The Power of Public Art
By Brandon Bartling
Imagine the world without some of its iconic pieces of public art. No Cloud Gate sculpture (The Bean) in Chicago’s Millennium Park. No Charging Bull on Wall Street. No Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island or Mount Rushmore in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
The world suddenly becomes a far less interesting place.
Omaha included.
Art is everywhere throughout the Omaha metro, home to more than 370 sculptures, murals, statues and more. It graces UNO’s campus, too — the Castle of Perseverance outside the Weber Fine Arts Building; the Waterworks sculpture behind the Peter Kiewit Institute; the Black Twist sculpture near the Durham Science Center; and the Maverick Monument outside the H&K Building.
Robert Blair, a professor of public administration and the director of urban studies at UNO, says public art can transform an area into a gathering place.
“That has happened in South Omaha and North Omaha,” Blair says. He points to works on South 24th Street, which include the Tree of Life and three illuminated towers celebrating South Omaha’s heritage.
“In my view, it has helped create a cultural identity for that part of the community, reflecting on its history and residents,” Blair says.
Public art can also benefit a community’s perception or reputation. David Helm, professor of studio art at UNO, teaches a course on “Art in Public Places.” Students learn about creating public art and what makes a piece successful. He points to a book, “The Rise of the Creative Class,” by social economist Richard Florida to illustrate how outside-the-box thinking can help economic prosperity for cities willing to take risks.
“The idea of the book was to figure out what you could do in a city that would stop the brain drain — stop the kids from going through college and leaving the state or leaving the city,” Helm says.
One of those techniques: make a community more creative through the installation of public art.
“It sends an interesting signal … Primarily the function would be to say, ‘This is a creative, forward-thinking community that’s interested in ideas and the freedom of expression.’”
He mentions the numerous pieces around the CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha (one of which, he created through a partnership with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and Valmont Industries); the Fertile Ground mural across from TD Ameritrade Park; and, the Pioneer Courage Park sculptures near the First National Bank tower.
However, an investment in public art requires more than simply commissioning art and dropping it somewhere. Public art needs to be thoughtfully implemented.
Helm drives that message home to his students by asking them to take concepts most people understand and combine or place them in different interesting contexts. He believes these contexts, combined with the subject matter and depth of each piece, determine whether a public art installation is successful.
“It’s not art unless it has content,” he said. “It can be design, but it can’t be art.”
With public art, placement can be just as important to consider as its content.
“Public art can be a source of pride in a community. It can help create its identity, especially when it is in a public place.”