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Community involvemant in public art: An overview and two models, Arts on the Line and Arts in Transit
Mineo, Jean R., M.A.
The American University, 1994
Copyright ©1994 by Mineo, Jean R. All rights reserved.
UMI 300 N. Zccb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproduction Further reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC ART: AN OVERVIEW
AND TWO MODELS, ARTS ON THE LINE
AND ARTS IN TRANSIT
by
Jean R. Mineo
submitted to the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
of The American University
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Master of Arts
in
Performing Arts: Arts Management
Signatures of the Committee:
Chair: I&
D - /7l C l — 7
the College
Date
1994
The American University IbZo Washington, D.C. 20016 THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT
by
JEAN R. MINEO
1994
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC ART: AN OVERVIEW
AND TWO MODELS, ARTS ON THE LINE
AND ARTS IN TRANSIT
BY
Jean R. Mineo
ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1960s, there has been a proliferation of
works of art in public places. These art works become
significant to the public when the content of the art works
is relevant to the site and the local audience. Public art
programs are developing productive ways to involve local
citizens, producing new partnerships. As a result, art
programs can assist in a variety of community development
efforts to address growing social concerns.
An examination of two case studies, Arts on the Line
and Arts in Transit, reveals that public art programs can be
vehicles for individuals to improve personal skills. The
author finds that a two-tiered artist selection process can
be effective when community representatives help create and
implement the projects. Increased community involvement
does not, however, ensure that the installed art works will
be consistent with community requirements. A number of
ii
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. recommendations are made to improve future public art
projects and to enrich community participants' experiences.
iii
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the many professionals and
friends who willingly volunteered their time to this thesis.
I would especially like to thank Jennifer Dowley, former
Program Administrator for Arts on the Line, and Pamela
Worden, President of UrbanArts, for generously sharing their
thoughts and original project documentation with me. Your
achievements in the face of numerous obstacles are
inspiring.
This thesis would not have been possible without the
dedication of my advisors, Dr. Naima Prevots, Valerie Morris
and Susie Erenrich. I am especially grateful for your
insights and editorial comments, from which I have learned a
great deal.
There are a number of colleagues and friends whose
consistent support, wisdom and encouragement, has touched my
life in ways too numerous to mention. My thanks to Suzanne
and Scott Braman, Monica Cheslak, Patricia Cook, Christin
Heighway, Kris Knight, Gillian Finley, and Marla Strickland.
You have made Washington feel like home.
Next, I would like to publicly thank my family for
their emotional and financial support during the last two
years, and always: Lou Masella, for constantly demonstrating
iv
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. understanding, confidence and incredible patience; Bonnie
Mineo, for teaching me that one person can make a
difference; Kelly McClintock, for showing me the value of
being able to argue both sides of an issue; and, John and
Martha Mineo, for showing me that working for personal
fulfillment has its own rewards. I deeply appreciate your
faith in me, and hope that I can be as generous in sharing
these gifts with others, as you have been with me.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iv
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
II. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC ART ...... 13
III. THE ARTS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ...... 31
IV. ART IN RAPID TRANSIT STATIONS ...... 53
V. THE RED LINE NORTHWEST EXTENSION: ARTS ON THE LINE ...... 59
VI. ARTS IN TRANSIT: THE SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR PROJECT ...... 80
VII. C O N C L U S I O N ...... 107
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 117
vi
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INTRODUCTION
Since the mid-1960's establishment of both the
National Endowment for the Arts' Art in Public Places
program and the General Services Administration's Art in
Architecture Program, there has been a proliferation of
works of art in public places. Through artists'
residencies, art projects have been developed in conjunction
with schools and hospitals.' Since 1974, Federal properties
have received over 165 art pieces.2 Shopping malls often
include fountains, and many buildings across America are
decorated with murals. A number of streets incorporate
artistic designs on manhole covers, park benches and
sidewalks.1 Arts administrators have acquired
'Malcolm Miles, Art for Public Places: critical essays (Winchester, Hampshire UK: Winchester School of Art Press, 1989), 149.
2General Services Administration Art in Architecture Program, "Art Work Installations" alphabetical listing by artist, Washington, DC, 4 October 1993.
■'For an extensive review of objects, materials and locales in America, see Ronald Lee Fleming and Renata von Tscharner-Fleming, Placemakers: Creating Public Art that Tells You Where You Are (Boston: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987).
1
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expertise and are advising clients, while books covering
issues in public art are increasing.
Unfortunately, public art projects are rarely
subjected to an examination of whether they accomplish their
goals beyond the initial installation. Artist Suzanne Lacy
notes that artists and critics discuss art in public places
in terms of visual appeal or beauty "with community
involvement evaluated as an appendage of, rather than
integral to, the critique."4 Lacy contends that the process
of preparing and exhibiting a work, and the context of how a
work is situated within a community, is as important as
aesthetic considerations in evaluating public art. Lacy
argues that "Considering process and context as aspects of
the actual work does not eliminate discussion of its
aesthetic impact, but simply returns to it a fullness of
expression implied in the term 'public art.'"5
This thesis addresses the public nature of two art
projects by describing community involvement in the
commissioning processes administered by two community art
agencies, for mass transportation facilities in the Boston
area. The collaborative process can open up dialogue,
organize people and neighborhoods around community issues
and generate appreciation of cultural differences. This
4Suzanne Lacy, "Fractured Space," in Art in the Public Interest: New Public Art in the 1980s. ed. Arlene Raven (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1989), 289.
'Ibid., 290.
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thesis examines the ability of two collaborative public art
projects to organize community residents around community
issues.
Outline of Paper
In Chapter I, the topic of public art is introduced.
Significant and recurring terms are defined and the two case
studies briefly described. Chapters II and III provide the
reader with background information on the historical
development of community involvement in public art projects,
and the role of art in community development, respectively.
Chapter IV explains the importance and early development of
public art in Boston's transit stations. Chapters V and VI
provide an in-depth examination of each case study.
Concluding remarks are made in Chapter VII.
Definitions of terms
It is important to identify the difference between art
in public places and public art.
[Public art] must rely from its very inception on some degree of cultural approval. That is, for a work to be made in the public sector...it must enter a negotiating process with those who represent that sector...a process by which the values inherent in the proposed work are aligned to some degree with those in the immediate community is the underlying factor predisposing placement of the work.6
In making the distinction between art in public places and
public art, curator John Beardsley noted as early as 1981
6Ibid., 296.
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that public art "...become[s] significant to its public
through the incorporation of content relevant to the local
audience."7 Art in public places refers to those monuments,
statues and landmarks, which have been imposed on a site
without consideration for the audience or the environmental
context — the place.
In the traditional sense, public art is a work of art
installed in public places by public agencies.8 But not all
art installed in public places is public art. According to
artist Siah Armajani, "public art is a search for a cultural
history which calls for a structural unity between object
and the social and spatial setting."9 Public art, then,
also responds to a context of the place in which the art
will be located.
Professor Malcolm Miles identifies three main aspects
associated with the nature of the place; "...the physical
location, the people who use the space, and the local
history (which may suggest a theme, or give a reason why a
space becomes a focal point, as well as being a vehicle for
7Virginia Maksymowicz "Through the Back Door: Alternative Approaches to Public Art," in Art and the Public Sphere. ed. W.J.T. Mitchell (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 148.
"W.J.T. Mitchell, "The Violence of Public Art," in Art and the Public Sphere. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), 38.
9Siah Armajani, "Public Art Manifesto," Speech given at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, 24 February 1994.
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community involvement) .I,IU In responding to the context of
the place — the site, the audience and history — art in
public places becomes public art.
In public settings, the audience may be the transitory
users of a place. According to Malcolm Miles, "In these
public settings, the artist will have to work with whomever
commissions the work, and the emphasis will probably be on
making something which is part of, and brings out, the
qualities of the location or the architecture."11 The users
can assist the commissioning agency by identifying what they
value in the place, and can assist the artist in
understanding its complexity.12 Permanent public art can
relate to a transitory audience by identifying the history
and values associated with the place.
A number of critics have identified an inherent
contradiction in the term public art. They identify the
dichotomy between the ideals of collective expression and
common good implied by the term "public," and the ideals of
private expression implied by the term "art".13 Artist
Virginia Maksymowicz suggests, however, that "if the term
public is applied to art...it should consequently imply a
'"Miles, Art for Public Places. 8. For a more in depth discussion of the process of collecting site information, see also Fleming and von Tscharner-Fleming, Placemakers.
"Miles, Art for Public Places. 8.
"Ibid.
"Lacy, "Fractured Space," 294.
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kind of artmaking that involves or responds to community
concerns and interests."14 In her definition, Maksymowicz
articulates the relationship between "public" and "art"
instead of the differences between the two terms. Public
art, then, implies "...openness, inclusion, availability,
participation, accessibility and visibility."15
For the purpose of this thesis, public art is defined
as art that is: publicly funded; is for the benefit of, and
is accessible by the public; and has content that relates to
a combination of physical, social and historical contexts.
"Public" refers to the people who are immediately affected
by the project. Public art is "accessible" when it is
easily experienced at no direct monetary expense to the
audience. Public art can be temporary or permanent, and can
occur at interior or exterior sites. In addition, public
art can be a major work in a prominent place or it may blend
in to its surroundings, in the design and fabrication of
tiles, seating, or handrails. This thesis focuses on two
projects which used community involvement to install a
variety of public art works within mass transportation
facilities, in an urban environment.
Webster's dictionary defines the term "commission" as
l4Maksymowicz, "Alternative Approaches," 147.
l5Miles, Art for Public Places. 54.
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"official permission to carry out a task."16 In
commissioning public art, permission generally takes the
form of a signed contract between the administering agency
and an artist. The commissioning process involves:
selecting artists and sites; seeking funding; determining
deadlines and installation procedures; community education;
and coordination among agencies.17 The commissioning
process includes all procedures required to install a work
of art in a public site.
The term "community" is used in a number of different
ways. Some may use the term community to refer to a place
or region which can be identified by its geographical
borders. This paper explores public art projects in
communities identified by their geographic boundaries. For
others, community extends beyond tangible boundaries to
imply shared interests or beliefs such as religion or
politics. Still others may use the word community to refer
to a shared citizenship, race or ethnic culture. Community
is broadly defined as a group of people working together on
a common goal.
Social change is a complex process. Change is a
neutral term defined in Webster's Dictionary as "to make or
lftWebster's II New Riverside Dictionary. (1984), s.v. "commission."
17Jerry Allen, "How Art Becomes Public," appendix in Going Public: A Field Cuide to Developments in Art in Public Places. Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Pam Korza, (North Adams, MA: Arts Extension Services, 1988), 14-116.
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become different: alter."1* Webster's defines social as "of
or having to do with human beings living together as a group
in a situation requiring that they have dealings with one
another."19 Social change implies a transformation of
conditions affecting people over time. These conditions are
evident in "social structure[s] and cultural patterns."20
Social structures consist of the "persistent social roles,
groups, organizations, institutions, and societies.1,21
Structural changes might include changes in households,
organizations or in the economy. Cultural patterns are the
symbols, language, values, beliefs, and knowledge that
people share.22 Changes in cultural patterns include
changes in definitions, problems, values and dreams. This
paper primarily focuses on changes in individual
characteristics and cultural patterns in two case studies.
Social change is broadly defined as an alleviation of
unfavorable conditions (social, economic or political),
attitudes or behaviors over time, among individuals or
groups, as evidenced through personal interviews and oral
^Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary. (1984), s.v. "change."
19Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary. (1971), s.v. "social."
20Charles Harper, Exploring Social Change (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993), 4.
2lIbid., 5.
22Ibid.
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histories. This paper examines the role of the arts as one
force of change in the lives of individuals and groups in a
community.
Professor Charles Harper identifies a number of issues
associated with the process of change in Exploring Social
Change. Change can occur at different levels. These levels
can be small scale and micro (based on people and groups in
the immediate surroundings), or large scale and macro (based
on the larger systems in society such as economics or
politics) , or in between.23 This paper focuses on small
scale levels of change among individuals and groups, while
also recognizing relevant large scale levels of change.
Change can also occur in a short-term or a long-term
time frame. Short-term changes may be deceptive unless
their relationship to long-term change is understood.24 In
chapter II, this paper provides a historical context to
examine long-term changes in community involvement in public
art projects. In chapters V and VI, the two case studies
identify short-term changes evidenced by individuals and
groups during the projects, and examines their relationship
to long-term change.
Another issue associated with the process of change is
distinguishing between external and internal causes.
External causes are those (such as money or expertise)
23Ibid. , 6.
24Ibid. , 7.
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brought in from outside of a community, while internal
causes are those existing within the community (such as
human development and self-help programs).zs In chapter
III, this paper broadly examines arts activities as a
resource for community development efforts.
The Case Studies
This thesis examines the origins and development of
two federally funded public art projects in culturally
diverse communities in the Boston area. These projects
commissioned public art for different sections of the area's
public transportation system and were completed in the
1980s. Each study will include some community profile
information to provide comparative data for examining
community involvement in the two collaborative processes.
This thesis explores these public art projects through
written documentation, interviews and oral histories, to
determine whether they accomplished their stated goals.
This thesis also illuminates the influence of early lessons
on a subsequent project in the same area.
The investigation begins with the 1978 Arts on the
Line project. Arts on the Line was a public art program
jointly developed by the Cambridge Arts Council (CAC) and
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to
incorporate the arts into four new subway stations. Funded
25Ibid., 8.
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by the United States Department of Transportation, this was
the pilot program for art in transit programs throughout the
United States, establishing a national model of art
selection processes and guidelines for the federal
government. CAC developed an artist selection procedure to
ensure community involvement and aesthetic decision-making
by art professionals. Community involvement was encouraged
through participation in Advisory Groups to provide
community profiles and make recommendations to the art
professionals selecting the artists. With an art allowance
of one half of one percent of the construction budget, the
seven year program integrated twenty permanent works into
the four new stations of the Red Line Northwest Extension
through Cambridge and Somerville.
The investigative focus then turns to the 1984 Arts in
Transit project. Arts in Transit was a comprehensive public
art program for nine new rapid transit stations in Boston's
Southwest Corridor on the MBTA's Orange Line. The MBTA
contracted UrbanArts (a local nonprofit public arts agency)
to develop and administer the project. UrbanArts divided
the project into two components. Through the first
component, the Permanent Art Program, UrbanArts administered
the selection of artists and the permanent art installation,
based on federal guidelines established during the Arts on
the Line project. The second component of the Arts in
Transit program, the Temporary Art Program, expanded the
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role of community involvement through photographic
documentation, literature and oral histories. This series
of temporary programs, funded through the private efforts of
UrbanArts, made it possible to reach and involve larger
segments of the communities than was possible in the
permanent art selection process.
