In theory, the term ‘Public Art’ (community or municipal art) denotes any work of art which is designed for and sited in a space accessible to the general public, from a public square to a wall inside a building open to the public. In practice, however, since a significant percentage of such artworks end up hidden away in storage, or in private government offices, a more accurate definition might go something like this: Public art is an umbrella term which includes any work of art purchased with public funds, or which comes into the public domain (by donation, or by public display, etc.) irrespective of where it is situated in the community, or who sees it.
Types of Public Art
Most of the public art which has survived from Antiquity consists of various types of stonework – that is, funerary monuments, statues and otherreligious or architectural sculpture. Today, however, the category of public art includes a huge range of works from the fine, decorative and plastic arts. As well as architecture and sculpture, it includes painting, stained glass, ceramics, mosaics, andtapestry, as well as numerous forms of contemporary art, such as Earthworks, Assemblage, Installation art andPerformance (along with its associated Happenings), toname but a few. It includes transient displays, such as Andy Goldsworthy‘s Snowballs (London, 2000), temporary exhibitions (eg. Faberge Eggs), or temporary architectural constructions to celebrate particular events (eg. the Millennium Dome in London).
Locations & Sites For Public Art
Sites for municipal art are typically located in urban centres and may include squares, plaza or pedestrian areas, main thoroughfares, the approaches to public buildings such as government offices, law courts, municipal utilities and transport centres, airports, museums and libraries, university or college campuses and so on. In addition, public artworks may be sited inside national or local government offices, as well as churches or other public places of worship.
Some public artworks (environmental earthworks) may be located in remote areas; other types of public art (holograms, firework displays) may be projected onto the night sky. Computer art is becoming an integral feature of the latter.
Content taken from: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/public-art.htm
Yinka Shonibare 