Artist Jefre Manuel, who works under the name JEFRË, is a relative newcomer to public art. Three years ago, at the age of 35, the practicing designer had a heart attack and triple bypass. The experience convinced him to retire from architecture/landscape architecture and return to his artistic practice (among other places, he studied at … Read More
The evolutionary progression of a trend from insightful idea to mature realization is not always easy to retrace. Our current national movement toward supporting “creative placemaking”—or a multifaceted, art-heavy design and planning process for creating pleasurable, attractive, and interesting city spaces—may have had any number of launching pads: the imagined garden-cities of Ebenezer Howard ca. … Read More
Europe – Two ambitious placemaking projects are unfolding on a vast, long-term scale in unconventional cultural landscapes: a disused military park outside Amsterdam and an abandoned amusement park in East Berlin. Both are recent ruins of collapsed political systems, “forbidden zones” whose past uses are still visible, and whose futures are being explored by teams … Read More
From his studio in Germany, Herbert Dreiseitl designs public spaces that explore “the interaction of the individual with his surroundings.” Dreiseitl says he was first inspired to explore placemaking by his work with heroin-addicted youth. “I figured out that the way to reach young people is through their surroundings. The key question to social life … Read More
San José, Calif. – The legendary capital of Silicon Valley, is California’s third largest city and the tenth largest in the United States. It’s home to the corporate headquarters of Adobe, Cisco, and eBay, and major facilities of Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM, and Lockheed Martin. Apple and the Googleplex round out Silicon Valley’s bright lights. Smaller … Read More
Turku, Finland – The tugboat Autere cruised down the Aura River through Turku, Finland’s oldest city and first capital, headed to nearby Ruissalo Island. For “Capsula: Curated Expedition to the Baltic Sea,” our group of two dozen mostly artists and teachers made several stops along the way to see and hear marine-related installations. Here was … Read More
On April 9, 2013, the world lost one of its great minds. Paolo Soleri, the architect, artist, theorist, and counterculture … Read More
Shanghai – The first International Award for Public Art was announced today in Shanghai, China, in the presence of professionals … Read More
New York, NY – Art Production Fund will present Tony Smith’s large-scale One-Two-Three in Bryant Park from March 13th through … Read More
San Francisco, Calif. – On March 5, 2013, at 9 pm PST, Leo Villareal‘s The Bay Lights—the largest LED light … Read More
Months after surviving Hurricane Sandy, the cities of New York and New Jersey continue to come to terms with the … Read More
Derry-Londonderrry, Ireland – As the Northern Ireland city of Derry-Londonderry readies itself to become the first-ever UK “City of Culture” … Read More
World – Thanks to the new ultra short film festival, Art By Chance, you no longer need to go to … Read More
Cornwall, England – As part of the Heartlands project in Cornwall, England, which will transform 19 acres of former tin … Read More
Every year Art on the Underground commissions temporary artworks to enrich the environment, and therefore the experiences of passengers, of … Read More
Collective Action was a Moscow-based group of artists that invited audiences to participate in simple actions, often outdoors. While many … Read More
Every year Art on the Underground commissions temporary artworks to enrich the environment, and therefore the experiences of passengers, of … Read More
When Dan Witz was obtaining his art education at prestigious Cooper Union in the late 1970s, realist painting was like … Read More
In a series of conversations with fifteen individuals, from artists to art historians to “expert participants,” Tom Finkelpearl, executive director … Read More