The purpose of this thesis is to achieve a better
understanding of community involvement in collaborative
public art projects. This study has the potential to become
a catalyst for further research into collaborative public
art projects by examining the relationships among
participants. New relationships are currently being formed
between artists, arts organizations and non-arts service
providers, to creatively utilize diminishing resources and
to innovatively confront social, economic and political
concerns. Understanding the dynamics of the collaborative
process will provide an opportunity to expand and improve
these relationships. This thesis does not critique the
artistic merit or quality of the art works.26
26Aesthetic critiques of several of the art works in the two case studies can be found in Fleming and von Tscharner- Fleming, Placemakers: Pallas Lombardi, "Arts On The Line: Eight Year Report," (Camnri^ye, MA: Cambridge Arts Council, October 1986); and Richard Wolkomir, "Sculpture in the subways? Is there a better place for it?" Smithsonian. April 1987.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I I
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC ART
Historical Background
History is revised based on the questions that each
generation asks of its past. The questions are based in the
context of current events, reflecting society's values and
concerns at the time. These values and concerns also
influence the making of art. W.J.T. Mitchell notes:
The very conditions that allow art to come into being — the sites of its display, circulation, and social functionality, its address to spectators, its position in systems of exchange and power — are themselves subject to profound historical shifts."27
This chapter briefly examines some historical influences on
the changing nature of public art and the developing role of
community involvement.
As Professor Miles explains, there exists a long
history of public art in America:
from the commissioning of Luigi Perisco to make statues of Justice, America, and Hope for the Capitol in 1825, through the Federal Art Project of 1933, to the declaration in 1954 by the Supreme Court that public welfare included aesthetic matters, and the first Percent [for art plan] set up in Philadelphia in 1959. Collaborations between artists and architects, some of the earliest being in Se ;ttle...form the most recent episode in the story.... The context is pluralism, not a
27W.J.T. Mitchell, "In', "oduction," in Art and the Public Sphere. 3.
13
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quest for a single formula for funding or commissioning.2K
Nineteenth century public art pieces bring to mind
equestrian statues and memorials to generals and statesmen.
These traditional monuments spoke a language in which the public was fluent: heroism, war, civic values clothed in classical robes on gallant horses, and with heroic gestures. Every citizen spoke this language. Moreover, it was widely accepted that the meaning of art derived...from the society in which the artist worked.29
In these early works commemorating people and events in the
nation's history, artists used symbols and images which
expressed publicly shared values.
Alienation
In the early twentieth century, public art generally
did not commemorate an historical or ideological subject.
Instead, public art tended to be large-scale abstract
sculptures, often installed in a building's public areas and
outdoor plazas. Public art was often installed in public
spaces after buildings were completed in an attempt to
remedy the alienating nature of the modern movement style of
architecture. Many of these monumental public works
"function as an isolated artistic statement"3" and have no
relationship to the site or the architecture.
2*Miles, Art for Public Places. 185.
29Jerry Allen, "How Art Becomes Public," in Going Public. 247.
3(,Jennifer Dowley, ,'*-ts On The Line; A Pilot Project in Arts and Transportation," (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Arts Council, 1980), 16.
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Although perhaps it is unfair to generalize, many
reactions to the installation of the art as an after-thought
to a site were negative, (commonly referred to as "plop art"
or "turd in the plaza") .3I According to critic Lucy
Lippard, "what began as a good idea — to have public art in
areas of the city where art had rarely been — failed,
because for the most part, gallery art was simply placed
outside, and some of the sites chosen were absurd."32
Public art in the 1930s had little relationship to its
audience or its site. Modernist-style public art was
rejected as a cosmetic addition to the built environment.
Renewed Interest
The tensions of the 1960s ushered in new concepts of
public art. Society was torn by the civil rights movement,
antiwar protests and women's demands in a "general revolt
against oppressive, artificial, previously unquestioned ways
of living."33 Artists began to question the relationship of
3IThe term "turd in the plaza" was coined by James White. The terms "plop art" or "plunk art" are credited to Suzanne Lacy. All of these expressions refer to the process whereby a site is secured and a sculpture is installed and considered accessible to the masses. Lacy also theorizes that this method has more recently given way to the "chat 'em up theory" where artists try their models out on the community, work with architects and city planners, and are somewhat receptive to public feedback, as long as artistic expression is not compromised.
32Malcolm Miles, Art for Public Places. 54.
33Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States. (New York. MarperCollins, 1980), 526.
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their work to the public — to people who had previously
been excluded from participation. During this time,
minimal artists...in making work for a specific site, gave up the traditions of the studio artist....At the same time, arts administrators and politically astute collectors were beginning to contemplate the role of art in the daily life of the community. Art began to be placed outside of museums, in central locations where the public didn't have to make a special effort to see it.”
Although minimal artists developed a new focus on
"establishing an interaction among object, space and
viewer,"15 their work was limited by their attempts to rid
sculpture of its "referential content."56 This concern with
context became an important point of departure for artists
in the next decade who began to incorporate particular
aspects of sites into their sculpture.37
Federal agencies also experienced concern for the
function of the public spaces they created. The National
Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Art in Public Places Program,
and the General Services Administration's (GSA) Art in
Architecture Program both used federal funds to commission
public art. The NEA and the GSA became the largest
'■‘Kathy Halbreich, "Stretching the Terrain: Sketching Twenty Years of Public Art," in Going Public. 10.
55Stacy Paleologos Harris, ed. Insights on Sights: Perspectives on Art in Public Places. (Washington, DC: Partners for Livable Places, 1984), 62.
,6Ibid.
57Ibid.
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purchasers of public art in the United States.3*
The NEA was created by Congress in 1965 as an
independent federal agency established to encourage and
assist in developing the nation's cultural resources.39 The
Art in Public Places Program, under the Visual Arts Program,
was established in 1966 "to support individual artists of
exceptional talent and demonstrated ability; and to provide
the public with opportunities to experience the best of
American contemporary art."40
The GSA oversees the design, construction and
renovation of federal buildings across the country. The Art
in Architecture Program was established in 1963 to
commission works of art for federal properties, with
allocations based on one half of one percent of the
estimated cost to build or repair the buildings, in addition
to a conservation and maintenance program to preserve the
collection.
A major distinction between the NEA and GSA programs
is in the procedure for involving community-based parties in
the commissioning process.41 Originally, the NEA's intent
was to commission great artists. Awards were made
3*Fleming and von Tscharner-Fleraing, Placemakers. 176.
39Harris, Insights. 9.
40Ibid.
41 Judith H. Balfe and Margaret J. Wyszomirski, "Public Art and Public Policy," Journal of Arts Management and Law 15 (Winter 1986): 20.
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"primarily in the basis of the site and its potential as a
place for art."42 The NEA responded to artists' requests
for funding to support works at sites selected by the
artists.
In 1979, the guidelines were revised to better prepare
the communities receiving public art pieces. Under the new
guidelines, a local sponsoring agency applied for funding.
The applicant was responsible for determining the site and
the artist, establishing its own selection process,
providing evidence of support from civic authorities and
community groups, and describing methods to educate and
inform the community to bettc: receive the art.45 The
agency focused on public art projects where artists'
personal visions interfaced most u4rectly with the pubi:'-.44
Through this process, a local sponsori».:_ *aency develop'd
the project at a grassroots level and sought assi Jtance from
the NEA in the form of matching funds.
In the original GSA commissioning process, architects
determined the type and location of art works for new or
renovated federal properties. Inconsistent quality in the
commissioned art works resulted, and the program was
suspended in 1966. In 1972, the program was revived as a
42Andy Leon Harney, ed. Art in Public Places. (Washington, DC: Partners for Livable Places, 1981), 12.
45Ibid., 13.
44Harris, Insights. 9.
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collaborative effort in which the Visual Arts Program of the
NEA advised the GSA on competent artists to ensure
"artistically expert judgement."45 Ultimately, the GSA
determined the type of art work, the site and location, the
artist, and the amount of each commission.
Professors Judith Balfe and Margaret Wyszomirski
criticize this GSA process because "There is no community
initiative to which the federal government responds; rather
there is only a federal decision which will have a local
impact."46 Suggestions from community representatives are,
however, considered at two points in the process; after the
location and nature of the work has been determined, and
after the selected artist submits a proposal.47 Community
involvement is encouraged only as a response to previous GSA
actions, whereas the NEA responds only to community
initiated actions.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, cities were torn
apart by revolt and urban riots. Those people who could
flee, escaped to the suburbs.4* The urgency of the times
called for restorative action. Some artists and federal
45Balfe and Wyszomirski, "Public Art and Public Policy," 15.
46Ibid. , 22.
47General Services Administration, "Art In Architecture Program," two-sided program description, n.d., 2.
4|lHalbreich, "Stretching the Terrain," in Going Public. 11.
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agencies responded by exploring the civic potential of
public projects.49 Arts consultant Kathy Halbreich believes
that "It is perhaps no accident that public art, the art
form most dependent upon the public domain for its
definition, became fundable, visible, and even commonplace
during the activist era of the late 1960s and 1970s."50
Coalitions
The 1970s remained a time of discontent and political
alienation for many Americans. The defeat in Vietnam, the
bombings of Cambodia, Nixon's resignation under pressure,
rising corporate influence on government, and rising
poverty, inflation and unemployment rates, contributed to
the public's suspicious and hostile mood toward leaders of
government, military and big business.51 Although there was
no unified national movement of protest or rebellion,
"hundreds of thousands of people...were forming into small
local groups and battling on a hundred issues, in different
ways for health, safety, peace, equality, and economic
justice."52 People organized themselves against policies of
control with a shared purpose of demanding better
49Ibid.
5l,Ibid., 10.
5lFor a more in-depth discussion of this era sympathetic to people's movements of resistance, see Zinn, "The Seventies: Under Control?" in A People's History of the United States. 529-569.
52Zinn, A People's History. 563.
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conditions.
As groups in society organized to voice their
concerns, the "legitimacy of the elite"53 was questioned,
and the behavior of ordinary people began to define a
"collective mentality,"54 while also initiating changes in
art. Artists in the 1970s organized themselves to improve
their own conditions.
[Artists demanded] more involvement in institutional decision-making, representation of minorities and women artists, and use of the influence of museums and funding agencies to change government policies on social issues....When it became clear that the established institutions could not respond to the artists' needs, artists organized and ran their own institutions. Many of these artists were working with special interest or coalition groups to build an art from their experiences together that reflected the time and its issues.55
Artists became involved in other grass roots
activities as well. Neighborhood based art projects
flourished under the government funded Comprehensive
Employment and Training Act (CETA). Under CETA, "art works
were usually created ir. close communication and (in the best
cases) collaboration with grass-roots community groups. The
community group would request an artist and negotiate a fit
53Alice Kessler-Harris, "Social History," in The New American History, ed. Eric Foner (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990), 168.
■“ibid.
55Raven, Art in the Public Interest. 22.
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between the artist's skills and its constituency's needs."56
Other artists were working independently to "increase the
participation in culture of groups who had hitherto been
denied access to it, or who had been marginalized by and
from it, notably women and ethnic minorities.1,57 The mood
across the country to organize at the grassroots level was
reflected in artist-run alternative organizations, and in
artists' efforts to involve other community members in the
art work.
By the end of the decade, the post-modern movement in
architecture revealed a new enthusiasm for ornament and
decoration, although there were few collaborative ventures
with artists in this area.5* Some artists, however,
explored the potential of art in public places, including
built facilities and amenities such as parks and
playgrounds. Near the end of the decade, arts consultant
Nancy Rosen proposed the collaboration between artists and
architects in professional teams, and in residency programs
56Mitchell, Art and the Public Sphere. 149. According to Mitchell, CETA was one the largest government-funded artists employment program since the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) program in the 1930s. Some CETA participants were artists. Thousands of artists across the United States worked closely with non-artists to create and present free performances, poetry readings and concerts. The artists also taught classes and produced public art works.
57Miles, Art for Public Places. 52.
5*Nancy Rosen, Ten Years of Public Art 1972-1982 (New York: Public Art Fund, Inc., 1982), 22.
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matching artists with specific sites.59 These tentative
collaborations developed into partnerships in the next
decade.
Collaborations
The 1980s were a decade of paradox: "a time of
prosperity and poverty, a period of official peace and
expensive preparations for war, a politics dominated by a
septuagenarian president and a culture still indebted to the
youth movement of the 1960s, a society teeming with images
both of nostalgia and a high-tech future."60 In contrast to
President Reagan's claims of a steadily improving quality of
life, there were record levels of personal and corporate
indebtedness, the average worker's take home pay declined,
and the percentage of people owning their homes began to
drop for the first time since World War II.61 In addition,
there were increasing social problems created by a
dramatically expanding new wave of immigration, an
ineffectual war on drugs, a growing deadly threat of
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and increasing
homelessness.62 The disparity between government policies
59Ibid., 23.
^’Norman L. Rosenberg and Emily S. Rosenberg, "Nostalgia and Nostrums* The United States In the 1980s," chap. in In Our Times: America Since World War II (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991), 317.
6,Ibid. , 293.
62Ibid. , 294-296, 313.
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and the realities of daily life were apparent. Faced with
government intransigence and delay, some activists began to
implement self-help measures.61
These conditions initiated changes in the arts as
well. Advances in technology increased access to
information, and groups of artists formed around issues that
affected them as members of local, national, and
international communities.64 Using their visual skills,
artists in the 1980s tried "to engage a public audience in
discussions of gentrification, homelessness, AIDS, the
nuclear arms buildup,.. .and racism."65 New alliances
developed between artists and social activists to produce
events such as Earth Day, Live-Aid and Farm-Aid.66
In public art, collaborations developed between
artists and other professionals such as architects,
landscape architects, and engineers.67 "Since their
emergence in the late 1970s, public art collaborations have
grown to such an extent that they now dominate accounts of
6,Ibid. , 296.
MMaksymowicz, "Alternative Approaches," in Art and the Public Sphere. 152.
65Ibid.
“Rosenberg and Rosenberg, "Nostalgia and Nostrums," chap. in In Our Times. 312.
67Rosalyn Deutsche, "Public Art and Its Uses," in Critical Issues in Public Art: Content. Context, and Controversy, eds. Harriet F. Senie and Sally Webster (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1992), 164.
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public art," writes art historian and critic Rosalyn
Deutsche.6* Halbreich concurs:
In two decades we have seen a shift in emphasis from studio work made monumental (in order to meet the scale of outdoor plazas) to monuments made to contain cultural artifacts; from a handful of arts activists attempting to commission a sculpture reflecting the promise of urban renewal, to cities...funding artists to think - in tandem with other members of interdisciplinary design teams - about how public spaces might function as more congenial, social places.69
Artists actively engaged the public by attending town
meetings, working with planning boards, and entering into
pragmatic situations.7'1
Increasing collaborations between artists and non
artists also developed in response to the flawed federal
processes used to commission public art. The case of
"Tilted Arc," the GSA commissioned corten steel sculpture by
artist Richard Serra, has been well documented.71 Public
outcry against the work, and its subsequent removal, can be
traced to a combination of factors: the art had not been
integrated with the original building design at the time of
6*Ibid., 165.
