News: Research: Current Research - Public Art Practice, Audiences and Impact
An Overview of Current Research into Public Art Practice, Audiences
and Impact
Introduction
Many claims have been made over the last 20 years or so about
the value that artists and public art bring to the design of public
spaces. The main assertions are that public art:
- Enhances the physical environment
- Creates a sense of place and distinctiveness
- Contributes to community cohesion
- Contributes to social health and wellbeing
- Contributes to economic value through inward investment and tourism
- Fosters civic pride and confidence
- Raises quality of life
- Reduces crime
However, until recently, little or no hard evidence was available to back these statements. Very little research had been done into the impact of public art or how artists in design teams were bringing added value and quality to the public realm. The research that did take place tended to be an evaluation of the project process with participants, carried out immediately after project completion, rather than looking at issues over a longer timescale and in a wider context.
In the last three years, things have begun to change. Several substantial pieces of research have been commissioned by leading organisations in the arts and public art field among them ixia, Artpoint Trust, Scottish Arts Council, the regional offices of Arts Council England in the West Midlands and the South East, and Public Art South West. Some of these research projects are completed and the reports have been published, some are nearing completion and some are ongoing.
Not entirely coincidentally, during 2005, ixia (formerly Public Art Forum) was renamed, relaunched and undertook of its purpose and priorities. Its name became ixia - the national think tank for public art practice, and, from being a part time networking organisation, it has refocused as a full-time research based organisation which aims to provide an independent and objective view of the factors that affect the quality of public art. With its first full-time Chief Executive about starting in post in April 2006, ixia is in a good position to be an effective leading voice for public art, working to show how current policies and processes can be further developed to progress the roles of artists within the public realm.
The purpose of this report, at this exciting moment, is to provide a round up of recently completed and current public art research which contributes to the body of knowledge about public art, its processes and impact.
Personal Views: Public Art Research Project (2003)
Professor Doreen Massey and Dr Gillian Rose, Social Sciences
Faculty, The Open University
Commissioned by: Milton Keynes Council
The Personal Views Project used two different methodologies for investigating audience responses to public artworks in Milton Keynes. It combined an artist-led 'soft' research project, which encouraged Milton Keynes residents to look anew at the artwork in their city, with 'hard' academic research investigating questions of place and identity in relation to public art. The project was managed by Artpoint.
Artists Simon Grennan & Chris topher Sperandio were appointed to produce new work that would increase the people of Milton Keynes' engagement with their city's public art with the aim of developing new audiences, raising the profile of public art, and engaging the public creatively in the development of a new art work. Grennan & Sperandio invited residents to write in with their stories - whether fictional or factual - of artworks in Milton Keynes . From these, the artists created a series of comic strips which were published in local newspapers and produced on postcards which were distributed widely.
The brief for the research study asked Professor Doreen Massey and Dr Gillian Rose of the Open University to reflect upon public art in the context of new thinking about place and identity of place. This involved looking at the construction of place and what that might mean for public art, and this, in turn, led to questions about what 'public' might mean and how that is tied to notions of place, of identity and of social diversity.
The report analyses 'place' as an open location where a diverse range of influences meet, a dynamic place created by the ongoing social relationships and negotiations that happen in it between people. The term 'public' is understood as an 'arena' in which many diverse kinds of people can come together and engage, and from which no-one is excluded by poverty, race, gender, sexuality or other personal circumstances. The report concludes that public space depends on what happens in it, what interactions take place to create it. It goes on to argue that identity is not a given based on essential, internal characteristics but is created as a product of interaction with others. Any intervention in a place, be it an object or a set of practices, will make an impact and help to produce that space. The implications of these definitions for public art are then explored in detail.
The report reflects that the definition of public art has been the preserve of artists and cultural theorists, although all definitions assume some kind of interaction from by a public audience. It suggests firstly that the range of practice embraced by public art means that it cannot be treated as a singular entity, and secondly, that the audience or community should be asked to contribute to the definition of the term by asking them how a particular artwork or space affects them or is effective. It goes on to explore three 'dimensions' which affect how public art is perceived by its audience.
The report concludes that the relationship between an artwork and its audience is complex and unique. These relationships change with time, both at different stages of the artwork's planning and production, and as audiences change over time. The definition of public art offered by Prof. Massey and Dr Rose is: For an artwork to be public, it must invite engagement not only from different groups but between them. 'If negotiation between diverse social identities is not invite, then the artwork is not public.'
