Making Public Art Work

Why is there not more citizen involvement in the conception, selection, and execution of public art? Cynthia Nikitin, Assistant Vice President at Project for Public Spaces, addresses that question in "Making Public Art Work," originally published in Sculpture Magazine in April 2000.

Nikitin's essay not only outlines problems in public-art policy; it also offers solutions. "By tapping into a community’s intrinsic creativity and establishing a design process that elicits public input early on," she writes, "public artists are successfully creating artworks and establishing an arts presence that have meaning to the public for whom they are intended." It is through this approach that she believes art can be made with - and not just for - the public.