69Halbreich, "Stretching the Terrain," in Going Public.
7(,Harris, Insights. 70.
7lSee Balfe and Wyszomirski, "Public Art and Public Policy." "Tilted Arc" was installed in 1981 on the plaza fronting the Federal Building in lower Manhattan. Eight years later, after numerous hearings and much editorial izing, the sculpture was dismantled and removed, despite the artist's protests that his right to free speech had been violated.
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its construction; outreach efforts to inform the communities
were not conducted; and, when opposition was voiced, no
educational efforts were made.72 Revisions to GSA
commissioning guidelines (as discussed above) were actually
made between the commissioning of Serra's work and its
installation. These guidelines now require more input from
groups in the community in which the work will be located.73
Most successful public art programs develop productive ways
to involve local citizens, the artist community, special
interest groups and project planners in the public art
process.74
Partnerships
The early years of this century's final decade, began
an "age of alienation brought on by specialization, a by
product of the Information Age."75 Artist Agnes Denes
continues, "This is an age of complexity, when knowledge and
ideas are coming in faster than can be assimilated, while
disciplines become progressively alienated from each other
through specialization."7A Denes believes people are
72Balfe and Wyszomirski, "Public Art and Public Policy," 17-19.
7,Ibid., 24.
74Cruikshank and Korza, Going Public. 103.
75Agnes Denes, "The Dream" in Art and the Public Sphere. 177.
7hIbid.
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alienated when they feel little potential to interact or
identify effectively with society as a whole. She finds
this isolation exists despite her observation that "for the
first time in human history, the whole earth is becoming one
interdependent society with our interests, needs and
problems intertwined...1,77
This alienation is evident in the arts. Society's
current concerns with family values and morality have
spawned heated political debates over the content of art,
and, subsequently, arts patronage.7* These debates have
increased the disparity among artists, funders, lobbyists,
and other arts supporters, reiterating the need to continue
and strengthen collaborations.
Art critic Ann Wilson Lloyd suggests introspection
within the arts community, strengthening the ties with the
non-arts community. She states,
Repeated right wing attacks upon the NEA and...today's straightened financial reality collectively have dredged up a 1960s byword: relevancy. Keeping art relevant in the 1990s means re-linking high culture with the culture-at-large through community outreach, more
^Ibid., 178.
7*See Richard Bolton, ed., Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts (New York: New Press, 1992) for documentation of the debates in the words of the artists, legislators, lobbyists and critics.
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artist-audience interaction, and education, education, education.7**
Daniel Ranalli, artist and columnist for Art New
England. identifies two of the most obvious characteristics
of the art of the 1990s as "its internationalism and its
engagement with issues rather than form."80 He continues:
The current array of exhibitions,....serve to illustrate what appears to be a growing interest on the part of artists and curators to engage less with aesthetic philosophy and more with the day-to-day problems of our times....As we move into the 90s, a great many artists are showing that they are interested in widening the audience, and the focus.81
Arts advocate William Cleveland identifies a growing
movement of artists and community organizations using the
arts to address local community needs. His 1992 book, Art
in Other Places: Artists at Work in America's Community and
Social Institutions, documents a variety of approaches and
partnerships artists have developed in working in non
convent ional sites such as prisons, nursing homes, and
juvenile detention centers, among others. He notes, "as the
evidence mounts that traditional approaches to our societal
problems are failing, educators and social service providers
7,*Ann Wilson Lloyd, "Boston's New Art Mavens," Art New England. October/November 1992, 9.
8(,Daniel Ranalli, "Forum," Art New England. December/January 1993, 4.
"'Ibid.
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have begun to look elsewhere for innovative ideas."*2
Public art in the 1990s has a social function.
According to artist Siah Armajani,
public art is a search for a cultural history which calls for a structural unity between object and the social and spatial setting....Public art...has moved from large-scale outdoor site-specific sculpture, into sculpture with social content, and in the process has annexed a new territory for sculpture that extends the seed for social experience.*3
Art in public spaces has the potential to play an important
role in our society. It can offer meaningful collaboration,
an integration of disciplines, and it can bring people
together in meaningful and provocative ways while enhancing
the environment.*4
Changes in public art are reflective of historical
shifts and societal concerns. The process of commissioning
public art, which began as a successful collaboration solely
between artist and architect, experienced a separation of
the partners beginning in the 1930s. In the 1960s and
1970s, the arts were brought outside of traditional
institutions and into communities, restoring and expanding
the collaborative process. These collaborations are
developing into partnerships which include administering
agencies, community members and art professionals.
*2William Cleveland, Art in Other Places: Artists at Work in America's Community ana Social Institutions. (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1992), 8.
*3Armajani, "Public Art Manifesto."
MDenes, "The Dream," in Art and the Public Sphere. 181.
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Halbreich notes that by emphasizing the relationship of
public art to the whole city, "the site-by-site focus of
some initiating organizations is giving way to a more
comprehensive and coherent choreographing of public
spaces."M
K,Halbreich, "Stretching the Terrain," in Going Public. 11.
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THE ARTS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
In the 1980s, the traditional forms of public art
expanded to include new mediums such as "video,...
billboards, protest actions and demonstrations, oral
histories, dances, environments, posters, murals, paintings
and sculpture.""6 (The terms "public art" and "the arts"
are used interchangeably throughout this chapter to refer to
those artistic expressions created in the public interest
which establish a relationship between the art works, the
public domain and the public.) This chapter examines
several arts activities as a resource for community
development efforts.
The Importance of Community Development
Many cities across the country have been confronted
with the challenge to provide more services with less
resources. Dr. Ernest Boyer, president of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, states:
Pressure for services is growing more intense at the very time the economic base is eroding.... Economic pressures are accompanied by racial and ethnic tensions. The old and young increasingly are separated from each
*6Raven, Art in the Public Interest. 1.
31
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other; neighborhoods are racially divided; there are great gaps between the inner city and the suburbs.87
Dr. Boyer believes that, in the absence of shared purposes,
the very notion of community seems strikingly irrelevant to
contemporary life. He identifies that what is at risk in
this diminished sense of community "is not just our cities,
but our sense of nationhood as well."88
Participants in a 1991 symposium exploring the role of
the arts in the i—mmunity-based revitalization of Chicago's
neighborhoods would have concurred. "Vibrant, economically
viable communiti-;-. are the cornerstones of great cities. To
achieve this vision...a fundamental civic commitment must be
made that will enable [a] city's communities to mobilize
their most powerful assets in pursuit of economic vitality
and social well-being."81' Economically and socially healthy
communities can positively contribute to the greater good of
the city, and ultimately to the nation as a whole.
Community development is broadly defined as the
actions taken by people to imorove their environment or
services. Community development occurs because problems
have not been addressed by private enterprise or government
87Ernest L. Boyer, Building Community: The Arts and Baltimore Together (Baltimore: Baltimore Community Foundation, 1992), 4.
K8Ibid., 5.
'‘‘'"Building Community: A Symposium Exploring the Role of the Arts in the Community-Based Revitalization of Chicago's Neighborhoods," 17 June 1991, symposium report sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 7.
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agencies, and can include; a proposed change to the local
area which may have negative consequences for the residents;
the deterioration of existing economic or social conditions;
or missing needs or resources in a community.911 Of course,
these problems are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and
community development organizations may coordinate their
activities with other associations to attack mutual
problems.
Urban development consultant Mitchell Sviridoff
recalled in 1993 that "In the past twenty-five years, the
growth of community development ideas has taken root in
America. Before that time, not one community development
corporation existed. Today, there are over 3,000 in the
United States."91 Community development corporations (CDC)
are non profit organizations which "are community based,
community controlled and represented by residents of the
community."92 An important feature of a CDC today is its
emphasis on collaboration. The common concerns of most CDCs
are housing and commercial development.9’
wWayne K.D. Davies and David T. Herbert, Communities Within Cities: an Urban Social Geography. (New York, Halstead Press, 1993), 11.
9l"Broadening Our Vision: Connecting the Arts and Community Development," 20-21 January 1993, Retreat report, New England Foundation for the Arts, 10.
92Ibid. , 11.
9,Ibid.
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The Importance of Art in Community Development
Basic services such as fire and police protection,
sewer lines and roadways are necessary for societies to
function. Dr. Boyer believes, however, that community means
more than mere survival; "what is needed is a climate where
citizens not only affirm their differences but also
celebrate their commonalities.1,(44 He continues:
the arts not only enrich a community, they are community. Perhaps better than all other symbol systems, the arts cut across the separations. They give rise to many voices, making it possible for people who are racially, economically, and ethnically divided to begin to understand one another at a more authentic level.”
The arts contribute to the economic vitality and
social well-being of communities. They are a multi
dimensional resource for community-based efforts to
revitalize neighborhood economies, promote physical renewal,
strengthen youth and families, and organize residents to
address their common concerns.96 Dudley Cocke believes that
"culture and art can be fundamental to resistance and
positive change, in part because we get our identity from
our culture and our art....To liberate, community
development must be done by neighborhoods, not to them."97
The arts must also be seen as essential services.
^Boyer, The Arts and Baltimore. 5.
9SIbid.
^"Building Community: A Symposium," 7.
97Ibid. , 16.
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Community-based arts organizations share a number of
characteristics in common with CDCs. Two of the most
notable are leadership that can be effective against
extremely difficult odds, and an enormous impact on
communities as a whole, and on individual lives.98 Arts
organizations control a significant resource in members who
have experience, knowledge and technical skills about the
development of cultural programs and facilities.
Participants in the "Building Community" symposium found,
however, that the arts and community development fields had
seldom collaborated. They concluded that the shared
interests between the two fields must be discussed peer to
peer across, and within, the fields — on both the local and
national levels.99
Approaches to Community Development
Artists represent one group actively engaging
communities across the country in development efforts.
Beardsley attributes these activities to new initiatives
within cities and the interdisciplinary character of
contemporary art.111" Participants in the arts have only
recently begun to identify other agencies and potential
partners which share similar concerns in improving the
,8Ibid., 5.
"Ibid.
“"'Harney, Art in Public Places. 81.
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society around them.1111 These agencies employ community
development techniques which Wayne Davies and David Herbert
classify in their book, Communities Within Cities, as the
philanthropic, technical assistance, self-help, and conflict
approaches.1"2 Some of the benefits and problems of these
recognized techniques are used to examine several roles the
arts play in community development.
Craig Dreeszen finds that the arts have not yet
accessed other research fields which substantiate the arts'
claims of impacting communities."” By accessing the
language and research of the community development field,
the arts can better substantiate their claims, collaborate
with the other fields and improve their programs.
The Philanthropic Approach
The philanthropic approach to community development
brings change to a community from an outside agency, caring
for those incapable of caring for themselves.1(4
Philanthropic organizations have traditionally dispensed
their own funds to provide for needs not being met by local
""See "Building Community: A Symposium," and "Broadening Our Vision."
lt,2Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 64.
""Craig Dreeszen, "Opening Remarks," at the conference Arts for Social Change: the Promise and the Peril. 1 July 1993, North Adams, MA: University of Massachusetts, notes by author. Dreeszen is the Director of the Arts Extension Service.
""Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 112.
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co-operation or entrepreneurial activities.105 As
performers, artists can play a role in raising financial
support to address a variety of needs. By touring locally,
nationally and/or internationally, artists can draw diverse
groups into their network, building a coalition of
political, social and artistic groups, providing educational
services, and producing material support.
As nonprofit institutions, arts organizations
themselves are the recipients of philanthropic assistance
from corporations, individuals and foundations. Arts
organizations improve the quality of the life of their
communities and therefore, provide an opportunity for
philanthropic organizations to use their funds to assist in
community development.
The Technical Assistance Approach
The technical assistance approach to community
development also brings change to a community from an
outside agency (usually a government authority), to deliver
goods, programs or services, that might not be provided
otherwise.106 This assistance is considered a "top-down"
approach in which experts with technical or professional
capability, are introduced to a community.11” According to
u,5Ibid., 113.
l(l6Ibid., 114.
l(r7Ibid.
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the Community Workshop for Economic Development (CWED),
their work is "viewed as community empowerment through local
decision making and control over assets, institutions and
opportunities."10* In the technical assistance approach, an
outside expert is introduced to a community to assist with
implementing economic development initiatives.
The arts can also play a role in the economic
development of communities. Many arts organizations employ
methods similar to the technical assistance approach by
delivering services to a community via outreach programs.
In these programs, organizations typically send their
experts — the artists — to work with groups in a community
(the poor, the illiterate, youth). The artists offer the
opportunity to develop skills which can improve self-esteem
and income potential. Other arts outreach efforts work with
social service agencies to provide arts performances at
reduced rates or free.
A second way artists and arts organizations are
involved in the economic development of communities is by
creating jobs, fostering small businesses and stimulating
local commercial activity.llw For example, arts activities
can enhance tourism and encourage pedestrian shopping,
benefitting local businesses such as ^'tels, restaurants and
stores. The arts can play a v.^^i role in community
"‘’‘"Build’ .g Community," 45.
""Ibid., 4.
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economic development by "[attracting] destination traffic —
concentrating people, importing dollars, and exporting
services. The same activity, by discouraging crime or
creating a more amenable setting, redefines the public
environment and ensures the greater durability of a
community's hard won investments in physical renewal."110
A recent study conducted by the National Assembly of
Local Arts Agencies revealed that nonprofit arts businesses
generate $36.8 billion in annual spending, support 1.3
million jobs nationwide, pay $790 million in annual sales
and income tax to local governments and $3.4 billion to
state governments.111 Although not included in the study,
commercial artists and individual artists also contribute to
the economy through the sale of their work and subsequent
spending.
Another way artists and arts organizations contribute
to the economic development of communities is by improving
the physical conditions of a neighborhood, "by making use of
buildings often considered to be [undesirable], which are
difficult to renovate.1,112 Rebecca Riley, Director of the
Community Development Program at the MacArthur Foundation,
notes an overlap between the fields of community development
‘"’Ibid., 7.
“'Jacqueline Trescott, "Arts Boost Economies, Study Says" Washington Post. 27 January 1993, C2.
'“"Building Community: A Symposium," 73.
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and the arts "when a community arts organization is looking
for a facility, or when a community development corporation
wants an arts activity to help revitalize a
neighborhood. "Il3
Davies and Herbert identify a number of problems with
the technical assistance approach to community economic
development which arts organizations must also consider.
For example, services should not be delivered to the
community when key decisions are made without reference to
local residents.114 Sometimes, arts organizations develop
outreach programs to respond to stipulations made by funding
organizations.115 While the benefits to individuals and the
community can be great, the risk is evident in determining
"whose values influenced development and whether recipients
participated in the choice of objectives.1,116 Dreeszen
would concur, "arts organizations must evaluate whose
community, and whose vision of community is being
served."117 Evaluations of an organization's motivations
and competencies, as well as a community's indigenous skills
and interests, can help assure accountability and successful
community development.
