Public Art

In WA, art in public places can be defined as anything designed or created with the assistance of an artist and located in a public place. This is more generally known as ‘public art’. The term has come to include both traditional sculpture outside a gallery environment and functional objects such as artist-designed seating, lamp posts and paving.
Public art can be found in streets, the forecourts of public buildings, in shopping centres, beach fronts or any space that is accessible to people.
Public art can be very sophisticated in its ideas and fabrication or it may be utterly simple in its form and content. The common elements of art in public places are that they are accessible to the public and that an artist has been involved in the design, or design and fabrication.

Ephemeral art in public space

Not all public art has to be a permanent feature. Artists may develop projects with a short life span. Ephemeral artworks can allow the artists to experiment and address site-specific issues that may only be relevant in the short term. Audiences for the visual arts can be developed through ephemeral art projects. Experience shows that ephemeral art projects contribute to the building of a receptive environment for further art projects. Ephemeral projects often enable the artist to use cheap, plentiful local materials that do not need to stand the test of time. Whole festivals and major events have been planned around exhibitions of ephemeral artwork.

The difference between public and community art

Artsource encourages an understanding of the distinction between art in public places and community art. Ideally, art that is predominately designed and made by a professional artist, is public art. Public artworks may involve the community in various stages of consultation however a community art project is when non-artist members of the community actively participate in the making of the work. Ideally, a trained artist and/or community arts worker facilitates community arts projects.

Successful outcomes are dependent upon clearly established guidelines from the outset of a project, determining what kind of project it is and through what process will it be achieved.

The Percent for Art Scheme

The Percent for Art Scheme is implemented through a partnership between the Department of Culture and the Arts and the Department of Housing and Works. The scheme uses an allocation of up to one percent of the estimated total cost of building projects to commission public artworks from West Australian artists. Public building projects identified from the state Governments capital works list with an estimated cost in excess of $2million are eligible for the consideration and inclusion of a Percent for Art component.
Many of the State Government Percent for Art projects, managed by the Department of Housing and Works, are advertised on their Bulletin Board.
You can check there regularly under the current tenders and early tenders advice. You’ll find the projects listed under ‘Other’. In the 2005/06 financial year, a total of 58 Percent for Art projects commenced worth a total of $5,745,000. The average artist contract was $90,262. There is an average of 50 to 60 projects per year.
Artsource advertise state government Percent for Art projects under $50,000

Best Practice
Is one of those terms frequently used, but often unclear about what it means. Artsource’s goal is to pave the way for visual artists to earn more money from their creativity and to contribute to the development of a sustainable industry.
Artsource therefore adopts an approach towards all art projects that includes the notion that Best Practice means:

• Acknowledgement of the visual artist as a professional and therefore paying artists appropriate fees - artsource uses the NAVA Code of Conduct as a guideline.
• Adopting clear and transparent processes for the commissioning of artists for projects
• Ensuring that contracts are fair and equitable for both parties and that artists rights in terms of copyright and moral rights are acknowledged – artsource uses ArtsLaw guidelines
• Advocate to commissioning bodies for innovative artworks.

Projects that result in art in public places have a number of good approaches to their development and implementation. A popular model adopts the use of public advertising, short-listing and paying a number of artists a small fee to produce a design concept, followed by a selection of a final artist or team to create the work.
There are however, other models that provide a clear and transparent process but which do not follow all of these steps. The needs of the client, whether state or local government, education or from the private sector must be considered. It is important for the viable economic development of artists working in the area of art in public spaces that these models are explored and constantly developed.

Artwork Brief
It is important to develop an artwork brief that provides both the commissioning client and possible artists a framework from which to consider potential outcomes.
An inappropriate artwork brief can reduce the possibility of commissioning a work that will be ‘a great work of art’, to surprise, delight, and find a place in our hearts as an icon.

Best practice should evolve to produce these outcomes.

DESCRIPTIVE TERMS for PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

1. Consulting Artist for public art - A professional artist who works on a team to inform the development of a project.
2. Art Consultant - A professional who gives expert advice. artsource may seek to develop a team of experts to advise clients, conduct studies and research for public art programs, community art programs.
3. Project Co-ordinator/ Art Co-ordinator - Refers to activities in a range of areas and can include public art commissions. A professional who negotiates between the commissioner and the artist/craft practitioner, and who may co-ordinate some or all of a project from inception and scoping to completion. A coordinator may be employed to oversee a particular task or stage of the project. Project coordinators ensure that the processes are fair, transparent and accountable, particularly in relation to publicly funded projects.
4. In the case of the Percent for Art Scheme, the project co-ordinator/art co-ordinator must be listed as a consultant on DHW’s panel for art co-ordination to be eligible for appointment.
5. Mentor - A person who provides advice in relation to a range of activities undertaken by artists and, on occasion, by Arts Officers with respect to:
   • Where to obtain contractual, copyright and moral rights advice;
   • Preparation of applications with respect to their content, the nature off the brief and contractual responsibilities;
   • Best practice in relation to the scope, brief, process and development of arts projects.