This document discusses perspectives on public art and the per cent for art scheme in Ireland. It touches on several topics: the importance of understanding context for public art commissions; the benefits and challenges of county-based structures for organizing public art; greater ambition and professionalism among artists and commissioners in recent decades; and the need for strong leadership, vision, and support for curatorial processes to successfully realize high quality public art projects. The document advocates for engagement and relationships between artists and commissioners that allow for curatorial direction while navigating institutional systems and cultures.

1. Per Cent for Art Irish Context Threads leading to a personal perspective Sarah Searson 14 October 2011

2. Please open the hyper-link to see a number of video interviews relevant to this presentation http://prezi.com/oaoim69jby-r/copy-of-/

3. I never know why everything gets broken down into categories (eg.public) ...art is art! Dorothy Cross

4. Much wider understanding of Art Practices within the public realm Openness to the potential of the scheme Clarity about understanding Public Art and Per Cent of Art

5. Contexts and Processes for commissioning arereflecting changing environments. Overall developmental approach which is leading toopportunities. Through pooling practice there have been some really exemplary project achieved Failure to pool has resulted in ad hoc and poorer work.

6. Festivals and Events Institutional Commissioning Creative Cities and the “re-imagining” city spaces Self directed Artist driven Cultures As a direct challenge to systems of organisation - the Dock project Galway. Pedagogically practices and reflecting cultures of change within 3rd and 4th level Institutions

8. Organisational Advocacy

9. General diminishing, pressure on structure within organisations.

10. Loss of skilled specialist expertise energy and focus.

11. Budgets – failure to pursue small clusters also failure to release budgets.

12. Guidelines and Policy limbo

15. Arts and education

16. Arts and Inclusion This reflecting context rather than practice. Arts managers and policy makers mediating role of art back into institutions.

19. “Do people want it” “What the public wants the arts council will deliver” Mary Cloake Making the Public Case for the Arts Mary Cloake, Theatre Forum Ireland 2009 Annual Conference in Wexford Opera House, Thursday 11 June. More information: url.ie/​1vre

20. Discourses of the value of the arts Make the arts pivotal in the national crisis High on the National Agenda Jobs National Pride – Reputation of the State Drive an innovation economy

21. Clarity and maturity about creative and commercial impetus within “re-imagining”. If you consider art as a function of either truth telling or mythmaking both have the potential to rattle and challenge to disrupt and disturb / please, to surprise and offer moments of consolation – pause for thought. A strong sensibility here is the key function of those driving the realisation of public art.

22. Wider Cultural Context The Arts Council’s “arm’s length” policy may be severely strained Local Authorities have never been at arms-length – but dependent of the strength of direct management and the vision of a supportive County Manager or Director of Services.

23. Public-ness of Public Art “The rhetoric of an “age of austerity” is being used as a cloak for the privatization of all public services and a reinstatement of class privilege: a sad retreat from the most civilized Keynesian initiatives of the post-war period, in which education, healthcare, and culture were understood to be a democratic right freely available to all.” Claire Bishop

24. Arts Managers confidently and seriously work within the realm of their engagement. – within the often rigid systems that produce opportunity for art making, – there is huge opportunity for excellence in thought and action.

25. The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics Con-Demmed to the Bleakest of Futures: Report from the UK Claire Bishop Critical and Practice Examples www.publicart.ie

26. Strong leadership and vision is integral to each work as is a particular set of values. (Value and the performance of values.) These values need to be negotiated as part of the commissioning process

27. Ambition in curatorial practices and support can bring the sensitivity to navigate context – but also needed is a nuanced understand the processes of artmaking. If work is to be of any worth is rarely directly sited in the interests of organisational rationale. Tension is a necessary component of creative or making processes this is to be taken on – and worked with.

28. The general management of local authorities, state and semi state organisations tends to lean towards systematisation as methodology of transparency. Pushing projects through procurement processes which reflects organisational cultures but going to yield a project akin to those cultures – is this what we want from art project? Engagement must allow for curatorial direction and ambition.

30. Research processes

31. “Fear of the artist” managed.

32. “Fear of the institution” is navigated.

33. Time - five or six year processes.

34. Great focus on team and inter-arts practices

36. Bringing a range of expertise within the sphere of production at an early stage