Public Art and Planning: Collaboration in Public Space

The Association of Public Art, established in 1872, was the nation’s first public art organization. It has been civic-minded since its inception, and its history is intertwined with important planning efforts in Philadelphia.

Today, as both the public art and planning fields reassess how public spaces serve communities, they share the challenge to redefine public spaces as not only accessible, but also welcoming and comfortable to a diverse population. Questioning monuments and reevaluating common spaces — aspects of our national racial reckoning — require collaboration between the two design fields in order to move closer to inclusive design and diverse and representative public art collections. For planners, starting with more inclusive public engagement will help the resulting public spaces be inviting to everyone.

Consider these challenges as the tour moves through prominent civic spaces such as the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the area around City Hall. The focus is on recent and historic installations, increased accessibility to art through innovative programming, virtual tools, and the piecemeal transformation of early 20th-century civic spaces into spaces relevant to contemporary communities.