling practice there have been some really exemplary project achieved Failure to pool has resulted in ad hoc and poorer work.
6. Festivals and Events Institutional Commissioning Creative Cities and the “re-imagining” city spaces Self directed Artist driven Cultures As a direct challenge to systems of organisation - the Dock project Galway. Pedagogically practices and reflecting cultures of change within 3rd and 4th level Institutions
16. Arts and Inclusion This reflecting context rather than practice. Arts managers and policy makers mediating role of art back into institutions.
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19. “Do people want it” “What the public wants the arts council will deliver” Mary Cloake Making the Public Case for the Arts Mary Cloake, Theatre Forum Ireland 2009 Annual Conference in Wexford Opera House, Thursday 11 June. More information: url.ie/1vre
20. Discourses of the value of the arts Make the arts pivotal in the national crisis High on the National Agenda Jobs National Pride – Reputation of the State Drive an innovation economy
21. Clarity and maturity about creative and commercial impetus within “re-imagining”. If you consider art as a function of either truth telling or mythmaking both have the potential to rattle and challenge to disrupt and disturb / please, to surprise and offer moments of consolation – pause for thought. A strong sensibility here is the key function of those driving the realisation of public art.
22. Wider Cultural Context The Arts Council’s “arm’s length” policy may be severely strained Local Authorities have never been at arms-length – but dependent of the strength of direct management and the vision of a supportive County Manager or Director of Services.
23. Public-ness of Public Art “The rhetoric of an “age of austerity” is being used as a cloak for the privatization of all public services and a reinstatement of class privilege: a sad retreat from the most civilized Keynesian initiatives of the post-war period, in which education, healthcare, and culture were understood to be a democratic right freely available to all.” Claire Bishop
24. Arts Managers confidently and seriously work within the realm of their engagement. – within the often rigid systems that produce opportunity for art making, – there is huge opportunity for excellence in thought and action.
25. The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics Con-Demmed to the Bleakest of Futures: Report from the UK Claire Bishop Critical and Practice Examples www.publicart.ie
26. Strong leadership and vision is integral to each work as is a particular set of values. (Value and the performance of values.) These values need to be negotiated as part of the commissioning process
27. Ambition in curatorial practices and support can bring the sensitivity to navigate context – but also needed is a nuanced understand the processes of artmaking. If work is to be of any worth is rarely directly sited in the interests of organisational rationale. Tension is a necessary component of creative or making processes this is to be taken on – and worked with.
28. The general management of local authorities, state and semi state organisations tends to lean towards systematisation as methodology of transparency. Pushing projects through procurement processes which reflects organisational cultures but going to yield a project akin to those cultures – is this what we want from art project? Engagement must allow for curatorial direction and ambition.
36. Bringing a range of expertise within the sphere of production at an early stage
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Introductions.Practice background visual artsGraduate of UCD arts management Master in Public culture studies 7 years in local authority as arts officer 5 year working in an academic context Visual artists professional developing Curetting and Policy work Galway City Arts Plan and public art plan Wicklow, Tipperary, Longford, Cultural planning for the liberties with DCC and local area development planning Planning work on DCC forthcoming Arts PlanSupported the developed of the national percent for Art GuidelinesLong term projects include Work as a mediator to South Dublins public art programme In context 3 programme developing co-developing with the arts council and Dept Art Heritage and GealtectConnect mentoring project Waterford healthing arts trust and CREATE
Janet MullarneySean Lynch Brian O Doherty Isobelle Nolan Jesse JonesRonan McCrea John Byrne Garry Coyle Dorothy CrossAideen Barry Julie Merriman Denis Mc Nutley Fionala Jones Unique aspect is that in Ireland this that to a large extent that we have managed to avoid over professionalization of artists working in the making of objects for the public realm and that there is a mix – which leads to a health sphere of making and working within the public sphere - this may be particularly true for visual arts. Fluidly moving across practice contexts - that we have been supporting practices that represent strong practice full stop. Compounded and tested their practice
There are an increasing number of professionals associated with the context of development, building and city planning who are very well brief on the potentials and practices of public art, they bring a sophisticated understanding of contemporary arts practice What is potentially exciting about this knowledge that art can be freed up a little, and become the site of risk, experimentation and walk the thin line between failure and success that genuine practice takes
IMPORTANT SLIDE Dublin City Council – are undertaking a very detailed and rigours selection process which included a number of detailed curatorial process of short listing prior to any mentioning of a final selection panel – this places expertise at the centre of process I do not mean expertise in an exclusive manner but more in the habitual manner – peopleCommon Ground in Dublin are using a series of residences to make selection processes – opportunity to really gain contextual knowledge and deeply engage in the context POOLING POOLING -
Expanding realm of practiceLimerick Occupy space Public Art as a challenge to Dock Discourses – which a public art Gradcam and emerging interests in education as being site with a real world context Architecuter students