"'ibid., 14.
l,4Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 114.
"'Dreeszen, "Opening Remarks."
"6Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 115.
'"Dreeszen, "opening Remarks."
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Davies and Herbert identify another problem for
organizations engaged solely in the technical approach to
community development. They state that "economic
development without community development often leads to an
increase in the gap between social classes. Some people —
especially property owners — are more likely to benefit
from the changes than others.""* The provision of services
to the local area, with key decisions made without reference
to local residents, "describes development in the community,
not development of the community.""9 Arts organizations
are able to influence development in communities by
stimulating commercial activities, and to influence
development of communities by cultivating the skills of
individuals.
In identifying the shortcomings of the top-down,
technical approach, Davies and Herbert also point out that
some problems cannct be solved at the local level even with
expert intervention. "The urban scourges of poverty and
crime...are societal issues embedded in the wider problems
of inequality, job availability and social behavior,
although the problems can be mitigated by community-based
initiatives. " ,2° The arts can play a role in community
based initiatives by crossing gender, racial, ethnic and
'"Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 114.
"9Ibid.
""Ibid., 117.
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class boundaries to involve residents i»~ their community's
development.
Participants in the "Building Community" symposium
concluded that the relationship between arts organizations
and community residents is critical.121 Davies and Herbert
would concur, "When community members and the assisting
group can agree on needs, values, attitudes and knowledge,
the technical assistance approach to community development
can be successful."122 The arts can overcome some of the
stumbling blocks of the technical assistance approach to
community development by creating programs based on needs as
they are identified and defined by a community.
The Self-help Approach
Davies and Herbert identify the contrast between a
technical assistance approach and a self-help approach.
Under the self-help approach of community development,
"people should and can collaborate in an area to provide the
needs and services they require....[although] some change
agent, an outsider, is a vital catalyst for the creation of
self-help local organizations.1,123 Host self-help
organizations rely on outside experts for the initial
121"Building Community: A Symposium," 27.
l22Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 117.
I23lbid., 119.
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stimulus, and on governments to provide money for facilities
and education.124
"Building Community" symposium participants also
supported the self-help approach, and believed that the
abilities of residents in a community to organize, come
together, and set priorities are essential components for
community development.125 The arts can play a role in
motivating and strengthening the collective community in an
organizational strategy.
CDCs and arts organizations can provide the
inspiration and structure for communities to organize.
[CDCs] try to organize people and neighborhoods around community issues. Organizing is really an attempt to create a sense of community and bring forth a sense of spirit of people in the neighborhood so they can all work together. The arts do the same thing. They create an evocative opportunity for people to begin to share their feelings, emotions and thoughts about what it means for community, what it means spiritually, emotionally, and practically.126
The arts draw broad participation from a wide variety of
residents, provide a common ground to examine local
concerns, and stimulate cooperation to act on those
concerns.127
Organizers are typically trained "to bring people
together, to stop things from happening, and to get
l24Ibid., 121.
l2,"Building Community: A Symposium," 45.
uftiiBroadening Our Vision," 9.
l27"Building Community: A Symposium," 7.
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resources from outside a neighborhood to make good things
happen inside the neighborhood. "u* However, "In light of
the fact that City Hall is not particularly friendly, and
international corporations often do not care about specific
neighborhoods, communities are driven by necessity to
maximize internal assets."129 Artists, arts organizations
and others interested in the arts are cultural assets
internal to a community. The dialogue they initiate with
other community members can play a role in identifying
problems, goals and methods of organizing to address a
community's needs.
The arts can assist in community organizing in other
ways. Arts activities can bring together different groups
to address common goals. "Businesses, churches and schools
seem to naturally come together when organizing something
that involves culture or art."130 The arts play an
important role in enriching the life of the community by
providing opportunities for people to become involved, and
gain a sense of community pride in a neutral and supportive
environment.
The arts can also organize a community by providing
opportunities for people to validate and articulate their
experiences. By celebrating the traditions of community
l2KIbid., 28.
,29Ibid.
,30Ibid., JS.
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residents, the arts can "help a community define and enhance
its sense of self."'31 For example, an arts project can
uncover the history of the architecture or of the people in
an area, to generate a sense of community pride; other
projects can use exhibits or performances to express
cultural characteristics and enhance the community's self-
image.132 The arts contribute to community organizing by
providing an opportunity to reestablish cultural traditions
and values among community members.
Malcolm Miles believes that "When people in a
community learn to value their experiences, they begin to
define for themselves what is best, and initiate actions to
address their needs."133 Similarly, "Building Community"
participants concluded that it is the community that should
define what constitutes development and positive change for
themselves.,M The arts are a resource for community
organizing which already exists in many communities,
although communities need to think more creatively about
using them.135
In addition to organizing communities, the arts play a
role in the self-help approach to community development by
,3lIbid., 26.
,32Ibid.
l33Miles, Art for Public Places. 57.
134"Building Community: A Symposium," 16.
I35lbid., 28.
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cultivating the human resources of a community — the
individuals.
As a means for individual social development, the arts deliver an array of mutually reinforcing benefits to community residents, particularly youth. Participation in the arts provides positive role models, affirms cultural heritage, develops self-esteem and responsible self-determination, stimulates critical thinking, teaches work skills, and spurs academic motivation.136
The arts can develop the potential of individuals who
can then work collectively to develop and build their
communities according to their perceived needs. Myles
Horton, founder of the Highlander Folk School, recognized in
the late 1920s that "unless [people] use [their] own
resources; [their] own intellectual resources within, and
material resources about [them]," they will always be
"waiting to be helped."137 The arts develop the
intellectual, spiritual and social capacities of people and
are a resource to empower people to seek change.
Empowerment is a condition where people are able to
represent and negotiate their own interests from a position
of respect rather than charity.13* The arts can help people
reaffirm their values and heritage, and, in turn, these
people can advocate change for the community. Individual
136Ibid., 7.
,37Myles Horton, The Long Haul. (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 31.
l3*James Laue and Gerald Cormick, "The Ethics of Intervention in Community Disputes," chap. in The Ethics of Social Intervention (Washington, DC: Halstead Press, 1978), 219.
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development and community development are interconnected,
and the arts can play a role in each.139
Although the self-help approach to community
development seems ideal, "satisfying both community needs
and b fdirg intra-community relationships and
associations,"140 Davies and Herbert identify a number of
problems which can reduce its success. In the self-help
approach, similar to the technical assistance approach, many
of the problems can not be solved at the community level,
the leaders' motivations may conflict with community
interests, and most self-help movements still need outside
expertise and/or support, which, if withdrawn, can lead to
the collapse of the movement.141
Some of the other problems with the self-help
approach, such as apathetic attitudes, value differences
within the community, and obtaining consensus on
objectives,142 may be resolved through participation in arts
activities as outlined above. The arts can be important to
working through obstacles in the self-help approach.
Despite its problems, the self-help approach has
important principles applicable to any community development
plan. According to Davies and Herbert, "community
,39"Building Community: A Symposium," 72.
,4(,Davies and Herbert, Communities Within Cities. 120.
I4,lbid.
I42lbid., 121.
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initiation, support and control seem to be vital elements in
self-help organizations.1,143 The arts can be a catalyst in
community initiative by providing opportunities for
collaboration among community members in a non-threatening
environment, to strengthen intra-community relationships and
identify common goals.
The Critical or Conflict Approach
The conflict approach to community development is a
more recent strategy. This strategy focuses on "the
deliberate use and even creation of confrontation by
professional organizers.1,144 Davies and Herbert trace the
basis of this approach in the efforts of Saul Alinsky "to
unify the diverse interests of individuals in [specific]
areas to build upon the power of numbers and release the
latent energy of the peopx»_. "145 '■■’> is is a grass roots
activist approach, which uses an out.lde force to mobilize
people in a community against social injustices.
The arts can also employ the conflict approach to
community development. One tradition of artistic expression
in particular, socially conscious art, is committed to:
l43Ibid., 123.
144Ibid.
,4,Ibid. For more information see Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (New York: Random House, 1971).
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combining realism, social protest, and accessibility,... producing visual editorials about social and political struggles that can be viewed...and understood by the masses....Their goal has been to raise public consciousness and to stimulate resistance to repression....They seek to evoke powerful emotional responses in the viewer.146
Socially conscious artists use a variety of media to create
critical images of society. These artists attempt to impact
people's lives by contributing "to the realization that only
by political awareness and mobilization can the human
condition be improved.11,47 These artists can serve as a
catalyst for communities to create change.
Since the 1960s and 1970s, art forms confronting
social injustices have expanded to include assemblages,
posters and murals.148 Some artists seek to raise public
awareness by creating shocking images. For example, the
1969-70 poster with the title "Q: And Babies? A: And Babies"
printed over a photograph of the aftermath of the My Lai
atrocity, lets the destruction speak for itself. Other
artists hope to raise community awareness and solidarity.
For example, contemporary mural artists often assist
minority groups in creating public art as a "consciousness-
raising device, making it part of a comprehensive program to
improve the quality of their lives. A major strain of
14ftPaul von Blum, The Critical Vision: A History of Social and Political Art in the U.S. (Boston: South End Press, 1982), 2-3.
I47lbid, 8.
I4slbid., 107.
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murals today exhibits ethnic anger unknown to the majority
population.1,149 Socially conscious artists apply the
critical or conflict approach in a number of ways to
stimulate awareness against social injustices.
The arts can also play a supporting role in the
conflict approach to community development. As a form of
entertainment, arts activities can lift morale and occupy
time for striking workers and protestors. In addition, the
arts can be used to create protest messages and motivate
people at rallies and events, using call and response,
slogans, and banners.150 Finally, the arts can be used to
create propaganda to organize people around a cause in
videos and printed media. The arts can be used in a number
of ways to support critical approaches attempting to
unifying diverse people to create change.
Davies and Herbert identify two main problems to the
conflict approach. First, this approach can provoke
tensions among group members and increase the level of
stress.151 The arts however, can be used to effectively
counteract the stress through entertainment and unifying
diverse groups under expressions of solidarity.
The second problem to this approach arises out of
149Ibid., 129.
I50Mary Lazarsky, lecture notes by author, 24 January 1994, Washington, DC: The American University.
l5lDavies and Herbert, Communities Withi.. "4ties. 130.
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ethical questions regarding the "deliberate manipulation of
people."152 Davies and Herbert suggest that "organizers
should concern themselves with community disputes only if
the object is to seek to maximize the ability of powerless
individuals to determine their needs, subject to the common
good of the city or the region in which they are
located."153 Artists and arts organizations involved in the
conflict approach to community development should analyze
the objectives of the factions and understand how their art
might be used to manipulate people.
Conclusion
The arts are catalysts for community development.
Participants in the "Building Community" symposium found:
...the arts function concurrently as generators of economic growth and physical revitalization while at the same time having a significant impact, both practical and spiritual, on their communities' individual and collective human resources. It also grows from evidence that the philosophies guiding enlightened community- based revitalization efforts can lead to an exceptional commitment to value and sustain community cultural assets - heritage, artists, organizations, and facilities.154
There is an emerging partnership that "adds the significant
power of the arts to community-based efforts for renewal,
and at the same time, brings a broadened appreciation and
152Ibid.
I53lbid.
154"Building Community: A Symposium," 3.
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remarkable commitment by community leaders to their cultural
assets.11155
Significant shifts are happening in the fields of art
and community development.
In community development, there is a growing awareness that the most effective approach is not based on a single issue but is comprehensive. As a result, leaders in this area are beginning to form partnerships with organizations in other areas, such as health, education and the arts. In the arts community, the trend is toward diversity or multi-culturalism, based in part on the desire to reach new audiences.156
The potential of these partnerships has been further
enhanced by the recent recession, which has slowed the rate
of commercial development, giving communities time to
plan.157 Now is the time "to look anew at how complementary
disciplines and service arts can be linked to maximize their
impact on growing social concerns. ",5,t
I55lbid., 6.
l56Ibid., 14.
,57Ibid., 70.
l5*Ibid. , 4.
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ART IN RAPID TRANSIT STATIONS
Benefits
Rapid transit systems move people in and around a city
with minimal disruption to activity on the street level.
The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Aesthetics in
Transportation report found that "Without vertical
separation of traffic, cities would eventually be choked
with surface vehicles competing for limited street
space."159 The efficient functioning of rapid transit
systems is vital to cities. Until recently, little thought
had been given to the visual attractiveness of the stations.
The report further found that "Emphasis on the functional
role of rapid transit systems, neglecting aesthetic
considerations, has led to a deterioration of the quality of
their environments. Ridership is discouraged also by a
general lack of maintenance and security."160
Older rapid transit systems exhibit a number of
l59United States Department of Transportation, Aesthetics in Transportation: Guidelines for Incorporating Design. Art and Architecture Into Transportation Facilities. November 1980, 115.
I60Ibid.
53
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problems as a result of the lack of attention to aesthetic
considerations:
Entrances often are inconspicuous, lack identity, and are crowded into narrow slots in the sidewalk. The underground subway is sealed off visually and physically from street life, natural light and fresh air. Confusing, underlit passages impeded movement and orientation. Crime is more likely in some of these mazelike places when underpopulated, particularly in the off-peak hours. Riders are often deprived of waiting amenities, including pleasant sensory stimulation, telephones or toilets. Dirt, noise and stale air will often be characteristic of the environment.161
Where the main design criteria for stations has been
efficiency, the result has produced unpleasant experiences
for the rider. Simply constructing stations, and keeping
them clean, is not an effective solution to these aesthetic
problems. The DOT states "...rapid transit stations, offer
many opportunities to create aesthetic experiences which may
add meaning to, and enrich, otherwise routine trips."162
Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Canada each
recognized the importance of public art in the subways long
before the United States. Stockholm was actually first to
systematically install art in all of its almost 100 transit
stations.161 Their stated goals for the art include: "to
relate the underground to the surface, to animate and
humanize the subways system, and (in some cases) to relate
l61Ibid.
I62lbid.
16,John Chandler, "Art in Transit" Public Art Review, n.d., 11.
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the city's present with the city's past."16*
Public art in transportation facilities does more than
please the eye or decorate the station. For the rider, the
art can create a sense of place in what is often perceived
as a hostile environment. For the transportation agency,
"Public art can improve the image of transportation
facilities, bind communities together, and reduce
vandalism."165 In this setting, public art that stands on
its own merits provides additional benefits that the rider,
the transportation agency and others interested in the arts
can appreciate.
Boston
In the mid-1960s, Boston began a modernization program
of one of the nation's oldest subway systems which had begun
operations in 1897. Today, the four different lines of the
combined subway and streetcar system is over 65 miles long,
has 52 stations, and carries 150 million passengers
annually.166 The purpose of the early modernization project
was to improve the functional efficiency and visual impact
of the stations through good design.167
,wIbid.
