Videos
2023 Public Art Challenge
After receiving applications from 154 cities across 40 states, eight winners were selected for the third Public Art Challenge to execute their projects over the next two years: Atlanta, Georgia, Baltimore, Maryland, Honolulu, Hawaii, Houston, Texas, Orlando, Florida, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phoenix, Arizona, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
2018 Public Art Challenge
The 2018 Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge invited U.S. cities with 30,000 residents or more to apply to develop temporary public art projects that enrich their local communities.
Anchorage, AK – SEED Community
The City of Anchorage partnered with the Anchorage Museum on SEED Lab, a vacant building transformed into an incubator and convening space for artists, designers, and community members to create projects addressing climate change, immigration, and indigenous issues.
Addressing Climate Change
Camden, NJ – A New View
The City of Camden transformed 6 illegal dumping sites into venues for public art alongside major transportation hubs, including highways, railways, and bike paths, to increase civic pride and improve perception of the city to the 65,000 people traveling through Camden daily.
Using Portraiture to Display Camden’s Unsung Heroes
Using Art to Break Down Styrofoam Waste
Transforming Plastic Bottles into Art
Transforming Illegal Dumping Sites into Art
Coral Springs, FL – The Power of Art
The City of Coral Springs and Parkland, Florida partnered with the Coral Springs Museum of Art to help their communities heal following the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“Temple of Time”
“Temple of Time” Installation
Jackson, MS – Improving Access to Healthy Food
The City of Jackson proposes a city-wide exhibition with installations and performances to promote dialogue and inform policy related to food access. Installations and performances that explore food sovereignty, nutrition, domestic hunger, and the agrarian landscape will be deployed across areas of the city experiencing food access issues.
Public Art Inspires Change in Jackson
Tulsa, OK – Greenwood Art Project
The City of Tulsa proposes a public art project that celebrates a vibrant community in the Historic Greenwood District known as Black Wall Street. Comprised of black-owned businesses that emerged in the early 20th century, in 1921, Black Wall Street was subject to both racially motivated attacks and destructive urban renewal projects in the 1950s. A team of artists will develop artwork that deepens the collective understanding of the Greenwood story.
The Loss and Legacy of Black Wall Street
2015 Public Art Challenge
The 2015 Public Art Challenge winning cities’ projects spurred communities to work together to advance solutions to critical urban problems.
Highlights from the 2015 Winning Projects
Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, NY
Through a collaborative effort, the cities of Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY transformed vacant buildings across the NY capital region into an art installation by placing pulsing light panels in the windows. Artist Adam Frelin, architect Barbara Nelson, and more than 75 community and private sector partners, came together to bring the installation and a series of related public programming to life from September 30 – November 30, 2016. This consortium culminated the project in April 2017 with a regional summit on vacant homes and abandoned buildings for local residents, prospective buyers and investors, and policymakers.
“Breathing Lights” Documentary Part 1
“Breathing Lights” Documentary Part 2
Gary, IN
ArtHouse: A Social Kitchen, which opened in November 2016, is a partnership between artist Theaster Gates and the City of Gary, IN to create a civic center that features commissioned works of visual art, offers culinary training and business development workshops, and provides cultural programming that uses food as a medium for community engagement.
“ArtHouse: A Social Kitchen” Documentary Part 1
“ArtHouse: A Social Kitchen” Documentary Part 2
Los Angeles, CA
CURRENT:LA Water, the City of Los Angeles’ first public art biennial (July 16 – August 14, 2016), included 15 multidisciplinary works of art sited in parks and public spaces along the Los Angeles River, touching all 15 city council districts. Each of the 13 artists involved created artwork that responded to the importance of water and of critical issues related to conservation, ecology and drought.
“CURRENT: LA Water” Documentary Part 1
“CURRENT: LA Water” Documentary Part 2
Spartanburg, SC
With the goal of improving police-community relations and creating safer, more vibrant public spaces, the city of Spartanburg, SC worked with artist Erwin Redl on Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light. Redl collaborated with the City’s police and fire departments, along with neighborhood associations, to design and develop engaging light and media art installations that touched 10 neighborhoods across the City from Oct 4, 2016 – April 30, 2017.
“Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light” Documentary Part 1
“Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light” Documentary Part 2
Announcements
2022 Public Art Challenge Application Announcement
2022 Public Art Challenge Finalist Announcement
2018 Public Art Challenge Announcement
2018 Public Art Challenge Finalist Announcement
2015 Public Art Challenge Winning Cities Announcement