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Art And The City: How Public Art Can Awaken And Inspire A Community · Inside West Palm Beach

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  Welcome to the City Center podcast from West Palm Beach,
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  Florida.
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  I'm Jerry Marcelo.
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  It can be said that culture can shape the character of a community.
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  Specifically,
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  public art can serve as a signature of a city like West Palm Beach,
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  standing as icons of the city's character and conscious art can also inspire those who live here creating pride and highlighting the cultural diversity of our community.
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  The city is active in the development of great public art through its art life W PB program.
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  And joining me today is Sib Welter,
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  Director of Arts Culture and Community Building for the city of West Palm Beach.
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  Sibi.
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  Welcome.
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  Thank you for having me,
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  Jerry.
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  Why does public art matter so much when it comes to communities heart and soul?
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  I think without art,
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  art,
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  you need art for culture,
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  it builds culture.
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  You know,
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  any city that doesn't have art and culture is a dead city and that is definitely not the case with the city of West Palm Beach.
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  We have a rich,
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  rich history of cultural institutions and they're anchored by public art throughout the city and throughout the neighborhoods.
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  And that is a key component of how the growth of the city,
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  but also the liveliness and the richness um and the health of the community stand.
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  So really,
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  it's sort of like a city signature to a certain degree who we are and what we're about,
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  it's a visual language.
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  I mean,
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  public art becomes the visual language for a city and um it most certainly does for the city of West Palm Beach.
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  If you look out,
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  you have any everywhere from international national,
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  local regional artists,
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  different mediums.
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  And that's a visual language that we as a city are per presenting ourselves.
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  Um presenting others.
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  I'm sorry,
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  presenting to others,
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  you describe it as a language.
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  I mean,
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  do the residents understand the language?
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  Do you think?
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  I think a lot of them do,
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  I think there's a deep appreciation um you know,
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  as anything in life,
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  you have things that you gravitate towards and others that you don't.
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  But for the most part,
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  I would say everyone gravitates to something.
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  There's something that really um just gets to them,
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  whether it's their heart,
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  their soul,
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  their mind,
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  whatever that can be because everyone has a different experience with art.
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  So through the,
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  the the history of art life program,
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  uh you had all sorts of artists of some absolutely world right renowned and some that are local.
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  Tell us a little bit about that,
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  that wide spectrum that you've had work.
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  So what one of the,
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  so I work with a committee,
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  an Art Life committee.
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  And one of the main objectives is to make sure that we have not only only equitable distribution of art throughout the city,
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  but that equity is also throughout the artists.
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  So we are presenting to the city,
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  not only its residents and visitors,
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  a wide array of artists and mediums in different stages and careers.
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  And the best way to do that is to really bring in the top,
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  you know,
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  iconic artists,
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  mid career artists,
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  regional art artists and,
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  and uh emerging artists,
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  emerging artists play a really important role,
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  especially with temporary projects um where you get to play around a little bit more and then you move into spaces that need something more foundational and permanent.
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  So you start working with artists who have that under the art practice.
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  So it just gives a,
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  it's just a great way to say,
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  you know,
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  we love all artists of whether you are right beginning or you're at the top of your game and you've had um major retrospectives throughout the museums.
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  So you give opportunities to even the very earliest artists,
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  people who are just learning the craft.
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  Yes,
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  we have a local artist initiatives um that we started actually,
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  we have been working with the local artists from since 2015.
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  I think we have now 68 local artist commissions that art life has provided,
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  which is a tremendous amount if you do your math.
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  Um And one of the things that's come out of actually came out of the pandemic was a local artists initiative called the Commons.
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  So during that time,
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  while everybody was shutting down,
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  the public spaces were opening up,
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  and it was an a tremendous opportunity to bring the um creative sector into looking at our common spaces and looking at their art practice and then bring merging those two different concepts together.
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  So we've continued the Commons project,
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  but it allows local artists who have not had an opportunity to be in the public realm to go out of their studio practice and into the public.
