An analysis of Public Art on University campuses: policies, procedures, and best practices.

Abstract

This study investigated the policies, procedures, and practices of public art programs on the campuses of research institutions with very high activity as defined by the Carnegie Classification. From this particular type of institution, 55 of the 96 public art administrators provided their opinions, attitudes, and behaviors as part of the "Public Art on Campus Survey." As a result of the data received and analyzed, a clearer picture has emerged regarding the diversity and complexity of public art programming within this specific type of university landscape. Results indicated a wide range of definitions of what constituted public art, which in part, explains the large variance in numbers of items classified as public art. Statistical tests indicated many benefits experienced by institutions that included public art on campus as part of their articulated institutional master plan. Statistically significant as a group, master plan public art programs experienced an increased frequency of public art on campus, increased funding sources, and increased and on-going budget allocations dedicated to maintaining and restoring public art on campus. This comparative analysis indicated no difference between public and private institutions or between the categories of institutions operating in percent for art states and those that do not operate in a percent for art state. There are three major implications indicated from this research of public art on university campuses. First, public art programs that are considered as part of its institutional master plan intensely infuse public art on campus as part of the university life. Secondly, public art programming that is part of their institutional master plan operate as a strategic initiative that provided a democratic shield for university administrators and decision makers. Thirdly, public art on campus programs that reported being part of an institutional master plan promoted the continuous alignment of aims, goals, and objectives through the processes of strategic planning and program evaluation. Public art on campus is the physical embodiment of institutional missions and largely contributes to the creation and maintenance of the places where the community can learn, live, and dialogue within an environment rich in meaning. Public art on campus celebrates the search for knowledge, while promoting the free exchanges of ideas. The phenomena of public art on campus can no longer be ignored.