{"id":1121,"date":"2021-12-03T15:52:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/?post_type=chapter&p=1121"},"modified":"2022-02-14T19:49:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T00:49:48","slug":"bringing-art-into-public-spaces-can-improve-the-social-fabric-of-a-city","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/chapter\/bringing-art-into-public-spaces-can-improve-the-social-fabric-of-a-city\/","title":{"raw":"5b. \"Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city\" (Short news article)","rendered":"5b. “Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city” (Short news article)"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction to the article \"Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city<\/a><\/span>\"<\/h1>\r\nEven the most dynamic urban environments can become staid to their residents over time. Once exciting new neighborhoods can eventually become blas\u00e9 after you pass through them a multitude of times.\r\n\r\nIn her article, \"Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city,\" author Rhiannon Cobb argues for the essential role of public art to not only be an enjoyable aesthetic experience, but also to challenge us to face up to the social problems where these art pieces exist.\r\n\r\n
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Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\r\nRhiannon Cobb, The Conversation<\/em>, July 5, 2021 11:34am EDT\r\n\r\nYou don\u2019t need to look far to see the impact of art in public spaces. Art can connect us to place and record history as it unfolds.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, stories on the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>importance of public art<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are being<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>told globally<\/a><\/span>. And this isn\u2019t new. Times of crisis have often inspired some of the most influential artistic movements.<\/span>\r\n\r\nDisplaying visual symbols of resistance publicly, like the face of George Floyd, can connect<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>social movements across the world<\/span><\/a>. And in Canada, the display of statues like Egerton Ryerson have been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>deemed unacceptable<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as we reckon with our ongoing colonial history.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPublic art<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>can be defined<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>as art that is available to the general public outside of museums and galleries; publicly funded; and related to the interests or concerns of, and used by a public community.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPublic art is referred to by some as<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>creative placemaking<\/a><\/span>: a process of artistic creation and collaboration that helps to shape the surrounding built, natural and social environments.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor French philosopher<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Jacques Ranci\u00e8re<\/a><\/span>, art is disruptive. Done right, he says, it can make the spectator rethink their understanding of politics and society by calling to attention previously hidden inequalities.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor many, the power of public art rests in its ability to turn artistic practice into a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>social practice<\/a><\/span>. It challenges the viewer to confront social issues that affect the very place they stand.<\/span>\r\n
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Art in times of crisis<\/h2>\r\nCOVID-19 is just one example of a period of shared adversity when our connection to the arts has flourished.\u00a0<\/span>The Dadaists\u2019 commentary on the 1918 flu<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>reflected an intense and collectively frustrated desire for meaning in a world filled with chaos.\r\n\r\nDuring the Great Depression, the arts became increasingly experimental. In the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal saw the largest public art\u00a0<\/span>funding initiative<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the country had seen. A few decades later, in the 1980s, provinces and municipalities in Canada followed suit and began\u00a0<\/span>significantly investing in public art<\/a><\/span>.\r\n\r\nProtest music<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>during the civil rights movement and Vietnam War expressed anger, despair and hope. Gay artists and writers\u00a0<\/span>during the AIDS crisis memorialized a collective grief<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that was being either ignored or vilified. The art from both eras came at an immense cost, and has been profoundly culturally and socially influential.\r\n\r\nToday, the pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated inequalities that were already present.\r\n\r\nBut there has also been engagement and social solidarity: from\u00a0<\/span>Black Lives Matter<\/a><\/span>, to the Indigenous\u00a0<\/span>Land Back movement<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>support for unhoused people<\/span><\/a>.\r\n\r\nThose who have the privilege not to pay attention are finding this option less viable. This engagement arguably comes with its own\u00a0<\/span>set of problems<\/a><\/span>, but it is a momentum that can be built upon to imagine and do the work needed to create better futures for society.\r\n\r\nArtists are well positioned to do this creative imagining.\r\n

Art beyond the gallery<\/h2>\r\nAs we each search for meaning throughout our intensely local and geographically limited lives during the pandemic, public art finds, creates and shares the beauty, joy and solidarity that can be found in public spaces.\r\n\r\nGalleries are often isolated from the communities in geographical proximity. They have often been\u00a0<\/span>places of exclusion<\/a><\/span>, and have historically served to uphold a dominant, European\u00a0<\/span>settler-centred narrative<\/span><\/a>. They have played a role in perpetuating colonial and racist attitudes towards Indigenous communities, their art and histories.\r\n\r\nIndigenous artists have long been\u00a0<\/span>challenging these narratives<\/a><\/span>. Mainstream art is catching on, and there has been an unprecedented level of Indigenous\u00a0<\/span>representation and leadership<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>within gallery spaces in recent decades.\r\n\r\nThis leadership should shape public art in Canada. Public spaces, like art galleries, have also\u00a0<\/span>privileged some<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>more than others. Bringing art outside of the gallery space is not a catch-all solution. What matters more is how it\u2019s done.\r\n

Toronto\u2019s year of public art<\/h2>\r\nIn Toronto, the municipal government has announced that its \u201cYear of Public Art<\/a><\/span>\u201d will begin in the fall with a total budget of $4.5 million in 2021. This is the inauguration of a 10-year public art plan. It responds to calls for an improved public art strategy, with a greater commitment to equity in the location of installations, the level of engagement with communities and the artists who create works.\r\n\r\nToronto has promised a strong commitment to Indigenous self-determination, leadership and placemaking within its public art strategy.\r\n\r\nThe city\u2019s public art installations have\u00a0<\/span>increased in the past 50 years<\/a><\/span>, with over 700 installations added between 1967 and 2015.\r\n\r\nToronto\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Percent for Public Art program<\/a><\/span>, a commonly used strategy in cities in North America and Europe, encourages developers to donate one per cent of their gross construction costs towards public art in their development\u2019s direct vicinity.\r\n\r\nThe program is\u00a0<\/span>voluntary<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>though. And because most development is happening in the downtown core, this is where public art has been concentrated, meaning neighbourhoods with less development have received less investment in public art.\r\n\r\nNonetheless, the city is home to a multiplicity of adept communities and talented artists who continue to use public art to build community capacity and foster social inclusion.\r\n\r\nListening to artists of diverse backgrounds and elevating communities to participate meaningfully will support important conversations that determine our collective future. And that makes the investment in public art worthwhile for us all.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
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Quiz<\/h2>\r\nQuiz on \"Bringing art into public spaces can improve the social fabric of a city<\/a>\"<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"76\"]\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"77\"]\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"78\"]\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"79\"]\r\n\r\n
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