Guidelines for public art delivery

These guidelines provide practical implementation processes involved in identifying and commissioning original works of art across a range of art form types and municipal contexts in response to the objectives established in Part A – Vision of this strategy.

A key recommendation made in Part A is for the development of a Public Art Priority Plan for the municipality to establish future directions and guide growth of Council’s collection of artworks in public places for a period up to ten years. The plan would be developed by the Arts & Culture Department in consultation with the Public Art Working Group (PAWG) the Public Art Advisory Group (PAAG) and relevant Council departments and will consider strategic opportunities including: Council’s Capital Works Program; related Council activities and major events; Federal and State Government funding opportunities; community programs; as well as locations; and potential audiences.

The priority plan will help to ensure that the City of Greater Geelongs Collection of artworks in public places remains focussed on the strategy’s vision and relevant to community interests whilst building on the municipality’s reputation for cultural excellence and diversity.

An annual review of the priority plan would be conducted by the Arts & Culture Department in collaboration with relevant departments to monitor progress in the delivery of the strategy objectives and to set out the program of activities for the coming year. It would detail actions that can be budgeted for and delivered by Council staff or in collaboration with external partners.

Guideline Area 1: Public art planning

This section provides two process matrixes to assist the identification of potential public art project.

• Opportunity matrix - proposes a method for establishing project types and regional priorities.

• Process matrix - aligns project types with appropriate processes and approval levels.

Guideline Area 2: Indicative commissioning process

This section provides a range of process charts that outline recommended commissioning process for the following options:

• Council initiated stand alone projects

• Council initiated integrated projects

• non-Council initiated projects.

Guideline Area 3: Community benefit assessment

This section addresses potential approaches to the review and assessment of the art in public places programme and individual projects.

Guideline Area 4: Moral rights

This section provides a discussion on issues to do with an artist’s moral rights as defined by the Copyright Act and how these rights apply to the alteration relocation or removal of an artwork.

Guideline Area 5: Asset management

This section outlines a range of approaches to the ongoing ownership and maintenance of Council’s collection of art in public places as a valuable Council asset.

Guideline Area 1: Public art planning

Opportunities matrix

The following matrix is proposed to aid discussions regarding the most appropriate or likely locations for the different public art typologies. For example it is more likely although not exclusively that artist initiated interventions will take place in inner city environments than in a suburban location.

The rating system of High Medium and Low is provided as a guide only and acknowledges that these ratings may change over time and in particular circumstances.

[H – High] [M – Medium] [L – Low]

Process matrix

The following matrix is provided as an overview of the process variations between the different public art typologies. As can be seen by these comparisons projects associated with permanent artworks the integrated and stand alone categories have the highest management involvement of all five categories. This is partly due to the issue of permanence but is mainly a result of the high profile nature of such work and the scrutiny these projects will come under. On the other hand projects initiated by artists will require minimal involvement of Council other than gaining approvals for the artist to create their work in the designated public space.

Guideline Area 2: Indicative commissioning process

Council initiated stand alone projects

Permanent stand alone public art projects require the highest level of management and approvals at all stages. Due to the individual nature of the work they often attract significant attention throughout the process and as a result require regular staged reviews and approval points. Approvals are particularly important at the concept review Stage 3 Phase 2 in the chart below where it is likely there will be three artists developing concept ideas in a limited competition therefore the Public Art Advisory Group will have to review the three concepts and make a recommendation for a preferred concept to go into design development.

The model below also recommends that a Public Art Technical Review Group (PATRG) comprising officers with expertise in public risk and maintenance [where necessary supporting conservation advice should be included] be provided with an opportunity to review the preferred concept during the design development phase to ensure that any technical issues are resolved prior to the final commission contract being signed.

Acronyms:

PAO –Public Art Officer

PAAG – Public Art Advisory Group

PAWG – Public Art Working Group

PATRG – Public Art Technical Review Group

Guideline Area 2: Indicative commissioning process

Council initiated integrated projects

Public art integrated into capital works projects can benefit from a slightly simpler processes than that applied to a stand alone project in that a direct engagement rather than a limited competition can be used. In the case of a direct engagement a single artist is selected to develop concepts in order that he or she can work directly with the project design team in order to achieve a truly integrated outcome.

Public Art Working Group [PAWG] will be responsible for review and approval of identified opportunities to integrate public art into Council’s capital works projects. Where public art projects are to be integrated into projects managed by Capital Projects the Public Art Officer [PAO] will provide assistance in order to ensure the artworks are aesthetically and conceptually appropriate and efficiently delivered. In addition the Public Art Technical Review Group [PATRG] will provide advice relating to public safety and asset management issues throughout the commissioning process.

The following chart outlines the involvement of the PAO PAWG and PATRG in support of the Capital Projects project manager.