The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) was the second U.S. city to adopt a percent for art program in 1973. As the city has grown and expanded so too has the public art program and the Office itself. One current goal of the public art program is to address historic and current institutional racism, or at the very least the paucity of artists of color working in the public realm. Beyond fixing public education at its most basic level and addressing economic disparity there are steps that a local arts agency can take to train and help the next generation of public artists. We have been tackling this problem through capacity building.

 

In 2003 ARTS created our first public art training project known as the Emerging Public Artists Roster program, designed to introduce regional artists to the idea and practice of public art. In 2015 we transformed the program into Public Art Boot Camp, but this time the goal was to advance racial equity by centering artists of color and providing them the information and experience they needed to enter the niche world of public art.

 

ARTS staff focused the program on artists of color because public art and the art world overall are predominately white; in administration, policy, and art making. In order to advance racial equity in Seattle’s public art program, we needed to provide training and opportunities to artists of color who otherwise aren’t able to access the same knowledge and resources. We conducted four Public Art Boot Camps from 2015 through 2018, training 162 artists, 81 of whom were of color. In addition to the training we also provided boot camp participants the opportunity to apply for a temporary art commission, giving these artists their first experience and commission in public art.

 

Since then, these artists have continued to produce work and expand the role of art, community, and identity in the public realm.

The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) was the second U.S. city to adopt a percent for art program in 1973. As the city has grown and expanded so too has the public art program and the Office itself. One current goal of the public art program is to address historic and current institutional racism, or at the very least the paucity of artists of color working in the public realm. Beyond fixing public education at its most basic level and addressing economic disparity there are steps that a local arts agency can take to train and help the next generation of public artists. We have been tackling this problem through capacity building.

 

In 2003 ARTS created our first public art training project known as the Emerging Public Artists Roster program, designed to introduce regional artists to the idea and practice of public art. In 2015 we transformed the program into Public Art Boot Camp, but this time the goal was to advance racial equity by centering artists of color and providing them the information and experience they needed to enter the niche world of public art.

 

ARTS staff focused the program on artists of color because public art and the art world overall are predominately white; in administration, policy, and art making. In order to advance racial equity in Seattle’s public art program, we needed to provide training and opportunities to artists of color who otherwise aren’t able to access the same knowledge and resources. We conducted four Public Art Boot Camps from 2015 through 2018, training 162 artists, 81 of whom were of color. In addition to the training we also provided boot camp participants the opportunity to apply for a temporary art commission, giving these artists their first experience and commission in public art.

 

Since then, these artists have continued to produce work and expand the role of art, community, and identity in the public realm.