In this groundbreaking anthology, twenty-two artists, architects, historians, critics, curators, and philosophers explore the role of public art in creating a national identity, contending that each work can only be understood by analyzing the context in which it is commissioned, built, and received. They emphasize the historical continuum between traditional works such as Mount Rushmore, the Washington Monument, and the New York Public Library lions, in addition to contemporary memorials such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Names Project AIDS Quilt. They discuss the influence of patronage on form and content, isolate the factors that precipitate controversy, and show how public art overtly and covertly conveys civic values and national culture. Complete with an updated introduction, Critical Issues in Public Art shows how monuments, murals, memorials, and sculptures in public places are complex cultural achievements that must speak to increasingly diverse groups.

This book takes a bold look at public art and its populist appeal, offering a more inclusive guide to America's creative tastes and shared culture. It examines the history of American public art – from FDR's New Deal to Christo's The Gates – and challenges preconceived notions of public art, expanding its definition to include a broader scope of works and concepts. Expands the definition of public art to include sites such as Boston's Big Dig, Las Vegas' Treasure Island, and Disney World Offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional rhetoric and criticism surrounding public art Includes insightful analysis of the museum and its role in relation to public art

In the twentieth century, public sculpture has changed almost beyond recognition. Works inspired by classical and Renaissance traditions - imposing equestrian monuments and triumphal arches - have been replaced by works such as Claes Oldenburg's Clothespin and Christo's Running Fence. This break from tradition has led to radically different approaches to public sculpture - but not without bitter controversy within both the art community and the general public. Contemporary Public Sculpture offers the first comprehensive look at this highly diverse and often controversial branch of modern art. Beginning with the revival of public sculpture in the 1960s, with the work of Picasso, Calder, Moore, Nevelson, and others, Senie traces the developments that defined a new civic art: one which substituted the artist's fame for public content and sparked debates about cost, the role of government, and the place of public art in a democratic society. She shows how the growing irrelevance of traditional memorials resulted in a new approach to the genre defined by Maya Lin's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, which set out to "heal a nation" rather than glorify a military event by honoring victims rather than heroes; and how dissatisfaction with modern "glass box" architecture and its surrounding barren urban spaces led architectural firms like Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill to use art to enliven both. Senie discusses how the earthworks of Robert Smithson and others inspired public sculpture that brought various landscape elements into urban sites; and she explores works by George Sugarman and Scott Burton that combine sculpture and furniture, changing the very idea of public art by creating a stage for publiclife. Finally, she examines the controversies that arise when citizens (including the press and politicians) confront publicly funded work - such as Joel Shapiro's "Headless Gumby" or Serra's Tilted Arc - that defies their sense of what public sculpture should be. Illustrated with over one hundred halftones, this overview of contemporary public sculpture provides a clear understanding of why it is there, why it looks the way it does, and what is really at stake in the continuing public art controversy.

Peril in the Square follows the highs and lows of Vault, Ron Robertson-Swanns bright yellow abstract sculpture dubbed by its detractors as the Yellow Peril. Vault was the catalyst for the most furious debate over the rights and wrongs of art in public places ever witnessed in Australia. Richly illustrated with nearly 100 photographs, most of them in color, this book gives readers the full story of Melbournes best-known public art work, from its beginnings as a maquette that shocked the city council in the late 1970s, all the way to its present resurrection at Southbank.

A Companion to Public Art is the only scholarly volume to examine the main issues, theories, and practices of public art on a comprehensive scale. Edited by two distinguished scholars with contributions from art historians, critics, curators, and art administrators, as well as artists themselves Includes 19 essays in four sections: tradition, site, audience, and critical frameworks Covers important topics in the field, including valorizing victims, public art in urban landscapes and on university campuses, the role of digital technologies, jury selection committees, and the intersection of public art and mass media Contains “artist’s philosophy” essays, which address larger questions about an artist’s body of work and the field of public art, by Julian Bonder, eteam (Hajoe Moderegger and Franziska Lamprecht), John Craig Freeman, Antony Gormley, Suzanne Lacy, Caleb Neelon, Tatzu Nishi, Greg Sholette, and Alan Sonfist.

In the late 1990s Angels in America,Tony Kushner’s epic play about homosexuality and AIDS in the Reagan era, toured the country, inspiring protests in a handful of cities while others received it warmly. Why do people fight over some works of art but not others? Not Here, Not Now, Not That! examines a wide range of controversies over films, books, paintings, sculptures, clothing, music, and television in dozens of cities across the country to find out what turns personal offense into public protest. What Steven J. Tepper discovers is that these protests are always deeply rooted in local concerns. Furthermore, they are essential to the process of working out our differences in a civil society. To explore the local nature of public protests in detail, Tepper analyzes cases in seventy-one cities, including an in-depth look at Atlanta in the late 1990s, finding that debates there over memorials, public artworks, books, and parades served as a way for Atlantans to develop a vision of the future at a time of rapid growth and change. Eschewing simplistic narratives that reduce public protests to political maneuvering, Not Here, Not Now, Not That! at last provides the social context necessary to fully understand this fascinating phenomenon.