The full report is available for download at www.artpointtrust.org.uk/projects/details.asp?projects_id=11
Audientia Action Research Project (2003)
Project leader: Anna Douglas, with Sakab Bashir, Emma Chetcuti,
Julia Ellis, Claire Hicks, Emma Hughes, Deborah Jones, Emma Larkinson,
Anne Parouty, David Patten, Jacqui Rodger
Commissioned by: Arts Council England, West Midlands
This project aimed to explore people's relationship to the wealth of
permanent public art situated throughout the city of Birmingham . It
was one of the first research projects nationally to initiate a critical
engagement with the workings of public art through action research.
Anna Douglas led the project, inviting ten people including artists,
art commissioners, policy makers, and urban strategists from the Midlands
to form a 'co-operative inquiry group'. Over nine months, from May 2002,
the group met approximately monthly to discuss the progress of the project
and share their thoughts and perspectives. They each kept a personal
journal throughout the research period and were asked to defined for
themselves - outside of their professional, job personas - their attitude
to, and relationship with, public art. To do this they spent time in
the city observing and recording their own and other people's responses
to public art and place.
After observing the everyday life of the city over several months, the
group was able to recognise the different qualities to experiencing.
They also began to appreciate how public art is part of a competing
visual landscape. They recognised that any consideration of public art
could not overlook the broader context of its existence, including ideas
of time, space, location, memory, associations and expectations. They
concluded that public art sits within a network of geographic, topographical
and social relations.
Each member evolved a thread of inquiry which was pursued through a
special action in the city, for example: a temporary café set
up in Victoria Square in which Kurdish refugees shared tea and cakes
and reminisced about their homeland; a postcard publicly distributed
to passersby in which the public art of Victoria Square had been erased;
a phone line set up to broadcast and record city stories.
The findings of the research project are published on the Audientia
website. Visitors to the site can follow the narratives of each researcher
including their journals and visual and/or aural documentation of each
action, or use the search facility to identify and explore key themes
through the site's smart search facility.
See the research findings at www.audientia.info
Research on Public Art : Assessing Impact and Quality (2005)
OPENspace: the research centre for inclusive outdoor environments,
Edinburgh College of Arts and Heriot-Watt University
Commissioned by: ixia the national think tank for public art
practice
In 2004, ixia commissioned OPENspace: the research centre for inclusive outdoor environments, Edinburgh College of Arts and Heriot-Watt University to undertake an ambitious piece of research with the aim of developing and testing a toolkit for assessing the impact of public art, to be used by the key parties engaged in public art practice. The aim was to provide guidance on impact, to better understand public art practice and promote professional relationships, and to allow consideration of the relationship between impact and quality in respect of context and process.
The research brief envisaged a two stage study:
Stage 1: Mapping the claims made for public art in the context of economic, social, environmental and cultural agendas; Development of measures and indicators in relation to commissioning practice, the partners in the process and delivery and 'afterlife'; Assessment of indicators of quality, possibly related to ambition/vision of a project, process and context; identification of possible public art projects on which to test the toolkit.
Stage 2: The development of an assessment toolkit addressing the criteria emerging from Stage 1; Testing the toolkit in relation to the agreed projects and production of case studies.
The final report on the Stage 1 study, Research on Public Art : Assessing Impact and Quality reveals the complexities of the task, arising largely from the inherent difficulties in defining quality and success in art, the large number and range of partners and their varying perspectives, and the difficulty in measuring economic, social, health, education and social inclusion impacts. OPENspace has developed an evaluation framework that is sensitive to the needs of public art and the nature of public art practice. It is designed to be used by all stakeholders from the outset in order to increase mutual awareness of diverse agendas. This will both help the project to achieve its maximum potential and the project can be appraised using mutually agreeable outcome measures and methods for collecting, analysing and reporting the information.
Two tools have been developed:
a multi dimensional matrix which places the artist and artistic values at the core of the process. It helps to identify partners in the project, the range of possible values which may need to be taken into account to assess quality and impact and for relevant measures and indicators of quality to be identified;
a personal project analysis which can be used at different stages of a project, and which allows the artist and other key players in a project to explore an individual view of the project and their personal relationship with it, in order to understand outcome and impact.