165U.S. DOT, Aesthetics. 4.
166Alan Constaline, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, "Arts on the Line," telephone interview by author, 29 March 1994.
167U.S. DOT, Aesthetics. 135.
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A local architectural firm, Cambridge Seven
Associates, was hired to redesign the system. They
developed a number of strategies to provide a consistent,
easy to use service, including differentiating the transit
lines by color, standardizing typography for essential
information, providing pictorial images to relate subway
platforms to above-ground scenes or landmarks, and improving
vehicle design.16* The administrators found that upgrading
the stations of an old system was an effective means of
improving the public's image of rapid transit. Therefore,
improving aesthetic qualities was central to the program.
The administrators also found that service improvements must
follow station modernization or the program would be
perceived as a mere face lift, and possibly resented by the
users.IM
In addition to the modernization program, the MBTA
began acquiring art works in a variety of ways. In 1969,
two local metal sculptors donated works which were installed
in two stations. In 1971, the Institute of Contemporary Art
sponsored an open competition with funds from the
Rockefeller Foundation to create an environmental piece for
a 4 00-foot long pedestrian tunnel at the State Street
Station.17"
I6*lbid.
""Ibid., 136.
17"lbid. , 59.
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The Aesthetics In Transportation report outlines the
history of the initial art programs through 1978:
The Director of the MBTA's station modernization program was very interested in public art and felt that if added to subway design, it would create stations with strong individual identities. At that time, art had not appeared as a legitimate, separate item for MBTA budgets, so it was listed as "wall graphics" and "special features." Six different artists (three painters, a sculptor, a photographer, and a ceramicist) were contracted to create work for four stations.171
The MBTA was open to the idea of arts in the transit
stations although there was no formal art program or
administrative structure. The report identifies several
problems which arose as a result:
- in several cases the art work was sited in dark and little used sections of the station platforms; - local artists were resentful of the program because no public announcement or solicitation of work was made; - the artists who were commissioned often ran into severe difficulties in getting paid, and had problems with contractors and contracts.172
As a result of these criticisms, the MBTA became aware of
the difficulties of administering a fair selection process,
and of the need to involve the community in public art
projects.171
Events at the federal level further assisted the MBTA
in developing a formal art program. In early 1977,
President Jimmy Carter asked each federal agency to support
,7lIbid.
,72Ibid.
l7,Linda Coe, ed. Arts On The Line: A Public Art Handbook (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Arts Council, 1987), 5.
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projects which contributed to the architectural and cultural
heritage of local communities. Then-Secretary of
Transportation Brock Adams echoed that sentiment when he
issued a statement on design quality that committed the DOT
to both fund and encourage good art, design, and
architecture in transportation.
The DOT policy statement officially encouraged the
expenditure of funds for art in new and renovated transit
facilities. In addition, the DOT would fund the development
and administration of an art program through the completion
of a project, including public education and promotion
efforts.174 The MBTA1 s interest in incorporating the arts
in the transit stations could now be developed into a formal
arts program. The first case study, discussed in chapter V,
examines this model program in depth.
,74Ibid.
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THE RED LINE NORTHWEST EXTENSION:
ARTS ON THE LINE
In 1978, shortly after the United States Department of
Transportation (DOT) established a policy encouraging the
expenditure of funds on art, the Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Cambridge Arts
Council (CAC) joined forces to bring a comprehensive art
program into new and renovated mass transit stations in the
Boston area. This public art program, named Arts on the
Line, represented "a pioneering effort to humanize subway
stations."'7'1 The Cambridge Arts Council researched,
developed and implemented the initial phase of the Arts On
The Line project from 1978 to 1985.
Project Background
The MBTA began a ten year design and construction
project for four new subway stations in 1976. This 3.2 mile
addition to the subway system was known as The Red Line
Northwest Extension Project. The Extension included
separately designed stations: Harvard Square, Porter Square
and Alewife Station in Cambridge, and Davis Square Station
l7SCoe, Handbook. 3.
59
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in Somerville. Arts on the Line integrated twenty major
works into these four stations.
Funding for the Extension project was received from a
variety of sources. The Urban Mass Transportation
Administration (UMTA) funded 80 percent of the $574 million
construction costs, while the balance was raised from local
funds.176 UMTA is the administrative agency which
implements DOT directives. In 1978, UMTA awarded the
Cambridge Arts Council and the MBTA a $70,000 grant to begin
the planning process to incorporate art into the Red Line
stations.177 This grant allowed the MBTA and the Cambridge
Arts Council to establish guidelines for a formal art
program.
UMTA policy allowed for up to two percent of the
construction project budget to be expended on art for
transit facilities. The MBTA committed a half of one
percent of the construction budgets for each of the stations
for art, for a total of $695,000.178 UMTA policy encouraged
the MBTA to fund art works for the Red Line through the Arts
on the Line program.
The Arts on the Line program was designed to both
install permanent art work in the stations, and administer
176Ibid.
177Pallas Lombardi, "Arts on the Line: Eight Year Report," October 1986, State Transportation Library, Boston, 13.
17l*Coe, Handbook. 9.
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temporary art projects while the subway was under
construction. A full time administrator and a half time
assistant were hired initially for a one year period. This
staff was responsible for researching and developing program
decisions which were then approved by the MBTA.
Community sentiment about the new subway was mixed.
As one Davis Square resident said, "[While it] brings people
in, yes, more significantly perhaps, it takes people
out."177 At one point, community hostility toward the
subway construction escalated to a lawsuit which the City of
Cambridge eventually joined.1*0 CAC was an outside agency
hired by the MBTA, to address problems in both the arts
community and in residential areas surrounding the sites.
The "Arts on the Line: Eight Year Report" reflects
that the first real push for the art program came from the
Cambridge Arts Council. Eighteen months prior to the formal
existence of the program, members of the Cambridge Arts
Council had begun conversations with the MBTA, DOT, and the
architects.181 This dialogue coincided with the DOT'S
statement on design quality and UMTA's statement allowing
for transportation funds to be allocated for art. Although
,7,,Davis Square Meeting, "Arts on the Line," minutes by the Cambridge Arts Council, 30 August 1979, 2.
'^’Jennifer Dowley, "Arts on the Line: A Pilot Project in Arts and Transportation," Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Arts Council, 1980, 7.
m Ibid. , 5.
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the MBTA was cooperative in developing the Arts on the Line
program, they did not lead the effort.182
Project Goals
The early conversations between the CAC, the
architects and the MBTA, served to inspire the program's
goals: "selection of art work of the highest quality as well
as art work that was an integral part of the architecture
and the community....[In addition], the art was always
thought of as environmental and intimate [not] isolated or
monumental."183
It is clear, however, that the various administering
agencies had different interests in the early stages of the
project. Former Arts on the Line administrator Jennifer
Dowley explains:
The DOT and UMTA were interested in funding a pilot project to further explore the goals of Secretary [Adams'] statement. The MBTA did not have a formal arts program but was open to the idea of arts involvement in the subways. The Cambridge Arts Council was available with expertise in public art, a good reputation with local artists, and a strong interest in seeing art integrated into public spaces. By this time, some of the architects were expressing support for the idea of art (as opposed to graphics) for the stations.1”
The MBTA initially perceived the art program as "a
‘^Jennifer Dowley, telephone interview by author, 28 February 1994.
183Dowley, "Pilot Project," 5.
184Ibid., 2.
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burden, added on."185 They later realized the art program
would be beneficial by involving neighborhoods in the
construction project. The MBTA1s objectives focused on the
function and maintenance of the permanent art. Their
program criteria for the art was that it be: site-specific,
high quality, durable in nature, resistant to vandalism, and
require minimum maintenance.'*6
CAC's objectives focused on developing a process to
integrate permanent art works within the transit stations.
The Council felt strongly that a public art program has a
responsibility to the local arts community,187 and it
concentrated on developing a fair Artist Selection
Procedure. The goals of the process were to ensure
community involvement, aesthetic decision-making by art
experts, involve the artists at the earliest possible phases
of a station's design, and meet the MBTA's safety and
maintenance concerns.188 The Council also developed a
series of temporary art projects to lessen the impact of the
subway construction, and expand the involvement of artists
and community members in the construction process.
Some of the architectural firms had already considered
""Wolkomir, "Sculpture in the subways?" Smithsonian. 118.
l86Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 15.
l87Dowley, "Pilot Project," 15.
l88Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 14.
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including art works to supplement their station designs.
Their processes were in place before Arts on the Line was
formalized, resulting in tension between the CAC and the
architects. For example, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,
architects for the Harvard Square station "felt that [they]
should have had complete control over the selection
process. ",*9 Cambridge Seven Associates, architects for the
Porter Square station, made it clear that "[they] wished to
administer the arts program without outside assistance.1,190
The architects were receptive to including art within the
stations and intended to commission artists directly. They
had not considered involving community residents in the
selection process prior to the Arts on the Line program.
The goals of community residents i-. absent from the
various documents recording the development of the Arts on
the Line program. Community residents and business
representatives were asked to participate in a process
designed without their input. Dowley concurs that this new
push for a more place-oriented work came from CAC, not the
community.191
1,<9Dowley, "Pilot Project," 18.
I90lbid., 39.
l9lDowley, telephone interview by author.
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Programming and Community Involvement
Community involvement was encouraged during the
implementation of the Arts on the Line program in three
ways: in the permanent art selection process, in the
temporary art programs, and in public education efforts.
Permanent Art Selection
The CAC developed a process for selecting artists who
would provide permanent art works in the transit stations.
The Council assembled separate art committees of ten to
fifteen people for each station. Members of the committee
were selected by the project administrator based on input
from the community, the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council.
Separate committees were selected for each station to
address concerns of the differing neighborhoods, adequately
administer substantial art allowances, and ensure the
representation of a variety of aesthetic interests.192 The
Arts on the Line administrator chaired and facilitated the
meetings of the art committee as a neutral, non-voting
member.
The art committee was organized in two subgroups: the
non-voting advisory group and the voting art panel.193 The
advisory group consisted of individuals with an interest in
192U.S. DOT, Aesthetics. 59.
191The process as outlined here is compiled from similar accounts recorded in Cruikshank and Korza, Going Public: Coe, Handbook; Lombardi, "Eight Year Report;" and Dowley, "Pilot Project."
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the project including the client, the architect, the
community development office, and the historical commission.
One or two additional community members were invited to
represent area resident and business interests. The
advisory group connected the public to the artists and
administrators of the public art program.
Members of the advisory groups were responsible for
developing a site profile which described the social and
physical dimensions of a site. For example, residents might
describe the people in the community and potential transit
users, interesting or significant community features or
historical events, and acceptable types of art.19* The site
profile was used by the art panel to select artists who
could work with the relevant information.
The art panels were comprised of three arts
professionals (artists, curators, museum directors, art
educators, writers, or public art administrators), who were
knowledgeable about public art. The Cambridge Arts Council
determined that, of the three panelists, one had to be an
artist, one had to live or work in the area of the public
art site, and one had to be from outside the state.195 The
jurors were selected from a variety of art disciplines based
on solicited resumes, references and recommendations from
art professionals and institutions. These voting members of
,9,Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 19.
l9SCoe, Handbook. 17.
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the art panel were responsible for selecting the artists.
Community members of the advisory panel participated
at two stages in the artist selection process: in the
conceptual stage and prior to the art panelists' selection
decision. The artist selection process is summarized below.
The first step involved introductory meetings of the
entire art committee. At subsequent meetings, the committee
visited the site, was exposed to a variety of public art
projects, and developed the site profile. Procedures for
selecting the art differed for the four stations depending
on the interests of the participants.
For example, at the time the Davis Square station was
built, the majority of the area was residential. It housed
primarily blue collar workers and elderly residents, within
a diverse ethnic mixture of Portuguese, Italian and
Irish.196 As a result, the community participants suggested
that "special considerations should be given to Somerville
[artists], the art should reflect Somerville's rich
historical past,"197 and the arts imagery should be
accessible to the people. Based on community residents'
suggestions, the selection policies were revised for this
station to encourage artists' presentations to the
community. Additional community involvement was encouraged
|9f,Davis Square Meeting, "Arts on the Line," minutes by Cambridge Arts Council, 30 August 1979, 2.
l97Davis Square Meeting, "Arts on the Line," minutes by Cambridge Arts Council, 20 September 1979, 2.
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through a suggestion box at the site of a storefront display
exhibit of artists' proposals.198
In contrast, the Harvard Sguare committee expressed
different concerns. The area surrounding the station is a
major focus for retail, tourist and student activity in
Cambridge, with heavy pedestrian traffic.199 Advisory
members felt that "the neighborhood is generally apathetic
about developments in Harvard Square and it was not
important for the art to reflect the neighborhood or that
local artists be used.1,2(10 Circulation and safety were of
major concern to the MBTA representative and the panel
decided not to consider floor standing art works.201
Another committee member expressed concern over the high
crime rate in the area, and the vandal resistant qualities
became a higher priority than at the Davis Square
station.2112
In the next step of the artist selection process, the
art panelists met to review artists' slides and create a
short list of artists for the particular site. Once the
short list was identified, the panelists determined the
l9!tDavis Square Meeting, 30 August 1979, 2.
■"Harvard Square Meeting, "Arts on the Line," minutes by the Cambridge Arts Council, 12 February 1979, 1.
2l<’lbid., 2.
201Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 26.
2lr2Ibid.
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method of soliciting artists' proposals from an open
competition, limited competition, invitation, or direct
purchase. Arts on the Line did not use the direct purchase
method because, "it was inconsistent with the project's
guiding concept that artists collaborate with the architects
in the design phase in order to ensure that the art be
integrated into the design, and specific to the site."203
Panelists chose the limited competition or the invitation
method most often.
In the fourth step, the artists were invited to
compete and develop proposals based on a pre-determined fee
(approximately one percent of the art budget for Arts on the
Line). The artists were provided with site information
including: architectural plans, historical information,
minutes from the art committee meetings, demographic, social
and environmental information, and details of the artist
selection procedure.201 The artists then separately
presented their proposals in meetings with the entire art
committee.
After the artists' presentations were completed, the
advisory group members took an active role in offering their
opinions and suggestions to the art panel. While the CAC
reports that the views of the advisory group were carefully
considered and discussed, at least one community
203Coe, Handbook. 23.
2WLombardi, "Eight Year Report," 31.
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representative felt otherwise. "We weren't given to
understand that our opinions would necessarily negate
anything."205 Some community members felt their
participation was "just a part in the whole process."206
The Cambridge Arts Council introduced a public art
program that probably would not have been provided
otherwise. The Council used a technical assistance approach
in developing a procedure to select artists to create the
permanent art of the Arts on the Line program. Although the
Council delegated responsibility for selecting the artists
to a committee, they maintained control of the process. The
CAC designed the selection process and chose the
participants.
