Public art is a form of artistic expression that interprets and engages with a specific place, community or culture. It may address a local or global issue, celebrate the people and history of a city or town, or simply serve to beautify the landscape. Often, it is funded through a direct or indirect public process, such as through public arts commissioning or percent-for-art ordinances in cities and towns. It is usually commissioned for a specific site and is intended to be permanently located in that place. Public artworks may be a monument, memorial, civic statue or sculpture, integrated architectural or landscape architecture work, public murals and digital new media works.
Some public art is intended to be experienced in a passive manner, such as reading a book or viewing a painting. However, public artists increasingly are designing works that encourage a more active engagement with the public. In addition, the act of coming together as a community to engage with an artwork drives placemaking and builds relationships and social capital. In turn, this can help strengthen the sense of shared appreciation for a public artwork and its impact on a local community.
Typically, public artworks are designed on a large scale – both in terms of physical size and in the meaning and symbolism of the work. This is because the public will have a wide range of views of a public artwork, including from a distance. The scale of an artwork may also be affected by the context in which it is situated – for example, open parks, tall buildings and trees can dwarf smaller works.
In addition, many public artworks are meant to convey a particular message or story – the history of a place, its people and culture; a particular issue that the public needs to confront; or a specific aesthetic. This is often done by integrating the art into a landscape, for instance in the case of the memorials at the Vietnam War National Cemetery or the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Other types of public art are more transitory, in the forms of performances, dance, theatre or poetry, such as the posters and graffiti that were once used as a tool of political protest. This kind of public art often reflects the concerns, interests or issues of a local community and can be a powerful way to engage a diverse audience in civic dialogue.
Some digital public artworks use projection on the surface of a building or other structure to transform the appearance of the space. For example, the annual Gertrude Street Projection Festival in Melbourne involves artworks that use computer-generated imagery to create visual effects on the exterior of a building or a cityscape. The digital nature of these artworks can make them a fun and engaging way for the public to explore a city or neighborhood.