Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/09/2025

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movement toward a need of art to socially engage a site through community involvement as "art- in-the public interest." Kwon, recognizing the dangers of relinquishing too much of the artist's authority to "community-based"projects noted: This under theorized alliance (between "authoritarian populism" of the right and "democratic populism"/community advocacy on the left for the removal of Tilted Arc) set the stage for identity politics and political debates of the early 1990s. In terms of public art little room was left for bold, ambitious artistic statements that did not engage social issues or the "community." (Kwon 2012, p. 187) In Suzanne Lacy's anthology Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art (1995) she identifies a series of community-based public art events. The works were all specifically designed to address urban issues by appealing to a broad audience that could affect change. This new genre of public art used various means to "to communicate and interact with a broad and varied audience about issues directly relevant to their lives. . ." (Lacy 1995). The works were intentionally interactive and engaged the public in such a manor to raise public consciousness and sought to activate the public (Palmer 2012). The book launched an era of discussion in regard to the form and purpose of public art and the "genre" of public art became part of the art world's vocabulary. Current references to the type of public art may describe it as permanent, temporary, community, performance-based, monumental, memorial, digital, sound, light, or land art. (Palmer 2012). From the late 20St century until today the use of public art has become more integrated with the work of urban planners, landscape architects, and architects. These multi-disciplinary work teams sought to define or redefine public spaces in efforts that were termed place making, image making, or branding. These efforts were geared toward creating aesthetically pleasing and coherent public spaces as part of an urban design plan. Nonetheless, artists typically assumed a subservient role to that of the urban planners and architects in making design 54