As a result, some community representatives
interpreted the CAC's actions as condescending. They felt
their participation was included where "[it] could not do
any damage."21’7 Community resident Carol Dempkowski
elaborates:
[The CAC] couldn't believe that anyone from Somerville had any taste in art, or knew what they wanted or had any preference. I had to request to look at what [the art panel] was considering. They tolerated it, but I certainly didn't have any say in it....I had to intrude
20SGinny Greenblatt, "Arts on the Line," telephone interview by author, 12 April 1994.
2uhIbid.
207Carol Dempkowski, "Arts on the Line," telephone interview by author, 12 April 1994.
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myself...so it was sort of an insulting gesture, I felt.2118
Participants from the Somerville community, which was
already organized and active around subway construction
issues, resented the CAC's process because they were asked
to participate but not given responsibility.
In contrast, the CAC reports that "community
representatives add a vital balance in the decision-making
process resulting in public art work..."209 The CAC also
reported that community representatives who did serve in
advisory groups "found the experience interesting and
rewarding. Moreover, they...appreciate the difficulties
involved in making the decisions."210 While the CAC stated
their belief in community participation, implementation was
not effective from the participants' point of view. The
technical assistance approach was resented by the community
representatives.
Temporary Art Projects
Construction of the subway had many negative affects
on the area: daily changes in surface routes frustrated
pedestrians and drivers, residents had to cope with noise
pollution and the disruption of neighborhood life, and
nearby businesses feared that the inconveniences would
2(WIbid.
2ll9Coe, Handbook. 37.
2l(,Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 37.
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decrease customer traffic.2" The Cambridge Arts Council
developed a number of temporary art projects to prepare the
public for the permanent art works and to lessen the
negative impact of construction. These projects sought to
"emphasize the positive, wondrous aspects of [the
construction] in a poetic or educational manner."212 The
Council also saw these projects as another way to involve
artists in the construction and expand the scope of the
artists' goals in working in non-traditional settings. A
few of the projects are summarized below.213
In the "Words From Below" project, a writer was hired
in an open competition to write and publicize feature
stories about unusual aspects of the construction. Another
artist was hired to photograph underground construction
methods that the public could not see. These works were
shown on evening news programs, and exhibited at both the
MBTA and Harvard University.214 Still other artists were
commissioned to paint murals on plywood walkways and
concrete traffic barriers. Their images reflected
2MDowley, "Pilot Project," 69.
212Ibid.
2l3For a complete listing and detailed description of Arts on the Line temporary art projects, see Dowley "A Pilot Project," 69-76. Additional projects are recorded in Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 76-89.
214Dowley, "Pilot Project," 70.
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historical aspects of the area and added whimsy and humor to
the sites.
One temporary art program, "Merchants on the Line,"
developed as a collaborative effort between merchants along
the construction route and the Cambridge Arts Council.
These retailers had organized themselves to develop
promotional programs and Dowley was asked to be on the
consultant selection and steering committees. Arts on the
Line provided some programmed events to correspond with the
merchants' events. In return, "the merchants provided
valuable insight and direction about future arts
programming."215 This collaborative effort marked a change
from the other temporary arts programs in that it developed
out of a community's self-defined needs.
Dowley concludes in her report that the temporary art
program provided the only visible part of the Arts on the
Line program in its early years. For the transit agency,
"The positive impact in terms of public relations for the
MBTA far outweigh[ed] the amount of money invested."216
Dowley believes that, although the projects did not
have enough money to truly divert the negative effects of
construction, they did have lasting results. For example,
the photography projects provided a "valuable and lasting
215Ibid., 72.
2l6Ibid. , 75.
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record of artists' perceptions of construction.1,217 In
addition, these projects provided artists with some income
and exposure to larger audiences.
The Cambridge Arts Council primarily used a technical
assistance approach to encourage economic development of
artists. Most community residents were passively involved
in the temporary art program as audience members.
Public Education Programs
A third method of community involvement in the Arts on
the Line project occurred as public education efforts.
During the first few years of Arts On The Line, the
administrator was involved in a number of public education
projects. Presentations were given for a variety of
community groups using slides of the artists and architects'
moaexs ana arawxngs. - xn aaaxcxon, rne program
coordinator and the MBTA project coordinator conducted two
hour group tours of the subway stations and the art, by
request.
The CAC also produced a half hour educational and
promotional documentary film Arts on the Line.219 This film
tells the Arts on the Line story through testimonials by a
2|7Ibid.
2ll 2|9Arts on the Line, produced by the Cambridge Arts Council, 30 min., Northern Lights Productions, 1985, videocassette. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 5 variety of people involved with the project.220 The film can also be used for arts advocacy to increase awareness about contemporary public art. Additional public education projects included the first New England Public Art Conference in March 1984, and a day long art dedication ceremony in each of the stations in May 1985. The conference was a four day series of workshops, forums, and special events designed to stimulate the interest of artists in making and commissioning public art.221 CAC estimates the conference was attended by hundreds of artists, architects, planners, administrators and members of the general public.222 The Cambridge Arts Council again primarily employed the technical assistance approach in developing public education efforts. While Dowley believes "The measure of success for the art work depends on the amount of public knowledge and understanding of it,"223 the public was not involved in determining appropriate methods of obtaining this knowledge. Just as early meetings were held with the architects to discuss the direction of the art works, similar meetings with community members would have been beneficial to determining the content and direction of 220Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 94. 22lIbid., 90. 222Ibid. 22,Dowley, "Pilot Project," 76. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 6 educational programs. An agreement about the needs, values and knowledge could have been reached between the community groups and the administering agency so the technical assistance approach could have best served the communities. Assessment The Arts on the Line project accomplished many of its stated goals. An arts selection procedure was developed and has been nationally replicated. The DOT has adopted Art on the Line's policies for incorporating the arts into transit systems as its model for similar programs.224 The local arts community was informed and involved from the early stages of the program's development, community participation was encouraged through the advisory panel of the art committee, and aesthetic decisions were made by panels of art experts to ensure quality and variety. Arts on the Line resulted in one of the largest collections of art in an American transportation setting.225 Within this wide range of art works, the CAC was also able to meet the MBTA's concerns for safety, and minimal maintenance requirements. The focus of the Arts on the Line project was to involve the arts intimately in transportation facilities.226 In the earliest self-evaluation, the CAC identified its most 224Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 14. 22 226Dowley, "Pilot Project," 81. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 77 successful art works of this project as the ones that responded most closely to the architecture.227 Although the project benefitted from community input, community development was not a stated goal and the result was a somewhat limited pursuit of community involvement. The CAC did not establish criteria for examining the effectiveness of community participation in the process, and the community representatives felt that their input was not taken seriously. The Arts on the Line program was designed and implemented at a time when collaborations between artists, architects and communities were just beginning to develop (as discussed in chapter III). Dowley believes that this was a transitional project in the history of public art. "It began to shift away from the modernist notion that museum art work could be placed in an urban context with some modification."22* Despite the community's limited involvement, response to the Arts on the Line program was positive. Subway users and station neighbors responded positively to polls by the media, "people do not like all of the art but they like most of it, and they generally think it is a good idea and a proper use of public funds."229 Another indicator of the 227Ibid., 26. 22*Dowley, telephone interview by author. 22gLombardi, "Eight Year Report," 37. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 8 communities' acceptance of the art is that there was almost no damage to the art works, and a few graffiti marks were promptly cleaned by the neighborhood residents.230 A few factors contributed to the positive response to the Arts On The Line program. First, the CAC had the ability to reach segments of the community not usually involved in "the niceties of connoisseurship.1,231 As a result, cooperation was achieved among merchants affected by the construction, community groups from various neighborhoods, schools served by the subways, and universities and galleries, as well as artists and craftspeople involved in both the literary and visual arts • The Cambridge Arts Council, as a local agency with strong ties to the arts community, was important to the success of the Arts on the Line program. A second factor contributing to the positive response to the project was the interest of artists in creating more place-oriented public art. For example, artist Will Reimann sandblasted designs from different indigenous ethnic groups into columns surrounding the Porter Square station, artist James Tyler cast masonry figures using area residents as models at Davis Square, and artist Nancy Webb created a series of bronze tile reliefs depicting local wildlife in 230Wolkomir, "Sculpture in the subways?" Smithsonian. 126. 23lCruikshank and Korza, Going Public. 11. 232Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 9 the Alewife station area. Owners of a Somerville tile makers shop worked with elementary school age children to design and fabricate a tile mural for the Davis Square station. As the Council stated, "Because the community was so intimately involved in its creation, the mural is a great source of pride to Somerville."233 Although the CAC may not have effectively facilitated community involvement, they created a process where artists could respond to information about the place provided by community representatives. The technical assistance approach of the Arts on the Line program primarily promoted development in communities by delivering services and stimulating local commercial activities. This program began to address development of certain segments of the communities by working with local merchants, commissioning local artists, and encouraging some local participation in the artist selection process. The process developed by the CAC to commission public art is explored in the next case study and expanded community involvement is examined. 233Lombardi, "Eight Year Report," 58. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VI ARTS IN TRANSIT: THE SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR PROJECT In 1984, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) contracted UrbanArts to develop and implement a public art program for nine new rapid transit stations on the Orange Line, in the Southwest Corridor section of Boston. The program, named Arts In Transit, was based on the national standards established by the Arts On The Line program. Arts In Transit, completed in 1990, succeeded in installing ten permanent sculptures and murals in the stations, with a budget of $425,000.2M In addition, eighteen works of literature were installed on granite slabs, the neighborhoods were photographically documented, and oral histories were collected from Corridor community residents. UrbanArts had been founded in Boston, in 1980, as a private non-profit agency committed to public and community art programming in the urban environment. Pamela Worden was Founder, and remains President. Worden, as the first Director of the Cambridge Arts Council, helped initiate the Arts On The Line program. 2WF.W. Leupold, "UrbanArts Artists On Track in Southwest Corridor," South End News. 4 October 1984, 12. 80 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 1 Project Background In the late 1960s, a four mile long "large swath of land" was cleared through the Southwest Corridor for a new interstate highway. The proposed highway was to cut through densely populated neighborhoods, but community opposition to the project forced its cancellation. Worden recalls: In 1970, Governor Francis W. Sargent declared a moratorium on the original plan. By June 1975, the 1-95 roadway was officially removed from the Federal Interstate Highway System by an action of Governor Michael S. Dukakis, and for the first time in United States history, a major highway project was abandoned in favor of alternative uses. 5 The federal money (half a billion dollars) which was to have been spent for the Interstate was instead transferred to the MBTA to be used for a new rapid transit line and a park, through the creation of The Southwest Corridor Development Project (SWCDP). Worden notes, "Once this transfer of funds was accomplished, neighborhood residents continued to play an active and unprecedented role in monitoring critical land use and urban design decisions to ensure that their local needs would be met."2-’6 The SWCDP resulted in a relocated subway line, new commuter rails and Amtrack lines, and a new park system. The project encompassed an area that links Boston with seven of its neighborhoods, in which one-quarter of the city's 2, 2MIbid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 2 population resides. Ethnic diversity among Corridor residents includes Asian, African-American, Cape Verdean, European, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Native American, and West Indian.237 Surprisingly, the MBTA was slow to implement an art program as part of the SWCDP, even though they received positive press coverage and national recognition for their pilot program, Arts on the Line. By the time Arts in Transit began in 1984, station design was completed for the nine new subway stations, and construction had begun.238 The MBTA issued its formal request for proposals in the winter of 1983. After a national search, UrbanArts was awarded the contract in the spring of 1983. The art program was then delayed when the MBTA took nearly a year to sign UrbanArts' contract. UrbanArts states that the MBTA delays limited the possibilities for art and further aggravated tensions between the transit authority and the community.239 By the fall of 1984, however, some of the issues had been resolved, UrbanArts had hired a project director (Eileen Meny), and 237Ibid., 5. 23811 Executive Summary," Creating a Sense of Place in Urban Communities. 15 January 1991, a report submitted by UrbanArts, Inc. to the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, n.p. 12. 239Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 6. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 3 nine separate community groups (one for each station) had been formed. Project Goals The MBTA had limited objectives for the art program. According to UrbanArts, ...many within the transit bureaucracy...were eager for a quick and easy fix to the community's latest demand, this time for public art The MBTA's objectives were clear. If there was to be art, its role would be to enhance the beauty of its stations, reduce vandalism and generally improve its public image....the MBTA, in concert with many project architects and engineers, wished to use the arts as a way to bury mistakes of urban renewal in the 1960s and to revive memories of earlier, presumably happier times.240 There were others at the MBTA who saw this program as an opportunity to divert attention from the negative effects of construction itself, as was tried with the Arts On The Line program. MBTA officials saw the art program as a way to serve their needs rather than the affected communities. In contrast, community residents had higher expectations for the program. Worden explains: [The community] wanted an art program to help make the rapid transit stations more representative of their individual communities and to help create a sense of place within each neighborhood people invested in the art program as a way of reducing tensions that had long existed in many Southwest Corridor communities.241 UrbanArts reported that residents wanted to increase their involvement in the art program beyond advising on the 240Ibid., 9. 24,Ibid., 10. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 4 permanent art installations. Community members also wanted a program that would incorporate more than the visual arts to "reflect the diverse cultural traditions of people living and working along the Corridor."242 To many community residents, the level of local involvement in the arts program was seen as a prime indicator of how well the MBTA would carry out its promises of community participation in the construction project.243 UrbanArts expressed multiple and far-reaching goals. In an interview with Worden, Sam Bass Warner identifies that Worden conceived of this Orange Line project out of her experience with the Cambridge Arts Council and its administration of the Arts on the Line program. Warner continues: Worden wanted to institute some process whereby the occasion of commissioning the art works would stimulate the nearby communities to undertake some cultural activities of their own, ideally activities that might continue even after the stations were built and the commissioned works installed.244 UrbanArts identified both short and long term goals. For the short term, it was hoped that the program would help artists gain recognition and expose the general public to 242Ibid., 8. 243Kevin McCaffrey, "Art for Whose Sake, Locals Ask T," Jamaica Plain Citizen. 2 April 1987, 2. 244Sam Bass Warner, "Overview: Arts in Transit: The Southwest Corridor," Creating a Sense of Place. 4. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 5 new and different forms of art.245 Community involvement in the artist selection process would also be expanded. From the beginning, community involvement was sought to help design the program. For example, while UrbanArts waited for the MBTA to sign their contract, they "requested and received seed monies from the state arts council to convene art experts and community representatives to explore ways in which this art program would meet the expectations for participation that existed within the targeted communities.1,246 Over the long term, administrators hoped the program could unite diverse communities; "it might play a constructive role in bringing people together and healing old wounds as part of a constructive process of community rebuilding. 1,247 They also hoped the art and literature programs would help create a "sense of place" and enhance the quality of the built environment within each Southwest Corridor neighborhood. UrbanArts was confronted with the challenge of meeting their goals, and those expressed by the transit authority and the targeted communities. Programming and Community Involvement The Arts In Transit public art program involved the 24SMyrna M. Breitbart, "Project Goals," Creating a Sense of Place. 16. 246Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 8. 247Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 86 Corridor communities in two ways; in the artist selection process for the permanent art, and in a series of temporary art programs. Permanent Art Selection The nine stations in the Southwest Corridor construction project were divided into three sections, with three subway stations in each section.24* Section I served the South End and included the South Cove, Back Bay and Massachusetts Avenue stations. Section II served Lower Roxbury and the Jackson Square station and included Ruggles Street and Roxbury Crossing stations as well. Section III included Boylston Street, Green Street and Forrest Hills stations. UrbanArts followed this pattern. Each subway station had its own site committee, and each section of three stations had an art panel. Each site committee included local representatives of businesses, institutions and local residents. UrbanArts increased community involvement by expanding the size of each committee from one or two, to eight. The site committees also included a representative from the MBTA and the station architect. The eight residents volunteered or were selected by UrbanArts from a list of people compiled at community meetings during 1984. Warner reports that "librarians, 24*Leupold, "UrbanArts Artists On Track," 3. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 7 ministers, and a range of persons signed up, happily a sort of cross-section of the racial and ethnic composition of the neighborhoods."249 Nominees were also generated by the community. UrbanArts made the final selection. Similar to the Arts on the Line project, the site committees for Arts in Transit were responsible for developing a site profile — an overview of the neighborhood for the artists to consider when creating the art. UrbanArts, however, expanded the responsibilities of these site committees. In Arts on the Line, the committee met once to describe the station and its social and physical context. In Arts in Transit, the committee became the project client.250 The site committees met over several months. The station profiles "ranged from direction for possible locations of art work to detailed descriptions of the social, cultural, and historic context of the neighborhood, and thoughts about future direction for change in the community."251 UrbanArts observed that most site committees emphasized positive aspects of the cultural diversity of their neighborhoods, identifying many of the contributions made by ethnic groups. The committees chose not to 249Warner, "Overview," Creating a Sense of Place. 5. 250Pamela Worden, "Arts in Transit: Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 12. 25lIbid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 88 emphasize the negative effects of urban renewal, highway construction or gentrification. Worden notes, "Many participants in the Arts in Transit project believed that those outside their neighborhoods ought to be presented with a view of Southwest Corridor life that is more balanced and upbeat [than media representations of crime and violence]."252 The site committees provided an opportunity for residents to define their communities and "...avoid having [a definition] created by others with more questionable intentions...."253 This positive vision helped establish a sense of personal and communal self esteem.254 These site profiles were essentially completed by the winter of 1986. Each of the three art panels was comprised of five arts professionals. Warner notes that UrbanArts selected panelists who reflected the demographics of the three station section for which they would be choosing artists. As a result, minorities represented 62% of all arts panelists for the combined sections.255 The art panels were responsible for reviewing the community profiles and recommendations of the site committees, and selecting the 252Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 25. 253Ibid. , 26. 254"Executive Summary," Creating a Sense of Place, n.p. 255iistatus Report on Community Participation and Minority Involvement," addendum E in Creating a Sense of Place, n.p. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 9 artists for the permanent art installations.256 Some community members were critical of the proposed process: "[They] criticized the 'two-level* hierarchy of selection: they felt that a panel should not have to approve the recommendations of the site committee, but that there should only be one committee to make the decision about artist selection."257 The art panels retained final authority to make selection decisions based on the Federal guidelines. UrbanArts notes, however, that the art panels and site committees agreed on their decisions in almost every case.258 UrbanArts had been hired to administer a public art program for a community which actively pursued involvement in a subway construction project. UrbanArts used a technical assistance approach to implement the artist selection procedure which had been designed independent of the community. Community involvement, however, was expanded beyond an advisory role. In the second part of the Arts In Transit project, UrbanArts departed from the technical assistance approach. Temporary art programs challenged the Federal policies by empowering local residents, and expanded concepts of public 256Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 13. 257Ellen G. Lahr, "Arts in Transit Included in Southwest Corridor Project," Jamaica Plain Citizen. 2 June 1984, 1. 258Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 13. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 0 art by including residents in the creation of works using a variety of artistic media.259 Temporary Art Programs UrbanArts wanted to involve more community residents than was possible during the permanent art selection process. They solicited proposals for a temporary art program that would provide a new perspective and access to the arts, celebrate the spirit and integrity of the community, create new audiences, and offer artists a new environment in which to create their work.260 The Temporary Art Program included projects in photography, literature and oral history. Each of these projects had a two-tiered structure similar to the permanent art project, and each was developed in collaboration with a local institution, "so that materials and relationships that the project generated could become a permanent part of the community."261 While the MBTA gave UrbanArts permission to launch these programs, it was initially unwilling to fund them. Photography Linda Schwartz, a Massachusetts photographer, proposed 2S9Ibid., 11. 2W)Ted Landsmark, "Along the El," Views. Fall 1987, 14. 26lWorden, "Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 13. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 1 and coordinated a photography project. "The Artist's Lens: A Focus on Relocation," paired five professional photographers one on one with students from the Hubert H. Humphrey Occupational Resource Center (ORC) of the Boston Public Schools. The photographers in "The Artist's Lens" were selected by a panel of arts professionals from a field of over fifty applicants. Students were selected by their photography instructor at ORC based on the quality of their work and their commitment to the project. Together, the photography teams recorded more than 6,000 images of Boston's elevated Orange Line, known as the "El."262 The teams worked together for a year and a half and captured the architecture and people along the El prior to its demolition. The photography project had many benefits for student participants: The Artist's Lens provide[d] specific vocational training, [and] artistic discipline. The students [were] on salary for the time they spen[t] each week documenting and processing their own work. The greatest benefit for them, however, may [have been] the rare opportunity each [had] to work directly with an experienced artist for the period of the project.263 In addition, Worden observed that the more the teams worked in the communities along the Corridor, the stronger their bonds became with one another, and with the residents. Throughout the photography project, "work-in-progress" 262P.L. Butamante, "Overland Expression: Along the El," Middlesex News. 24 July 1987, n.p. 263Linda Schwartz and Pamela Worden, "The Artist's Lens: A Focus on Relocation," Views. Summer 1986, 6. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 2 exhibitions were held at community sites and public facilities in Boston. These exhibitions gained favorable attention and newspaper coverage in late 1986 and 1987. Warner notes that the favorable community response "caused the General Manager of the MBTA to give UrbanArts appropriate bureaucratic support and additional funds so that it could carry out the literature and oral history programs and continue with its main station arts tasks."214 The project concluded with a final exhibit titled "Along the El," which featured 165 works from the project juxtaposed with historic photographs of the area dating from the 1890s to the 1960s. The final archival portfolio is currently housed at the Boston Public Library. As the body of photographic work grew and received public exposure, questions were raised about the artists' intentions. In his review of the final exhibit, critic Ted Landsmark identifies early concerns about the program: The photographic press asked why few professional photographers of color were involved. Some black community members worried that the photographs might create negative images of the black community....A concern arose that the mentor relationship might adversely shape, or hinder, student creativity. Street- shooting ethics and subjects' legal rights were discussed, as was the strong level of logistical support provided to the artists by the sponsors. Landsmark concludes that the overall quality of the work was enhanced by these discussions, and that the photographs 2(4Warner, "Overview," Creating a Sense of Place. 7. 2h'Landsmark, "Along the El," 15. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 3 reflected high artistic creativity and integrity, and strong community sensitivity. Landsmark also found value in the exhibit of new photographs in the context of the historic images. [The photographs] engender precisely the dialogue among artists, community, and sponsors which the originators sought...Dialogue of this type is not always measured, or comfortable, but it is the link between our cultural history, and what we see ourselves becoming.266 Project administrators concurred; "This project seeks not only to capture for posterity the reality of what the elevated line, its communities and ridership were; it also provides a forum for people to begin to face the phenomenon of this change in a spirit of informed awareness. 1,267 The Artist's Lens program documented a major environmental change and involved the community as producers of the photographic images. Literature In the winter of 1986-87, the literature program entitled "Boston Contemporary Writers," was initiated by Sam Cornish, an award winning local author and poet. A community advisory committee was formed to develop a profile for each station area. This profile was used by the literary review panel to select winning entries from among 266Ibid. 267Schwartz and Worden, "The Artists's Lens," 6. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 4 1,000 manuscripts submitted by 233 Massachusetts writers.268 The panel selected eighteen poems, short stories, and essays without previously knowing who had written them.269 The winning literary works were written by both published and unpublished writers. They were inscribed in three- foot by five-foot granite panels, with one poem and one prose piece at each station. Each of the winners received a $1,000 honorarium. The literary entries were judged on two criteria — relevance to the community and quality.270 Among the selected works was "Hometown" by Luix Overbea. The author "focuse[d] on black Boston's history and the progress the black community has made here."271 Overbea took the reader on a 200-year ride through history from the days of the American Revolution to current political events, sketching out the black landmarks at other MBTA stops along the Orange Line.272 Additional works included: "Harriet Tubman aka Moses" which portrays the abolitionist who led hundreds of blacks 268Worden, "Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 14. 269Kay Bourne, "Journalist wins arts prize for essay on Orange Line," Bay State Banner. 3 December 1987, 15. 27oSue Jung, "Literature Rides the T," Boston Globe. 9 August 1987, A18. 27lBourne, "Journalist wins arts prize," 15. 272lbid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 5 out of slavery in the Deep South; "If My Boundary Stops Here," describing a woman's thoughts about her children and her own mortality; and "Four Letters Home" which relates the history of the Ruggles Station area through the experiences of four different families over a period of 130 years.273 Community residents participated in the literary program in a number of ways. The community was invited to three free educational poetry workshops, conducted by local poets in a neighborhood community center. In addition, community groups worked with the selection committee to choose works that defined specific communities and neighborhoods. The community was also invited to attend poetry and prose readings conducted by the winning authors. Sharon Cox, a "Boston Contemporary Writers" winner, has identified a number of benefits of the literature program. She believes the installations provided increased exposure for the winners. "It helps when you're [writing] other things, because when you have something like [the granite slabs] you gain more credibility."274 Cox also believes the installations were important because they provided a history of a people and a place. "[The literary works] say what it means to be alive at that time."275 In 273Marjorie Howard, "Hub's poetry in motion," Boston Herald, ll October 1990, 61. 274Sharon Cox, "Arts in Transit," telephone interview with author, 4 May 1994. 275Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 6 addition, the winners become positive role models for young people. Cox believes programs like "Boston Contemporary Writers" are important "...especially in a city, because it points out that the people who are doing stuff, are not always from someplace else."775 "Boston Contemporary Writers" resulted in the largest public installation of literature in the country.277 The granite slabs brought poetry to the public, connecting the traveler with the neighborhood through which he or she commutes. Oral History The third and final temporary art program, entitled "Sources of Strength: People & History Along the Southwest Corridor," was designed by Cindy Cohen, an oral historian who had worked extensively in schools and community centers in the Boston area. The program involved community residents in the documentation and analysis of their local history and culture through oral histories. This project provided opportunities for residents to reflect on the changes occurring in their communities, and to increase their appreciation of their own, and surrounding, neighborhoods. The project, which was presented in collaboration with 276Ibid. 2T7Howard, "Hub's poetry in motion," 61. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 7 Roxbury Community College, featured a three-part oral history workshop in the summer of 1987, and a free evening course in which neighborhood residents were taught methods and techniques of collecting oral histories. Cohen and project coordinator Victoria Howard formed an advisory committee to help identify more than thirty long-term residents to narrate their stories. According to Worden, The narrators reflected the demographics of the Southwest Corridor neighborhoods, including diversity in age, education, income level, religion, occupation, [and] ethnic and cultural heritage. Among those who participated were a piano teacher, an antiques dealer, a nutritionist, a high school teacher, a retired printer, a property manager, a nurse, a contractor, and a pub owner.m These narrators were subsequently interviewed by sixteen workshop participants, over a two month period. "Sources of Strength" recorded nearly a century of life of members of minority groups, and the evolution of the Corridor neighborhoods.279 More than sixty-five hours of interviews were compiled during the project, including a wide variety of topics. Ed Cooper [84] remembers when Pullman porters and waiters were the elite of Boston's black community.... Suzanne Lee of Chinatown recounted a decade of rising Asian-American activism. Henry Keaveney, 82, remembers watching four-term Boston Mayor James Michael Curley strut through the city's Jamaica Plain section during the Depression. Jack Fre Dukes, 72, recalled when he was a member of the first black city-league baseball 27|iWorden, "Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 13. 279"Minority history recorded," Hartford Courant. 25 October 1987, n.p. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 8 team to venture into mostly white South Boston. Kahlil Gibran, 6 4 .believes the disintegration of close-knit ethnic neighborhoods has contributed to the rise in urban crime.2*° Tapes and transcripts from the project were made available to historians, students and the general public through an oral history archive at Roxbury Community College. In addition, stories from "Sources of Strength" were adapted by local actor, director and playwright, Bart McCarthy. McCarthy presented a theater production entitled "Voices From the Corridor," in March 1988. Worden notes, "Under McCarthy's direction, the actors brought their own experiences to bear upon the interpretation of their characters, allowing the stories to transcend their original sources and speak to many of the larger issues of urban change."2*1 The production was a presentation of the lives of community members, and acknowledged their experiences as an important part of the city's history.2*2 "Sources of Strength" projects were designed to reflect and highlight the history and diversity of individual neighborhoods along the Corridor.2*2 Worden notes, "The underlying idea is that the lives of regular 2*(,Ibid. 2*'Worden, "Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 13. 2*2Ibid. 2*’"Nine JP Residents Contribute," Jamaica Plain Citizen. 8 October 1987, 5. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 9 people are very important. Everyone has a story to tell, and it's important that the history of any place or time include the positions of people who are not in power."284 Participants in the project benefitted by discovering "the hidden legacies" of Boston and Southwest Corridor communi Lies.285 In addition to the teaching skills associated with collecting and narrating oral histories, "Sources of Strength" provided an opportunity for people outside of the Corridor communities to better understand minority groups. "The project...records and celebrates the stories of residents who have been a part of Boston's history — people who share a common ground but who have unique vantage points."286 A 3S 655iTiGr»t The Arts In Transit project met and exceeded many of its stated goals and initial expectations. The limited goals of the MBTA to enhance the stations was met with the installation of sculptures, murals and literary works. Community expectations of increased involvement was also met 284Natalie Engler, "Community activism inspires Southwest Corridor words of art," Dorchester Community News. 14 June 1991. ^'"Southwest Corridor Residents Offered Free Workshop on Local Oral History," Jamaica Plain Citizen. 9 July 1987, 5. 286Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 0 with both the permanent art selection process and the temporary art programs. Arts in Transit included a high level of community involvement across ethnic, gender and age groups in the selection and content of the public art. More than 1,000 artists, administrators and residents from Southwest Corridor communities participated in the art programs.287 Statistics reveal that 40% of ^he commissioned artists in the permanent art program were minorities.288 The increased community involvement, however, did not always result in art works which were consistent with site profiles. For example, study group co-chair Myrna Breitbart identified two stations, (New England Medical Center and Massachusetts Avenue) which did not receive art works resembling site committees' detailed recommendations. Breitbart suggests that the MBTA chose to emphasize the aesthetics of these two stations over the community initiated themes because the MBTA considered the riders and the institutions nearby to be more important than at other stations.289 The MBTA was more interested in enhancing 287"Arts in Transit final publication now underway," Update, n.d., newsletter publication by UrbanArts, Inc., 4. 