Author (Your Name)

Shelby Moravec, Colby College

Date of Award

1976

Document Type

Senior Scholars Paper (Colby Access Only)

Department

Colby College. Art Dept.

Advisor(s)

James Carpenter

Second Advisor

William B. Miller

Abstract

"Public Art: A Human Experience" is a study of various works of art which are found in the everyday, public environment, i.e., not within gallery, museum, or park limits. It is not simply a survey of existent public art, but a critical evaluation of that art, offering criterion for evaluating the success of public works based on two characteristics approachability and accessibility. The paper is divided into five chapters dealing with various aspects of public art: art in the urban environment, Chicago and vicinity; art in public places, Scandinavia; sensitivity to site equals success; exterior surfaces and the visual arts and art as public space. Within these five chapters, numerous types of public art, i.e., monumental sculpture, mosaics, murals, fountains, earthworks, public plazas, are evaluated as to their success or failure as representatives of the body of art works termed public art. It is the paper's intent to: make the reader aware of existent public art in urban areas; focus on the success of that public art; and stress the need for more and better art in our public environment. The improved quality of our visual environment is the ultimate goal of the reintegration of the arts and more sensitive urban planning. "Public Art: A Human Experience" was written with the belief that artists, given the chance, could achieve a real integration of art and society; producing a visually aesthetic environment and teaching the inhabitants to reach to it.

Keywords

public art, human experience, art

Comments

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