Association for Public Art (aPA)

Acquire and commission Public Art: the Association for Public Art (apa) is dedicated to creating opportunities for artists to respond to the issues of our time, while redefining Public space and encouraging Public engagement and interaction. A recipient of the national Public Art network award from the americans for the arts (afta), the apa is recognized for its innovative contributions, exemplary commitment, and leadership in Public Art. Fy 2023 began with a wrap-up of apa's 150th anniversary commemorations. During our anniversary year apa's projects and programs were aligned with our strategic plan and centered around a celebration of the founding of the apa in 1872, based upon the four mission-driven areas to commission and acquire, preserve, interpret and promote Public Art in philadelphia. During this time apa assembled and distributed an illustrated 150-year history commemorative booklet, created an on-line store with artist designed limited edition 150th anniversary memorabilia, and presented a virtual speaker series featuring four presentations by conservators, curators, and an artist. Kicking off cy 2023, apa launched a free digital archive of the organization's historic minute books and annual reports and relocated its offices including an expansion of in-house storage space in consultation with a conservation center advisor. The loan of maren hassinger's "steel bodies" sculpture exhibition from socrates sculpture park brought fresh perspectives to the ellen phillips samuel memorial, and the passing of the torch from long-time apa executive director penny bach to seasoned Public Art and culture world professional charlotte cohen who began a transition to new leadership at the apa.over the course of fy 2023, the apa's outdoor sculpture conservation maintenance program celebrated forty-one years of continuous operation and received a prestigious award from the preservation alliance. Interpretive efforts included two Public workshops, on-site drawing series, and an artist talk for the "steel bodies" exhibition, and four Public Art tours in collaboration with local cultural organizations.150th commemorative materials: on the occasion of its 150th anniversary, the apa engaged aaj design to create a commemorative booklet filled with images of the organization's most significant work over the years, released at the beginning of fy 2023 and widely distributed gratis to many individuals and entities. The apa additionally opened its first on-line store in order to offer limited edition anniversary memorabilia, including totes and t-shirts featuring a re-issued design by artist barbara kruger originally used for its landmark 1987 national Public Art conference "Public Art in america '87." The apa also commissioned local artist manny hernandez to provide a t-shirt design inspired by kruger's artwork.150th interpretive programs: as part of apa's 150th anniversary celebrations, the Public was invited to explore the Art, architecture, history and landscape of the benjamin franklin parkway which utilized a wireless audio tour system. The walking tour series was organized in partnership with local historian (and apa trustee) kenneth finkel, Art historians david brownlee and naomi nelson, and landscape architect (and apa trustee) susan weiler. Additionally, other anniversary events included a free-of-charge virtual speaker series "insights: the future of Public Art, organized to bring together contemporary Art leaders to reflect on conservation, promoting Public Art, and working in the Public realm. Speakers included tatti Art conservation, curators valerie cassel oliver and hamza walker, and artist karyn olivier. The talks were also posted on youtube for further reference.archives digitization project: in early fy 2023 apa launched the apa digital archive (searchable historic minute books, annual report, and images dating from 1871 - 1981). The digitized material is available through a specially designed portal on apa's website. As the only source of its kind, the apa's historic minute book and annual report collection is the first digital archive to offer a searchable history of the beginnings of the Public Art field in the u.s. The original historic minute books were sent to join the apa's archives at the historical society of Pennsylvania to round out the organization's other primary source material located there.office relocation: the apa relocated its offices at the beginning of the calendar year. The new quarters include additional dedicated office space for staff and building storage space, and significant expansion of the in-house archives room (which had outgrown its existing space). Planning for the archives room was done in consultation with an advisor from the conservation center.steel bodies exhibition: in partnership with socrates sculpture park in ny, the apa brought artist maren hassinger's "steel bodies" exhibition to the ellen phillips samuel memorial for a temporary installation from june 12 - november 12, 2023. Part of an ongoing effort to reimagine the site, hassinger's evocative sculptures offered a restorative and inspiring message of shared and active humanity. It was the first contemporary Public Art exhibition at the memorial and the artist's first outdoor sculpture exhibition in philadelphia. The opening reception was combined with apa's 151st annual meeting, and included remarks by the artist. Messaging & land acknowledgement: during fy 2023 apa continued to reflect on the ongoing racial justice movement and promote equity, diversity, and inclusiveness-a directive in our strategic plan. In addition to the apa's position statement expressing black lives matter solidarity and support, ongoing efforts include examining and auditing our website, developing appropriate messaging strategies, and updating our social media guidelines, interpretive materials, programs, commissions, and civic responsibilities. Working with the board, local institutions and the new york based lenape center, apa developed and released a living land acknowledgement for Public Art in philadelphia which is posted on our website, presented at Public programs, and incorporated into the approach to our work.new leadership: completing apa's 150th anniversary year, long-time executive director penny bach announced her retirement at the end of december 2022 after forty-plus years at the helm of the apa, positioning the organization to transition to new leadership in the new year. In august 2023 veteran Public Art professional and cultural leader charlotte cohen began her tenure as the apa's second official executive director. Shortly following her appointment, ms. cohen was asked to serve on the transition subcommittee for the new city mayoral administration, as were two apa trustees.

