Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy

by Harriet F. Senie (Editor), Sally Webster (Editor)

In this groundbreaking anthology, twenty-two artists, architects, historians, critics, curators, and philosophers explore the role of public art in creating a national identity, contending that each work can only be understood by analyzing the context in which it is commissioned, built, and received. They emphasize the historical continuum between traditional works such as Mount Rushmore, the Washington Monument, and the New York Public Library lions, in addition to contemporary memorials such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Names Project AIDS Quilt. They discuss the influence of patronage on form and content, isolate the factors that precipitate controversy, and show how public art overtly and covertly conveys civic values and national culture.

Complete with an updated introduction, Critical Issues in Public Art shows how monuments, murals, memorials, and sculptures in public places are complex cultural achievements that must speak to increasingly diverse groups.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Erin]

Critical Issues in Public Art is a wonderfully compiled survey about the history and status of public art in America. I really enjoyed the grouping of essays by theme, and how it didn't focus on only 1 type of public art. I also appreciate the organization of the essays from the physical construction of monuments to the philosophical ideas of what it the public and how it is public art.

Even though it took my 5 years to finished, Critical Issues in Public Art was enlightening and I recommend this volume to anyone with an interest in public art. In my defense, I work full time and was reading this for pleasure rather than assignment.

[Donatellia Austin]

Although slightly outdated, this book offers a wide variety of subjects and discussions about public art to ease someone into the complexities of public art.
Much of the work offers insight into our own historical past as well as our current relationship with public art as Americans.

[Izetta Autumn]

Finally! This book took me awhile to finish. I suppose it could be considered an academic text. I found it informative and at times quite interesting, but on the whole very dry. Many of the short essays which make up the book were written in a style that did not serve to truly explain or outline public art. The essays I appreciated the most included piecces by Dolores Hayden, Danielle Rice, Donna Graves, and Seitu Jones.

[Britt C]

Good source for an introduction into Public Art and how to approach it. For someone who doesn't have an Art History degree (or Art Ed or anything art-related), it was a good way to ease into a semester worth of Museums and Society.