BURNAWAY public art panel, Saturday February 9, 2013, hosted by {Poem 88}. L-R: Cinque Hicks, Chris Appleton, David Stedman, Lisa Tuttle, Susannah Darrow. Photograph by Jon Ciliberto.
Audio Part 1: Click the player above to listen to the first half of audio from BURNAWAY‘s panel from February 9, 2013 hosted at Poem 88, or download the MP3.
Audio Part 2: Click the player above to listen to the second half of audio from BURNAWAY‘s panel from February 9, 2013 hosted at Poem 88, or download the MP3.
Last weekend BURNAWAY Magazine hosted a public panel moderated by Lisa Tuttle, artist and administrator with the Fulton County Public Art Program, discussing topics introduced by Cinque Hicks’ series of editorials on Living Walls and the recent controversies over murals by street artists Roti and Hyuro.
Panelists included Chris Appleton, executive director of WonderRoot; David Stedman, educational outreach coordinator for Living Walls; and Cinque Hicks, freelance art critic and author of the aforementioned editorials.
Below are some closing comments by our moderator, Lisa Tuttle. This is by no means the end of conversation, and hopefully the high level of engaged dialogue will continue. If you want to add your voice, please comment below!
BURNAWAY public art panel, Saturday February 9, 2013, hosted by {Poem 88}. Photograph by Jon Ciliberto.
From Lisa Tuttle, Fulton County Public Art Program:
The best definition I’ve found of public art is by Jack Becker, founder and executive director of Forecast Public Art. He calls it “…an ongoing field of inquiry.” My personal philosophy is that public art is a creative form of public service. I think the animated public dialogue around the Roti mural in Pittsburgh gives us multiple opportunities to learn about art and audience—the integrity/autonomy of the artistic vision, process, responsibilities of artists and presenters, and the role of community involvement. As Cinque Hicks summarized in his articulate articles, the work of Living Walls represents the meshing of street art—unsanctioned, pop-up, and unmaintained over time—with the general (albeit evolving) practices of public art—sanctioned, involving various levels of community input and sign-offs, often with the short/long-term conservation/maintenance responsibility of the owner/sponsoring agency.
In some ways, this difference in philosophies—street art versus public art—points to Robert Irwin’s distinction between “art in public places” and “public art,” and to a lesser degree, perhaps, the differences between studio practice and public art practice. It is a dynamic between the vision of the artist and the wishes of the neighborhood/community. Artists and public art sponsors have collectively learned a lot over the past years of public art, when we contrast public reception/viability between Richard Serra’s controversial and removed Tilted Arc years ago, and Anish Kapoor’s wildly popular Cloud Gate in Millenium Park, Chicago. Both works are basically monumental abstract metal works, by undisputed great artists, placed in public places. Comparing the similarities and the differences as public artworks between the two is instructive.
As part of Atlanta’s ongoing field of inquiry around public art, I had hoped that the BURNAWAY dialogue at {Poem88} might help us to collectively unravel the values attained and the lessons learned from the Roti mural, and how to make the process more productive for all involved when presenting public artworks in our Metro Atlanta communities. As David Stedman said, conversation and dialogue, even when animated, is a good thing. Certainly, we collectively support admire the energies and phenomenal contribution of Living Walls. Having created 80 successful murals, and Urban Design conferences, Living Walls is vital and bringing great energies to our community.
We also admire the efforts of Elevate, WonderRoot, Art on the Beltline, Flux Projects, and Atlanta Celebrates Photography as temporary public art initiatives. We also support the City of Atlanta Public Art Program, HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport, Fulton County Public Art Program, not to mention private developers and other presenting programs. Each adds art to our shared environment, and helps to make this a vibrant, livable, visibly creative urban environment for all, and a supportive environment for artists in which to work. Let’s keep talking and learn from each other!