The toolkit was tested for usability and potential usefulness on a small number of projects. The draft report was circulated to professionals in the field and was the subject of a workshop in late 2004 to ensure a useable toolkit. The report includes guidance on using the evaluation framework and assessment toolkit, and concludes with recommendations for full trailling of the toolkit and for long term monitoring and analysis.
Stage 2 of the research is currently in progress, comprising further development of the tools and training to support its use. The second stage of this report will be complete by September 2006.
The Stage 1 report is available for download at
www.ixia-info.com/pdfs/publicartassessingimpactquality.pdf
Further details: ixia, Unit 114, The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AA.
Email: info@ixia-info.com www.ixia-info.com
Evaluation of National Lottery Artists Work in Public Places
Scheme
Roberts, Knight, Leeds Metropolitan University Consultancy
(RKL)
Commissioned by: Scottish Arts Council
In early 2004, The Scottish Arts Council commissioned Roberts, Knight, Leeds Metropolitan University Consultancy (RKL) to undertake an evaluation of the current and past National Lottery schemes funding the work of artists in the public realm. The research brief asked the consultants to:
- Examine how the funding strand to support artists' involvement in the public realm had been used and assess its strengths and weaknesses;
- Establish any common issues across projects;
- Assess a sample of five project case studies for cultural, artistic, social, economic and regenerative impacts, and the quality of involvement of key participants, the quality of process and of the end result, local public perception and legacy issues;
- Estimate current and future demand for funding for public art projects;
- Make broad recommendations for improvements in how the Scottish Arts Council could fund public art work in the future.
In order to produce their final report and recommendations, RKL reviewed the policy context in Scotland, analysed the Scottish Arts Council's file data on all public art projects supported by a Lottery award, consulted with artists and other key players in the public art field, and produced an impact assessment of five representative public art projects: Edinburgh Dental Institute; Royston Road, Glasgow; Dailly Trails, Ayrshire; The Hidden Gardens, Glasgow; and Auchterarder Primary School, Perthshire.
The research report was completed in January 2005. It contains a number of recommendations on the future strategic role in public art of the Scottish Arts Council in relation to partnerships, advocacy, development and dissemination at national level, and support for the infrastructure of public art agencies and consultants. It also proposes how future funding for public art can be targeted to greatest strategic effect, and makes recommendations on future monitoring, evaluation and documentation and other delivery and legacy issues.
The Scottish Arts Council is currently actively considering the recommendations and how it will take them forward, both internally and through partnerships with other organisations. It is consequently delaying publication until it has in place concrete proposals addressing the recommendations in the consultants' report.
The report will be published online at www.scottisharts.org.uk in the very near future.
Further details: Karen Ward Boyd , Capital Department,
Scottish Arts Council.
Email: karen.wardboyd@scottisharts.org.uk
Evaluation of PROJECT -
engaging artists in the built environment
Comedia
Commissioned by: Public Art South West
PROJECT - engaging artists in the built environment is an award scheme managed by Public Art South West (PASW) and funded by partners Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and Arts & Business (A&B). The scheme has provided funding to support the early appointment of artists as conceptualists in the design process and to encourage the formation of partnerships between artists and design professionals to best support the creativity of artists within capital schemes. The scheme reaches the end of its two year pilot scheme on 31 March 2006. The pot of approximately £150,000 per annum has be distributed as about 15 awards ranging from £2,500 to £15,000 (a total of 30 projects in the pilot phase) over six award categories (see www.project-awards.org.uk for further detail).
In mid 2004, as the scheme was launched, PASW commissioned Comedia to undertake independent research which evaluates projects supported by the scheme. The Brief set out the objectives of the research as:
- To build on the recent and current debate on the benefits of public art, and the current research into the value of urban design;
- To establish an evaluation framework based on setting criteria and developing measures which address the following key areas:-
- The processes of artist input into public realm design projects and the relative effectiveness of each.
- The impact of artist input on the design quality, regenerative effect, community viability and commercial effectiveness of projects.
- The long term effects of the exchange of views and practice between artists and design professionals.
- To devise a robust, effective process for collection of data from projects in receipt of awards.
- To produce evidence and conclusions which are relevant to the health, education, housing, community regeneration, development, commercial, private, design, planning and arts sectors.
