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
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
To visit the Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim(CACI) in Brumadinho in the hills of the Brazilian hinterland is an act of committed art pilgrimage. Located about 40 miles from Brazil’s third largest city, Belo Horizonte, this utopian private gallery and museum for Brazilian and international artists is composed of open-air artwork, rare fauna, and a … Read More
Nairobi, Africa – Smart public practice moves artists, not artwork. When a friend in New York moved to Nairobi for the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), I was intrigued. With support from Art Matters Inc., United States Artists, and my friend David, I went to Africa in October 2011 to research and develop an understanding … Read More
Toronto, Canada – Toronto is a progressive city that embraces a multicultural identity with a vital urban center. Dubbed “the best kept secret of the western world,” the city has a strong public art history. Toronto boasts many public art claims to fame, like Mountain (1995), Anish Kapoor’s first commission in North America; The Audience … Read More