On February 12, 2005, artists Christo and Jean-Claude opened The Gates on Manhattan’s Central Park. For 16 days, 7,503 freestanding panels were suspended above the park’s walkways before an estimated four million viewers. Some people gloried in the billowing swaths of saffron. Others saw the public art project as an overrated, overpriced eyesore. However, one thing was certain: everyone had an opinion.

As with all public art, The Gates’ success relies not on unanimous appreciation of a particular aesthetic, but on the viewers’ unfettered access to the work. With no museum docents or “do not touch” signs, art created for an open space encourages viewers to linger, while asking themselves a series of questions: Do I like this? If not, why? Does the piece work in its surroundings? There are no wrong answers, only personal observations that will help inform the viewers’ tastes.

But what exactly constitutes public art? The Washington Monument, Maya Lin’s Vietnam Memorial, artist Anish Kapoor’s 110-ton elliptical steel Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park, and the half-buried graffiti-covered cars in Amarillo’s Cadillac Ranch are all prime examples, highlighting the way public art runs the gamut in terms of intent, environs, and medium.
For this issue of Art Lover’s Guide, we asked Megan Weiler, Public Art Administrator for the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places Program, to shed light on some of what the Texas capital has to offer.

In 1985, Austin created the city’s Art in Public Places Program (AIPP). It was the first publicly funded art program in the state of Texas, begun as a means to expose Austinites to the visual arts. Today, the AIPP is responsible for the creation of more than 140 public art projects that are cornerstones of community identity.

From their inception to their unveiling, Austin’s public art projects are often years in the making. Before construction can begin, a project’s site must be determined, in consultation with the program’s administrator, by the AIPP panel. The panel, a seven-member committee of visual art and design professionals appointed by the Austin Arts Commission, may also seek input from the commissioned artist to ensure that the location is ideal for their installation. Once the site is chosen, the artist works with design teams, architects, engineers, and landscape architects to create a space that resonates with and represents the city’s increasingly diverse population.

The Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) is a prime example of the myriad ways in which the AIPP provides the city’s residents and visitors with fine art that is not only accessible, but also educational. When the airport was being built, the public art program commissioned regional artists to create works for the building that reflect Austin’s unique physical and cultural landscape. The program’s efforts resulted in one of the most eclectic public art collections in a civic space.

Etched metal medallions and etched mirrors from artist Jill Bedgood’s series Reality Texas Mythology (1999) (photo right) respectively provide little known facts about Texas and humorously reference stereotypes and mythologies of the Lone Star state. For example, glass etchings of big hairdos and even bigger cowboy hats can be found in baggage claim and concourse-level restroom mirrors. The medallions, installed over drinking fountains on the concourse level, feature, among other things, bats. The nocturnal mammals, depicted upside down, are encircled by one of Austin’s more obscure selling points: “The world’s largest urban bat colony [is] in Austin.”

An acrylic-on-canvas mural entitled The Visit (1999) (photo above), by Fidencio Durán, hangs over the west ticket counters. Constructed in a series of panels, the mural depicts scenes from the Hispanic artist’s childhood in rural South Texas. In one panel, a family elder tells stories to younger generations. In another, a woman gives dance lessons to a young boy. Durán’s work offers a window into not only his personal history, but also that of the property on which the ABIA is located. Long before the airport’s construction, Del Valle was a farming community similar to the one Durán portrays.

Artist Thomas Evans also presents a Texas history with his Hill of the Medicine Man (1999) (photos above). Hanging above the east ticket counters, this series of nine oil paintings offers a breathtaking bird’s eye view of Central Texas’ Enchanted Rock. The granite megalith is literally the bedrock on which the state was founded. As the work’s title suggests, Native Americans once populated the area and revered the site as a mystical and spiritual destination.