288"Status Report," addendum E in creating a Sense of Place. n.p. 289Ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 1 riders' experiences than it was in community involve ment.290 Competing goals among participants affected the response to community input and the installation of permanent art works. The MBTA's lack of consistent interest in community involvement negatively affected relations with community members. Sociology Professor Wilfred Holton provides supporting evidence. Under his direction, twenty sociology students interviewed twenty-four Arts in Transit participants involved with three of the nine stations.291 Holton found the positive aspects of the process included the heavy involvement of community members (mentioned by eighteen participants), and the project organization and management by UrbanArts. There was only one positive comment made by a committee member regarding the general role of the MBTA in the UrbanArts process. In contrast, "the most frequent negative comments about (the] Arts in Transit project related to resistance and delays on the part 2wBreitbart, "Project Goals," Creating a Sense of Place. 18. Breitbart develops her assessment based on summary notes of the process of deliberation carried on among engineers, art panels, site committees and artists, to select the permanent art works. 29|Information for the observations was obtained through interviews and oen meetings with participants, and systematic observations and interviews with Orange Line riders. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 2 of the MBTA."292 Holton concludes that better cooperation from the MBTA would have made the process smoother and would speed it up considerably in the future. A client agency cannot depend solely on its funding of a public art program to improve its relations with targeted communities. The agency should also support the art program with consistent policies and actions. A Southwest Corridor study group was convened in 1991 to examine the completed project.295 The group could not draw conclusions regarding the ability of the project to meet goals of personal empowerment or of changing public awareness, based on public reaction to the art.294 Shortcomings in the interview and observation methods used by researchers, somewhat limited the findings.295 These shortcomings included partial evaluation of the visual arts and literatures components, subjective judgement by researchers, difficulty for researchers to observe the 292Wilfred E. Holton, "Observations of Station Users and Analysis of Interviews with Participants, Riders and Officials," Creating a Sense of Place. 27. 293The study group was one of six in the state, funded by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities' environmental initiative, "KNOWING OUR PLACE: Humanistic Aspects of Environmental Issues." 2 295Iiolton, "Observations of Station Users," creating a Sense of Place. 30. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 3 public without drawing attention to themselves, and difficulty in interpreting data.296 Holton provides observations regarding "how much impact the Arts in Transit projects have had on the general public. "297 We have found that many station users notice and truly appreciate the visual arts works in the new Orange Line stations. In many stations the visual art contributes to a good feeling about the physical environment and the commitment of the MBTA to the neighborhood....We note that, with repeated contact, art may be gradually perceived and appreciated by the general public. The study group was able to speculate about the affect of the program on participants. The content of the information uncovered through personal stories as well as the many techniques utilized by Southwest Corridor residents to research their communities may...end up having had a more sustained impact on the community development process than the permanent installations themselves. Participation in the process of documenting life along the Corridor and in the neighborhood, provided learning experiences for residents which may inspire other collaborations and neighborhood-initiated projects. Community involvement in the process of creating the temporary art programs provided a mutual learning experience for participants. 2%Ibid. 297Ibid. , 36. 29*Ibid. 799Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 20. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 4 Nearly all participants felt that they had learned a great deal about their communities in both the present and the past as a result of their involvement and that communities were "awakened" by this process of gathering information and opinions. Participants also discussed many of the unexpected by-products that emerged during the course of their work. For example, one photographer described his shock at learning about the conditions in the schools and the many obstacles in life faced by his students.31*’ Participants in the temporary arts programs benefitted by developing personal skills and discovering human assets internal to the community — i.e. artists, students, historians, and teachers. Sharon Cox believes community participation has another benefit. She states, "I always think that when the community is involved in what's being done in that community, it produces a sense of their own innate power....If it's innate, you have it and you use it."Mi The art programs provided opportunities for residents to "define and redefine themselves, and, most especially, to project their existence into the future."302 UrbanArts primarily employed a self-help approach in the temporary art programs. They assisted the communities in developing the programs, coordinated educational opportunities and provided some financial compensation for participants. Community participation resulted in an 3l**Myrna M. Breitbart, "Creating a Sense of Place," Creating a Sense of Place. 39. 3,llSharon Cox, "Arts in Transit," telephone interview with author, 4 May 1994. 302Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 26. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 5 increased recognition for artists of color, documentation of a community in transition, and an enhanced physical environment through arts installations.303 Arts in Transit helped develop the capacities of the people, bringing different groups together to address common concerns regarding the changes in their community. "Many community residents and their representatives established a sense of 'ownership* in the stations by their very real roles in the decision-making process."301 Worden comments, "Within the public art field nationally, this is the only project that has this level of community participation in the decision-making process."30S Arts in Transit has received a number of awards. For example, in 1990, the MBTA received one of ten Presidential Awards for Design Excellence, the highest design honor bestowed by the National Endowment for the Arts.306 The Endowment cited the Southwest Corridor Project as "one of the most intensive public participation projects in the history of Massachusetts....In its social vision...the Southwest Corridor Project is a model for contemporary urban 3ll3Ibid., 15. 3luHolton, "Observations," Creating a Sense of Place. 36. 3l,5Leupold, "UrbanArts Artists On Track," 12. 3(l6"Final publication now underway," Update. 2. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 6 design."11*7 The self-help approach of the Arts in Transit program encouraged a process which empowered community members, supporting them in defining and reaffirming their place in the larger community. '•"ibid. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION Public art by definition implies a relationship amongst site, audience, artist, and patron. This thesis has provided an overview of community involvement in public art projects, and examined two case studies. The Case Studies The Arts on the Line project in Cambridge, MA established guidelines for incorporating art in transportation facilities. These guidelines were ultimately adopted as federal policy for Urban Mass Transportation Administration projects nationwide, and also became the basis for the Arts in Transit project. The Arts on the Line program had been designed to both install permanent art work in the stations, and administer temporary art projects while the subway was under construction. Administrators developed a two-tiered process for selecting artists to create the permanent art works. A panel of arts professionals made the final selection based on the site descriptions provided by community representatives. Administrators had stated their belief "it is crucial 107 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 8 that representatives from the community be involved in the selection of the artists."308 Interviews with community representatives revealed, however, that the participant's role in advisory groups had been minor. Advisors met once at the start of the project to give their suggestions, and again at the end to respond to the artists' proposals. Even then, community representatives felt they had to "intrude" themselves on the process to participate in a meaningful way. Community representatives often resented the process when they had no real responsibility for the final decisions. Community representatives were more interested in contributing to the process of selecting artists. The focus of Arts on the Line's temporary art and public education projects was to expand the artists' involvement in non-traditional settings and to prepare the public for permanent art. Most of these programs were designed and presented to the public, rather than including the public in their development. These early educational efforts were implemented to benefit the project. Administrators were able to increase the involvement of artists, and the activities produced positive public relations for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). As a result, the transportation authority provided additional funds for more projects. 3ll8Coe, Handbook. 37. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 0 9 The temporary art projects developed for Arts on the Line included passive community involvement. The projects also could have presented the administrating agency with additional opportunities to involve community representatives. The community representatives might have advised the agency concerning the content and direction of educational programs. Additional community members could have participated in the implementation of the projects: collaborations between artists and community members might have enhanced residents' educational experiences by providing new skills and a new appreciation for artists and art works. The second case study demonstrated that this type of expanded community involvement can benefit artists, community participants, and the administering agency. The Arts in Transit program, developed to install permanent art work in the subway stations in the Southwest Corridor of Boston, also implemented a two-tiered artist selection process, based on established federal guidelines. Community involvement was expanded by increasing the number of representatives and their responsibilities. The community representatives became the project client, developing the program for the permanent art work at each station. Committees met over several months to recommend themes for the art work. Arts in Transit demonstrated that community involvement in the process of selecting permanent art works can contribute to community Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 0 development. Participants took an active role in defining their communities according to their visions and perceptions. Participants also gained a sense of individual and communal self-esteem through their expanded involvement in the artist selection process. The Arts in Transit project, however, also demonstrated that increased community involvement in the selection process did not always ensure that the installed art works are consistent with station profiles. Conflicting goals among the participants sometimes resulted in the MBTA overriding community recommendations in order to meet their own priorities. The MBTA’s inconsistent interest in community involvement adversely affected their relations with community members. In fact, project participants attributed negative aspects of the program to the MBTA's lack of cooperation and delays citing contractual problems, changing personnel, altered budgets and incompetent contractors.3(W Community residents were active participants in the design, implementation and evaluation of the temporary art projects in Arts in Transit. These projects were implemented to benefit the participants by providing educational opportunities. The focus of the projects was personal skill development rather than preparing the public ■llwHolton, "Observations of Station Users," Creating a Sense of Place. 27. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I l l for permanent art. These skills may inspire collaborations and neighborhood-initiated projects in the future. Temporary art programs, with substantial community involvement, can develop participants' communication and problem-solving skills, while benefitting the permanent art program by enhancing participants' appreciation of the permanent art works. In fact, UrbanArts has found that "participants expressed satisfaction with the final visual art and literature selections..."310 Communication and problem-solving skills may contribute to a community's capacity to address problems such as racism, homelessness, violent crimes, failing schools and unemployment. Authors Lappe and Du Bois in The Quickening of America, state that there is a crisis in the United States, because "we as a people do not know how to come together to solve [our] problems. We lack the capacities to address the issues or remove the obstacles that stand in the way of public deliberation. Too many Americans feel powerless."311 Public art programs which use a grass roots approach can engage community members in an educational process. Arts in Transit participants who designed and took part in temporary art programs used their own voices and visions to 3,0Ibid. 3llFrances Moore Lappe and Paul Du Bois, The Quickening of America; Rebuilding Our Nation. Remaking Our Lives. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1994), 9. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 2 validate their experiences and to document their community. UrbanArts finds that informal collaborations among community residents can "establish more enduring connections between neighborhoods for the purposes of sharing resources, technical advice, equipment, talent and lobbying strength. "3I2 Community involvement in public art programs may not solve this nation's complex social problems. Public art programs can, however, be vehicles for individuals to improve their personal skills. Lappe and Du Bois find that "human beings grow into the most effective problem solvers when we ourselves 'own' the challenge — when we participate in defining the problem and devising the solutions.1,313 Administrators of public art programs can assist in personal skill development by facilitating programs based on goals and values defined by the community. Public art programs become ways for community members to identify and address issues of concern to them. The case studies demonstrate that progress has been made in the meaningful inclusion of community members in public art programs. Additional opportunities for improving public art programs and enriching community participants' experiences are also possible. 3l2Breitbart and Worden, New Roles. 21. 3l3Lappe and Du Bois, The Quickening. 72. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 3 Recommendations Future public art projects might encourage earlier collaborations amongst architects, artists, the administering agency, and the community. In both case studies, the art programs were initiated after the transit stations were designed, resulting in limited locations for the art works. When a client agency perceives a separation between the public art program and the construction project, public art programs can provide additional, and perhaps unwanted, responsibilities. The case studies demonstrate, however, that public art programs can provide positive public relations for the client agency, can enhance the station design, and improve relations with community residents and station users. Ideally, public art administrators should work with the client agency to identify appropriate artists and community resources prior to the completion of construction drawings for the site. Artists and architects should then work together to "improve and maximize sight lines for the [art work], to situate the art in response to major architectural features and to adjust the architecture to respond effectively to the art work."314 The artists can influence material selection, spatial considerations and overall design approach. Community members can assist in identifying community needs and define the public art 314Dowley, "Pilot Project," 21. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 4 program. Early collaboration in public art projects has the potential to create a facility that is itself a work of art, rather than a facility benefitting from the installation of art works. Future public art projects should examine artist selection procedures. In both case studies, a two-tiered process was implemented to select artists. Community members advised professionals regarding the community, the site and related issues. The art professionals then made final artist selections. This process was also used to develop temporary art projects for Art in Transit. The process worked well in situations and locations where community members were enlisted to help define problems and devise solutions. In contrast, the process in which administrators exerted authority over the final selection of participants and other decisions produced negative feelings in the community members toward the administrative agency. An alternative artist selection procedure would involve a single committee. This committee would utilize community members as equals working with experts from the transit agency and from the art fields, reducing the opportunities for administrators and artists to disregard community specifications. A mixed committee in which administrators consider solutions devised by the community, in response to the community's perceived problems, will be beneficial to both the community and the art program. No Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 5 single procedure, however, will be applicable to all communities and all public art projects. New committee structures should be tested and examined as new lessons are learned. Future public art programs should examine opportunities for more community involvement in temporary programs. In both case studies, temporary art projects established important precedents by using Federal guidelines to support other projects beyond the installation of permanent art works at station sites.315 Temporary art projects provided opportunities for community members to increase their participation, and to learn about the permanent art program and forthcoming changes. When community members became involved in the process of designing and implementing arts and humanities activities, they developed skills and uncovered resources useful to the community. In contrast, when communities were invited to attend temporary art activities designed by administrative agencies, the opportunity for skill development was low. Temporary art projects should include community involvement at all phases of design, implementation and examination. Worden states, When you get someone involved in the creative act, you tap into the very center of them as individuals....I think we give people more confidence in their voice and in being able to speak out....The art gives people a way 3l5Worden, "Process and Products," Creating a Sense of Place. 12. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 1 6 to enter into a dialogue with others in a way that should serve all of us.316 Temporary art projects create opportunities for participants to expand their involvement in community activities. Every community is different and involvement in a program's development will result in a variety of outcomes. Public art programs visually enhance a community by installing art works. The case studies demonstrate that community involvement can be extended well beyond the development of site profiles for permanent art. Public art programs can also encourage community representatives to examine their own views of themselves and what they can do. The process used to involve community members in commissioning public art works then, is as important as the art work itself. 31ftPamela Worden, "Arts in Transit," telephone interview with author, 13 May 1994. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals. New York: Random House, 1971. Armajani, Siah. "Public Art Manifesto." Speech given at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Washington, DC, 24 February 1994. "Arts in Transit final publication now underway." Update, n.d. Newsletter published by UrbanArts, Inc. Arts on the Line. Produced by the Cambridge Arts Council. 30 min., Northern Lights Production, 1985, Videocassette. Balfe, Judith H., and Margaret J Wyszomirski. "Public Art and Public Policy." 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