Copyright by Emily Kay Goodrum 2015
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Copyright By Emily Kay Goodrum 2015 The Report Committee for Emily Kay Goodrum Certifies that this is the approved version of the following report: The Social and Economic Impacts of Public Art: Connections, Complexity, and Possibilities APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE _______________________________ Michael Oden, Supervisor _______________________________ Keith Simon The Social and Economic Impacts of Public Art: Connections, Complexity, and Possibilities by Emily Kay Goodrum, B.A. Report Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning The University of Texas at Austin December 2015 Acknowledgements: I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Michael Oden and Keith Simon for their guidance throughout the research process. I would also like to express my appreciation for all my friends and family for their support and encouragement, especially my mom, the artist who first exposed me to the arts, and to my dad, whose guidance has come through the books and ideas he left behind. Love to you all. iv The Social and Economic Impacts of Public Art: Connections, Complexity, and Possibilities by Emily Kay Goodrum, MSCRP. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 SUPERVISOR: Michael Oden This professional report addresses the broad issue of evaluating the impact of artistic and cultural activity. Focusing on the quantitative and qualitative effects of public art, this report attempts to address the following questions: What are the social and economic impacts of public art, and what can planners (land use, economic development, neighborhood development, participatory action planners) do to reap potential benefits while avoiding negative impacts? I address these questions through an in-depth review of existing literature from diverse fields and schools of thought and through qualitative analysis of the case study of Aurora, a large-scale new media art event in Dallas, Texas. Drawing upon these sources a number of connections are made and contradictions are revealed, and the complexity of how people perceive and value public art emerges from the literature and the case. The qualitative, cross-disciplinary analysis is used to suggest routes to further avenues of multidisciplinary research as well as revealing possible new ways of thinking about the form and value of public art. The research demonstrates both positive and negative effects from public art depending on context, content, interpretation, as well as an interaction between these factors. Thoughtful implementation suggests great potential for public art’s social benefit and it is an activity that planners and policymakers certainly have role in as regulators of urban space. v Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Methodology ......................................................................................................3 Chapter 3: Defining Art and Public Space ...........................................................................6 Chapter 4: Theory and Literature on Public Art ................................................................10 Chapter 5: Aurora Dallas Case Study ................................................................................53 Chapter 6: Conclusion........................................................................................................76 Appendix A: Survey Questions .........................................................................................78 Appendix B: Survey Response from Joshua King .............................................................80 Appendix C: Aurora Ratings and Reviews from Facebook...............................................82 Appendix D: Aurora Reviews and Comments from Yelp .................................................85 Works Cited .......................................................................................................................90 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Star Model of Public Space..........................................................................9 Figure 2: Arch of Triumph, Pyonyang, North Korea .................................................23 Figure 3: Please Love Austria, Austria......................................................................27 Figure 4: Mar Caribe.................................................................................................31 Figure 5: 3_Search’s Sense/Coalescence ..................................................................56 Figure 6: James Clar’s Pixelated Serenity .................................................................57 Figure 7: Emily Goodrum’s Ascend .........................................................................58 Figure 8: Origin, Performance by Naomi Ruiz and Martín(e) Gutierrez ..................60 Figure 9: Map of the Dallas Arts District ..................................................................61 Figure 10: Map of Aurora Installations and Zones .....................................................62 vii List of Tables Table 1: Levels and Mediators of Effects of Public Art ..........................................49 Table 2: Current Benefits and Possibilities for Aurora ............................................72 Table 3: Current Challenges and Opportunities for Aurora .....................................73 viii Chapter 1: Introduction “Powerful ways of acting spring from powerful ways of seeing. Yes, visual images can be manipulative, but they can also be transforming in ways we do not immediately understand.” –Suzanne Lacy Art has appeared in public places since the beginning of recorded human history, yet its meaning, purposes, and impacts have been hotly debated for just as long. In more recent times, public art has been praised as a tool for economic development, demonized as a manipulative ploy, and lauded as liberator of the human spirit. This report seeks to draw from diverse disciplines which have examined the arts, and specifically art in the public realm, in order to answer the following questions: What are the social and economic impacts of public art, and what can planners (land use, economic development, neighborhood development, participatory action planners) do to reap potential benefits while avoiding negative impacts? Although the history of public art has been clouded with controversial themes in some cases, clear evidence exists of benefits arising from public art. In terms of broad benefits, the celebration of creativity throughout diverse segments of society is seen to positive effects including the ability to instill a sense of community belonging. Impacts of public art are often challenging to identify and quantify due to the confluence of multiple variables, multiple forms and media involved, and the complexity and multiplicity of voices responding to public art. Public art’s impacts seem to depend on interrelated factors which include who chooses and funds the art, the form and content of the art, its location, the process of its creation, its messages, and its externalized impacts, such as its influence on property values and potential gentrification. In the scope of my work, I will define art, creativity, and public art as a first step in building a theoretical base for this analysis. I then review the literature spanning numerous disciplines to build a better understanding of how public art might affect individuals and communities. I examine existing theory related to the impact and meaning of public art from various disciplines, including medicine, public health, art criticism, sociology, history, economic development, and planning. This cross-disciplinary approach seeks to create a more holistic picture of what has been said about public art, to identify existing gaps in knowledge, and to more thoroughly examine the current state of affairs and what may be possible for public art. 1 The Aurora Dallas art event, held biannually in Dallas, Texas, presents a valuable opportunity to explore the impacts of public art on the ground and in detail. This case study also presents the opportunity to examine complex interrelationships between permanent and impermanent public art structures. In this case a temporary art event focusing mostly on video, light installation, and performance was embedded and interfaced with the permanent, institutional Dallas Arts District structures and institutions. The examination of this case study may offer lessons related to public art event planning as well as to the complex relationships between public art and social and economic structures. Just as community and regional planning occurs in various contexts and under many pretexts, so does the creation of public art. It could be argued that public art creation itself is inseparable from the basic act of “urban planning”, whoever may be doing it, whether it is by a specially trained “urban planner” or a group of neighborhood residents who take it upon themselves to create something new. The act of planning occurs in a democratized process, at least in theory, and through this, public art may be seen as a democratic,