On April 11 in North Carolina, Glenn Harper, Editor of Sculpture Magazine and Bill Thompson, Editor of Landscape Architecture, and I meet to kick off the "Public Art 360" Conference. Click Here to Attend. In the next few weeks, I will publish some of my letters to Harper and Thompson in preparation for the dialogue. Once in my life, I gave the same ten minute talk back … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2008
Knitters beat MGM Mirage in Public Art Media Blitz
At the end of last week, two public art projects competed for media attention in the USA. In the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio, a few local women knitted a sweater for ONE tree during a winter day. Any volunteer knitter could climb the eight-foot ladder and add her wrap to the tree trunk or limb. In Las Vegas, two of world's largest resort and gaming corporations announced a $40 million … [Read more...]
New Urbanism in Memphis and Atlanta
Twice I read Derek Merrill & Beau B. Beza's essay in Refractory: a Journal of Entertainment Media. The writers utilize the concept of the "screen" to explore Atlantic Station development in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlantic Station is a environmental urban brownfield redevelopment and reclamation of the 100-year-old Atlantic Steel Mill requiring the removal of 9,000 dump truck loads of contaminated … [Read more...]
Spring 2008 Public Art and Design Conferences
NEW ORLEANS "Next American City" Explores New Orleans Free SYMPOSIUM:Sparking Creativity: Investing in Entrepreneurship and Human Capital Post-Katrina, Thursday, March 6, 2008, 6-8 pm A small business is not just a building. It's an investment in a person who is willing to invest back into their community. As post-Katrina New Orleans struggles to rebuild itself, we ask the question, What is there … [Read more...]
Surprise and Design in Public Works
Imagine an argument about the value of surprising public art and well-designed public space. Interesting that I feel the need to add "well-designed" to public space. Public space ALWAYS exists so it MUST BE qualified. Public art is always an optional ADDITION and very, very rare when compared to the quantity of public space. [Perhaps I am wrong and the value of the gigantic ether of nearly … [Read more...]