the holy trinity...

The Panel…

It’s always been hard to gauge the success of a permanent public artwork, sometimes taking years to register the impact it has on its environment. There are always reasons for commissioning the work and the commissioning agency attaches goals and expectations to that work and hope the artists can deliver. As a result, it all comes down to two simple questions,  “What do you want the art to do” and  “How can I give you what you want in ways you least expect it?” To succeed, it needs to rely on a shared visual language, accepted and understood by its audience. This is reached only with the very best processes of consultation and selection and it begins with the panel.

A good selection panel consists of what I call the holy trinity of public art. No more and no less. They are the Voting Members, the Advisors and the Public.  Thought the number within each group can vary significantly, each play an important role towards a successful public art project.

The Voting members are the gatekeepers. They are the aesthetic and quality police whose job is to insure the integrity of the artwork. Voters are almost always art, design or creative professionals and have a vested interest in enhancing the city’s public art collection. They make sure that there is ART in public art and are tasked with making the final selection after weighing the advice from the two other groups.

The Advisors are the technicians. They scrutinize the artwork for durability in an ever-changing environment, analyzing possible maintenance concerns, and matters around safely, installation and overall infrastructural issues.

The Public are the proprietors. They serve as the artists’ muse and inspiration. They are the PUBLIC in public art as the artworks are made for them and with them in mind. Ultimately they take ownership of the work, as it becomes part of their environment.  The public can also be seen as advisors to the voting panel and sometimes have great power in swaying their decisions.

It is rare that a singular artwork or vision is ever accepted by all, but when these three groups work together with mutual respect and appreciation the results pave the way for an artwork that instills civic pride into its intended community.

The provocative "Bad Dog" sculpture was very effective in attracting an audience to a Richard Jackson retrospective at the Orange County Art Museum in California. The exhibition was titled "Aint Painting A Pain" and the dog would occasionally pee yellow paint onto the building's facade.