Interpret and promote Public Art: Public Art is available to people in the course of their daily lives, and apa's "museum without walls" is open all day and all night. By this very definition our audience is large and diverse and includes all age groups, as well as pedestrians, motorists, bicyclists and runners.interpretation: to interpret and promote Public Art, apa's museum without walls: audio program features participants from all walks of life, including artists, educators, curators, scientists, writers, historians, civic leaders and family members - "authentic voices" all with personal connections to the sculptures. This content-rich program is approached through a variety of platforms: on the street by cell phone, audio download, smart phone app, and on a dedicated website as streaming audio and audio slideshows. During fy 2023, the program was further developed, adding to the number of sculptures, voices, stops and interpretive signage. Museum without walls: audio now features over eighty stops with more than 196 voices discussing the sculptures. Additions in 2023 included an audio program for maren hassinger's temporary installation of "steel bodies" (2022), and audio production work for apa's commission by pepon osorio's "i have a story to tell you" located at congreso de latinos unidos in north philadelphia.public programs & events: the apa offers Public programs in partnership with other organizations. The apa continued to develop its robust offering of "deep-dive" material, cross promote programs, provide Public Art tours and talks, as well as deliver its first year of programming under the newly created learning and engagement manager staff position.the apa produced a variety of Public programs related to the "steel bodies" exhibition. These included "vessels in clay," a community workshop in partnership with the clay studio; "printed vessel," a family workshop at the oval for the parkway council; a talk with artist maren hassinger at the tyler school of Art & architecture; and a "drawing Public Art" series in collaboration with the fleisher Art memorial at the exhibition site. Other Public programs included two walking tours, "Public Art, landmarks and "transformations" along the schuylkill river held in partnership with the preservation alliance, and "historic rittenhouse" for rittenhouse square offered in conjunction with the historical society of Pennsylvania. In coordination with the city's office of arts, culture and the creative economy and the planning commission, apa conducted a Public Art bus tour for the american planning Association's national npc23 conference in philadelphia, as well as providing a presentation about the history of the benjamin franklin parkway in collaboration with the design workshop for that event. Social media: the apa leverages digital media to enhance our outreach and engagement efforts and continues to utilize technology to increase our organizational capacity. We have developed a comprehensive social media strategy and maintain an active presence on facebook, instagram, youtube, and vimeo. Through interactive posts, we encourage discussions and engagement around Public Art, sharing exclusive content, including historic images and information from our archives, lesser-known Public Art stories, and educational content about Art conservation. The apa's responsive website designed by the award-winning firm bluecadet, received a silver award for design from the national academy of interactive and visual arts, and was nominated for a "webby" award from the international academy of digital arts and sciences. In fy 2023 discussions began with bloomberg philanthropies for inclusion in bloomberg connects, the free arts and culture app highlighting 450+ cultural organizations worldwide.

Preserve Public Art: the apa's collections management agenda for 2023 celebrated forty-one years of continuous operation, and included outdoor sculpture conservation, special conservation treatments, landscape conservation, donations and deaccessions, and the digitization of apa's historic archives.outdoor sculpture conservation: the apa's annual outdoor sculpture conservation maintenance program is the longest continuously operating outdoor sculpture conservation maintenance program in the nation. During fy 2023 over thirty bronze, metal, stone, mosaic, and wood sculptures of historic and artistic significance received treatment. The sculptures were inspected, cleaned, and stabilized to protect them from further deterioration. The apa's partners in this work include the fairmount park conservancy, office of arts, culture and the creative economy, philadelphia parks & recreation, university of Pennsylvania, and numerous conservation professionals. In fy 2023 the apa received the board of director's award for exceptional stewardship of historic properties from the preservation alliance.special conservation treatments: as part of our stewardship and ongoing maintenance efforts, emergencies (including storm damage, vandalism, and graffiti removal) were also addressed. Additional treatment work in 2023 included repairs to alexander stirling calder's "shakespeare memorial" (1926), "stone basin wellhead" (c.1500 - 1600), frederic remington's "cowboy" (1908), charles elwell's "dickens and little nell" (1890), and john kindness's "the labor monument" (2010), as well as oversight of treatment of the sculptures at the "reilly memorial" for the reilly trust.landscape conservation: the apa oversees landscape conservation at the "ellen phillips samuel memorial sculpture garden." In 2023 apa's contractors provided additional landscape improvement services and site refreshment in preparation for the "steel bodies" exhibition installation. Donations & deaccessions: in early 2023 apa worked with the philadelphia museum of Art to find an appropriate home for the small-scale plaster model of an unrealized sculpture for the "ellen phillips samuel memorial sculpture garden" by gaston lachaise. The model was donated, transported and delivered to the lachaise foundation in new york. Two other apa owned artworks were relocated to off-site storage from another facility during fy 2023. Outreach continued regarding the potential repatriation and deaccession of various artworks from apa's decommissioned international sculpture garden during this time.overall preservation concerns are broadcast through the media, building interest and financial support for conservation through contributors to apa's conservation society. The apa also advises and collaborates with private and Public organizations, including philadelphia parks & recreation, the city's Public Art office, the preservation alliance, and the fairmount park conservancy to promote awareness and the need for ongoing care of the city's historic treasures.