Other artworks commissioned under the direction of the airport’s design architect, Page Southerland Page, include functional components to the building, such as hand-forged railings by Lars Stanley, ceramic tiles by Cera-Mix Studios, and granite carvings of native plants by Philippe Klinefelter. Many of Austin’s public art projects are similarly integrated into the fabric of civic spaces through architectural detailing or artwork that serves a function or as a focal point within the site.

For example, Seeding Time (photo below, left), the Art in Public Places installation on the City Hall plaza, features locally quarried boulders and limestone seats, creating a unique gathering place for visitors and City Hall employees. The project, completed in 2004 by New York artist Nobuho Nagasawa in collaboration with architect Antoine Predock, is centered on a sapling grown from an acorn that was harvested from Austin’s 500-year-old Treaty Oak. The sapling, like the seat of government it represents, will continue to flourish and grow for generations to come.

Elevated Prairie (2004) (photo facing page, bottom right) was also developed for an outdoor space. Conceived by artist trio Murray Legge, Deborah Lewis, and Andrea Legge, Elevated Prairie is located on the grounds of the Central East Austin Police Substation and Forensics Lab. The artists transformed the front lawn by installing weathering steel planters, forming a labyrinthine path where visitors may conduct their own investigation of indigenous coastal prairie grasses and wildflowers, the predominate landscape of East Austin prior to development.

The public art at St. John Multipurpose Center & J. J. Pickle Elementary School—a state-of-the-art facility that displaced 37 homes in order to build a police substation, library, gymnasium, health clinic, and elementary school in a historically underserved community—serves as a tribute to the neighborhood and to those who lost their homes for the greater good. The Community Core Sample (2003) (photo right), by artists Beverly Penn and Steve Wiman, showcases photographs, memorabilia, and other found and salvaged objects from the community in 40 window-like niches that span along the connecting corridor between the school and city spaces.

The collaborative nature of public art encourages not only dialogue between the artist and the community in which he or she is working, but also, at times, a more hands-on relationship between the community and the work-in-progress. Tré Arenz’s award-winning The Wall of Hands (1994) (photo below) at the St. Elmo Service Center is one example. The late artist turned a contested power plant retaining wall into an artistic statement of solidarity when, one Saturday, she held a block party and invited the neighborhood to cast their hands in plaster. The handprints, each memorialized in a glazed ceramic tile, now mark the entrance of the center as a way to empower the community through the symbolic act of reclamation.

¡MIRA! (2000) (photo page 35), a metal sculpture with neon light, hangs above the information desk at the Lorraine “Grandma” Camacho Center. The work, by artist Will Larson, features the silhouettes of children reaching for the stars. Larson grew up in the neighborhood and invited local kids to pose for the project. The work reflects the center’s purpose to enlighten the area’s youth and guide them toward their lofty goals, while capturing the essence of the very children it hopes to inspire.

Of course, it’s impossible for a public art project to appease an entire city. No one work speaks to everyone. It is in the diversity of the city’s public art collection and in the conversations provoked–about art, aesthetics, and the redemptive powers of imagination–that success is measured. Each new work by an artist contributes to Austin’s vitality, helping to establish the state capital as a regional leader in the arts.

For more information on Austin’s Art in Public Places Program go to www.ci.austin.tx.us/aipp/. For more information about the artists mentioned, go to:
Jill Bedgood · www.jillbedgood.com
Cera-Mix Studios · www.cera-mix.com
Fidencio Durán · www.fidencioduran.com
Thomas Evans · www.thomasevansart.com
Philippe Klinefelter · www.philippeklinefelter.com
Will Larson · www.willywerks.com
Nobuho Nagasawa · www.ci.austin.tx.us/cityhall/nr_artist
Beverly Penn · www.berverlypenn.com
Stanley Architects & Artisans, Inc. · www.larsstanley.com

By Megan Weiler, who has been with the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places Program for nine years, commissioning artists to design and develop public art for municipal buildings. Weiler has a B.A. in Psychology, a B.F.A. in Art History and an M.A. in Art Education.
Photos courtesy of Austin’s Art in Public Places.