Understanding the urban artscape

Visual art is in itself a very broad concept, so as an attempt to narrow my focus I wish to research
public art (not private collecting/exchange and privately funded museums). Public art may include
any permanent or temporary artwork either commissioned by public organizations or supported with
public funding.

Modern cities are often very dependent on public displays of art to convey a unique identity and
enhance the aesthetic value of the urban environment. Visual artists are thus essential in the
production of a city, and the presence of a vibrant artistic milieu usually makes cities much more
attractive to tourists, high-skilled workers, and investors (Florida, 2005). The value of artists has not
gone unnoticed as city authorities often seek to integrate artists into their city branding campaigns.
In the neoliberal city cultural planning often steers towards a profitable art scene, but how much
autonomy do the artists themselves have? And do the artists reap a fair share of the reward? What I
wish to study is whether artist must compromise their artistic interests when working within a public
framework, and how artists themselves view the confinements they work within (such as expensive
rent for working spaces). As noted by Chang (2008), ‘‘seldom is art created, commissioned, and
installed in public spaces unfettered by utilitarian demands”. Being a publicly funded artist or art
institution involves negations that may not or may not lead to a desirable outcome for the artists.

For my part in the CICERONE-project I wish to study either an artistic environment, such as a small-
scale museum or a so-called “creative neighborhood”, or an ongoing project. By engaging with the
artists involved in either a specific environment or a project, I hope to be able to sketch out some of
the opportunities and challenges artists experience when working within the framework of public
funding. As a preliminary assumption, I imagine artists in Amsterdam to struggle with finding and
keeping rented spaces in a highly pressured housing market. Other topics might arise when
interviewing artists, so I wish to keep an open mind on what might be most important to them.

Based on this approach I imagine some research questions could be:

- How is value exchanged and captured when it comes to publicly financed art project? (How
do you measure value in other ways than monetary?)
- How can labour conditions for artists in cities be improved?

If anyone has any suggestions for ongoing art projects, museums, or other creative environments
that I could get in touch with, I would be very happy to look into it!
Florida. R (2005). Cities and the Creative Class. New York: Routledge.

Chang, T. (2008). Art and soul: powerful and powerless art in Singapore. Environment and Planning
40(8), 1921–1943.