- To make recommendations about future practice in multidisciplinary collaborations in the public realm.
Comedia has devised a methodology which combines collecting information at the start of a project from the various participants (architect, artist, urban designer, client etc) on their expectations of the project and possible changes to their attitudes and work practice, and similar information on actual changes at the end of the project. In addition all participants have been requested to keep a project journal, a 33% sample of projects have been the subject of detailed interviews with the consultants, and the consultants have attended design team meetings as participant observers for a 17% sample of projects.
It is intended to share the findings of the research and the methodological 'toolkit' widely through the PROJECT website. The final report will be completed by early June 2006 when it will be published at www.publicartonline.org.uk/project/evaluation/index.php
Further details: Joanna Morland, Co-ordinator, PROJECT Evaluation, Public Art South West. Email: joanna@jomorland.f9.co.uk
Art at the Centre Phase II (ongoing)
The General Public Agency
Commissioned by: Arts Council England , South East
Art at the Centre is a scheme to embed the arts and creative practice within regeneration schemes. It was initiated in 1999 in the wake of the Urban Task Force Report, Towards New Urban Regeneration , and was targeted at local authorities, especially those with ideas for town and city centre renewal. In Phase I, Reading, Bicester and Slough were selected to receive awards, with a smaller award to Portsmouth. The focus was to encourage cross departmental working, involve artists in regeneration teams from the outset, undertake community activities relating to regeneration proposals and contribute to public art. Research undertaken by Brighton University at the end of Phase 1 found that the funding from Art at the Centre bought 'a place at the table' for local authority arts departments at the inception of regeneration projects, and that the funding levered in about £20 for every £1 of Arts Council England investment.
Art at the Centre Phase II was launched by Arts Council England, South East in Autumn 2004, and three local authorities, Isle of Wight Council, Maidstone Borough Council and Swale Borough Council, were selected to receive £135,000 each over three years (2005 to 2008) to support a variety of regeneration initiatives. In January 2005, Arts Council England, South East commissioned the General Public Agency to undertake a research study to establish and implement a sophisticated and responsive process for recording and evaluation throughout the three years of the Phase II scheme.
The research brief asks that a regular process of recording is designed to track changes as they happen over the life of the scheme, which can cumulatively be drawn into a narrative for the scheme, and provide a yardstick for the local authorities to track progress against their original aspirations. The research aims to assess impact using both quantitative and qualitative measures in order to evaluate the role and potential of art and artists to impact on future change.
As an outcome of their initial mapping, research and analysis work, General Public Agency proposed a methodology which aims 'to strike a balance between quantitative and narrative approaches, and to address current critical debates surrounding such issues as how to measure impact, what counts as 'success' and who should be involved in evaluating regeneration schemes.' Essentially the project partners will be centrally involved in establishing aims, objectives and targets for each project to ensure relevance and commitment to the process.
The programme includes workshops with the widest range of project partners, one to one interviews with six key individuals per project at key junctures over the project's lifetime and annual cross local authority opportunities for networking and informal support and to share national and international best practice. In addition, a working group with members from each authority and other regional experts will identify a comparable benchmarking project and establish the most appropriate hard data to collect for each project. The evaluation structure for each project was in place by September 2005. Implementation of the Evaluation Plan is now in progress.
In order to share findings, the experience of the artists involved in these projects will be recorded in a blog which is due to go live on www.aatc.org.uk from April 2006. The glossary researched by the General Public Agency (which will feature definitions of key concepts and terms explored as part of the project) will also be published online during Spring 2006.
Further details: Sophie Jeffrey, Art at the Centre,
Arts Council England, South East.
Email: aatc@artscouncil.org.uk;
Tel: 01273 763030 www.aatc.org.uk
Further Information
Ixia, and before it, Public Art Forum, has held a number of conferences and seminars addressing the evaluation of public art, its impact and audiences. Reports or transcripts of the following events are available at www.ixia-info.com/events/pastevents.htm
The Benefits of Public Arts, London, March 2000.
Creative Space : exploring the impact of ART and making places PUBLIC, London, April 2003.
Audience and Place : current research projects exploring impact and identity within public art practice, October 2004.
How was it for you? Assessing Impact of Artists' Practice in the Public Realm, October 2004.
© Copyright Joanna Morland, March 2006