Urbanowski: Public art - accessible for all - San Jose Spotlight

"Palo Alto's recent Code:ART, a free, biennial interactive media art festival, reminds us of the breadth, depth and impact of public art in cities across our county. Code:ART transformed downtown Palo Alto into a vibrant playground of light, sound and imagination, reimagining the city's downtown streets, plazas and alleyways into a luminous landscape."

"Art in public spaces plays a distinguishing role in our history and culture. It reflects and reveals our society, enhances meaning in our civic spaces, adds uniqueness to our communities and humanizes the built environment. Public art matters because our communities gain cultural, social and economic value through art. But creating public art requires public sector leadership, effective policy development and implementation, authentic community engagement and a funding mechanism."

"Simply put, public art is art in public spaces. It is egalitarian, accessible and serves a wide range of community residents. While the term "public art" may conjure images of figurative bronze statues, today such art takes a wide range of forms, sizes and scales - and can be temporary or permanent. Public art might include murals, sculpture, memorials, integrated architectural or landscape architectural work, community art, digital media and even performances and festivals."

Code:ART transformed downtown Palo Alto into a vibrant, interactive landscape of light, sound and imagination that animated streets, plazas and alleyways. Public art is art in public spaces; it is egalitarian, accessible and can be temporary or permanent, taking forms such as murals, sculpture, memorials, integrated architectural or landscape work, community art, digital media, performances and festivals. Public art reflects society, enhances civic meaning, adds uniqueness and humanizes the built environment, creating cultural, social and economic value. Successful public art requires public sector leadership, sound policy, authentic community engagement and sustainable funding. Municipal public art programs vary across Santa Clara County, and Cupertino revised policy to allow developers to pay in-lieu fees.

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