Policies/Guidance: Strategies: Essex County Council

This strategy is reproduced by kind permission of Essex County Council.

ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL PUBLIC ART STRATEGY

[Established in March 2000]

A]. Essex Public Art Policy Statement

Essex County Council will encourage the provision of new works of visual art and craft as an integral part of all building projects and environmental improvement schemes, public or private, within the County.

B]. Essex Public Art Code of Practice

1. Artists will be employed within Essex County Council capital projects in four main ways:

To work with the design teams, providing an artistic dimension and an enhancement to the whole design process, related to integrating art into external and interior design features, landscaping, lighting, etc.
To work with local communities in developing ideas and actual artworks that can be integrated into capital building works À thereby involving local people in the process of creating their own environment and bringing about a better sense of ownership and pride in their locality.
To create artworks of high quality which have a major impact on public spaces and contribute to the County's heritage.
To boost community involvement through a range of artistic activities.

2. In addition, Essex County Council will encourage all public and private sector developments related to the disposal of land or the requirement of planning permission [including new building, rehabilitation, restoration and external landscape work] to include the concept of integrating art within their schemes of work when preparing their proposals.

3. The artistic input should be considered at the earliest stage of a development. Artists should be involved in the creation of development proposals as a member of the design team and will be expected to develop their work in collaboration with the local community and users of the public building/site.

4. The type of public artworks commissioned may include the following categories:

A].   Functional artworks for use in the design of the environment [seats, gates, flooring, fences, arches, etc.].

B].   Decorative artworks [mosaic floors, wall murals, stained glass windows, textile hangings, photography, sculpture and paintings, etc.].

C].   Artist residencies [leading to the creation of artworks, exhibitions or photographic records, etc.].

5. The selection of artists and crafts persons should be made against clear criteria based on the objectives of the commission. According to the nature of the Project, one of five main methods of recruitment should be used:

A].    Open submission . Opportunities would be advertised nationally or locally and applications sought from artists.

B].    Limited submission . A short list of artists would be drawn from the Essex Register of Public Artists and/or by recommendation and either paid to produce proposals [from which the final artist/s would be selected] or invited to interview.

C].    Direct invitation . Artist/s would be approached directly and invited to undertake the commission/s.

D].    Artist-led . Artist/s would initiate the idea for the commission/s themselves.

E].    Purchase of contemporary work . Artworks would be purchased direct from the studio or gallery or from open/limited submission.

6. The final choice of artist/s to be commissioned should be the responsibility of the commissioning agent or developer, but they should be encouraged to seek advice and assistance from the Essex Public Art Strategy Group and to involve and consult the local community.

7. Any artwork commissioned should be of a high quality and represent good value for money. Artists and crafts persons should be paid at professional rates, appropriate to the commission. The commissioner/developer will be responsible for the proper maintenance, repair and conservation of the work of art or craft commissioned by them and should ensure that any subsequent owner also accepts this responsibility.

8. Normal high standards of design and finish in the development should not be considered as an adequate substitute for unique pieces of work produced by professional artists.

9. Commissioned artworks should be accessible to the whole community and in public view wherever feasible.

Essex Public Art Strategy Group

This cross-directorate Group is responsible for co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Essex Public Art Strategy.

Contact Point:

Isabelle Lines-Slatter
Public Art team Leader
Improvement Action & Urban Design Branch
Essex County Council
County Hall
Chelmsford , Essex CM1 1QH

Tel: 01245 437521

E-mail: ilines@essexcc.gov.uk

Web site: www.essexcc.gov.uk/visarts

Additional Information:

Essex Public Art Strategy

Decisions made by the Cabinet Meeting, 18 February 2002

1. Finance for Public Art

Up to 1% of the finance of all Essex County Council capital projects is to be for public art. This will be implemented in relation to the 2004/05 capital programme onwards. It will be achieved by identifying a public art budget in relation to each Essex County Council capital project.

2. Public Art in Essex Awards

Annual 'Public Art in Essex Awards' will be started in 2002/03, with:

One award to the best ëinternal' public art project commissioned by Essex County Council.
One award to the best ëexternal' public art project commissioned within the County of Essex by a district/borough, educational establishment, NHS Trust, commercial company or other organisation.

3. Public Art Strategy Group

An ECC member will be nominated to join the Essex Public Art Strategy Group.

4. Five-Point Public Art Action Plan

A 5-point Public Art Action Plan will be implemented through the work of the Essex Public Art Strategy Group, by which public art in Essex can be further developed for the benefit of Essex people within the aims of the Essex Approach ñ making Essex a better place to live and work:

Action 1: To widen public art practice across all Essex County Council capital projects:

By establishing a target of up to 1% of all ECC capital project expenditure for the integration of public art into their schemes.
By providing specialist advice and support to all such schemes through the work of the Public Art Strategy Group.
By widening and strengthening the membership of the Public Art Strategy Group.

Action 2: To imbed public art into regeneration and enterprise projects within Essex :

By prioritising public art activity into environmental improvements in the Thames and Haven Gateways, the Stansted/M11 and A12/Great Eastern corridors and in Rural Essex.
Through the integration of public art in specific regeneration projects [e.g., Colne Harbour in Colchester ].
Through major high profile projects such as the new Firstsite Gallery in Colchester and the 'Coast Project'.
By incorporating public art into marketing initiatives related to building a positive image of Essex as a great place to live and working with Essex Planning Officers Association.
Through advocacy, advice and training on Essex-wide and district/borough levels.

Action 3: To ensure that there is effective and efficient management of public art projects in line with Best Value:

By involving local communities and particularly young people directly in the development and implementation of public art projects.
Through the use of guidelines and standard contracts across all ECC public art schemes.
Through the County-wide use of data capturing systems for public art projects, as developed by Cultural Services.
By developing performance indicators for good public art practice, linked to the Essex Impact of the Arts project.
By liaising with regional, national and international agencies and organisations concerned with public art and by examining examples of good practice outside Essex .

Action 4: To disseminate good practice on a county, regional, national and international basis:

By encouraging the integration of public art in Essex capital projects funded by districts/boroughs and private developers.
By documenting and publishing examples of good public art practice in printed form and on the ECC website.

Action 5: To attract external funding through grants and business sponsorship thereby maximising on the County's investment in public art:

Through grant applications, for example to Arts Lottery and European funding schemes.
By encouraging investment form businesses, wherever possible matched by grants for the Arts in Business 'New Partners' Scheme.