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  Now,
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  you mentioned the commons and that flashes me back to the pandemic that I've just gone.
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  Tell me about a project that you had where you really tied the current events of the day by part,
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  the the pandemic into the art that was being displayed here in West Palm.
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  Well,
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  that,
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  that happened,
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  I think with the initial Commons project,
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  it was 15 artists,
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  15 spaces.
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  So these 15 local artists were given a different local throughout the city.
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  They got to choose their common space,
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  their public space and some of them created pieces um where they were either long term and I mean,
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  temporary long term being under 12 months and some were just one day events.
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  And what all of them did was try to bring community together.
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  So how do you make those connections?
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  Because remember in the pandemic,
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  everyone was feeling very isolated and it was only in our public spaces that we could start to make connections with one another again in a safe environment.
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  And so a lot of these artists did that and it was just,
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  it was so well received and the artists had,
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  were so appreciative and everybody was like,
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  wow,
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  this is great that we've continued it.
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  So now every other year we put out the commons.
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  Interesting.
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  Now is,
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  have there been other examples of art that you can remember that was tied into a cultural event or something that was happening over?
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  What are you saying?
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  Are you asking like more like how these pieces come about?
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  Well,
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  yeah,
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  I mean,
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  what,
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  what,
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  what inspired them perhaps?
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  So that kind of leads into how or the artists are selected.
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  So it's very project based or it's or very much based on what is happening within a certain area.
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  So one that I'm very excited about and it's gonna be tremendous is an artist for Heart and Soul Park.
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  It's the second um part of the public art that's um going to be implemented there.
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  And Nakesha Duret and she is,
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  her work is in production.
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  And so come October,
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  it'll be Ready December,
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  for sure.
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  We're celebrating this piece.
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  It's genius Loki,
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  it's called the Spirit of a place.
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  And this really,
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  this particular large scale sculpture talks about that community specifically.
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  You know,
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  she talks about how she's celebrating the land and its people very specific to that,
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  to that very um that district,
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  the Northwest Historic district.
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  And she really took her time meeting people researching.
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  She was very process oriented research based.
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  So that's a very different way um to approach art versus um a piece that was brought in through the percent for art funding program,
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  which is the private sector comes in.
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  And so we have this a tremendous piece by Yinka Shaari.
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  And he has uh he has created this gorgeous piece called materials SG two SG means second generation just for those who don't know.
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  And um that in itself,
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  that's his practice.
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  And so it was more about a conversation of which of his pieces that he could create that would fit the plaza,
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  public open space because it's fully publicly accessible on Rosemary and Fern Street.
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  And how that would,
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  how that would sort of enliven that public space.
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  So a really different approach,
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  but two tremendous artists working um working within their practice,
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  but approaching the public space in a very different way.
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  You touched on something earlier regarding permanent versus temporary um art.
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  Tell,
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  tell us how we define that.
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  How do you make a project,
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  a temporary piece for a certain amount of time as opposed to something that's going to be there forever?
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  I don't know.
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  Forever is a long,
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  long time.
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  So,
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  um so how long has the fish over on,
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  on that fish has been there for a long time.
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  You're right.
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  Spinning around in the wind.
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  Yes.
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  Yes,
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  you are.
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  Right.
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  Um So,
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  yes,
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  that's Mark Fuller.
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  Yes.
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  And yeah,
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  his piece has been around and,
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  and it's endured,
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  which is great.
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  Actually,
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  it was,
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  if I recall,
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  it was actually renovated at one point.
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  Yes,
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  it was.
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  So does it happen often with the art that we've done?
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  Sometimes we go,
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  we have,
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  I have a conservation um that it's just year round.
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  So all the artwork gets touched,
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  some of it just gets,
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  you know,
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  maintained and other things have to be completely rehauled and redone.
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  But yes,
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  anyway,
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  so going back,
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  so if it's tied to a major project or building,
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  it's usually going to be a very permanent piece and then it's very context oriented in what happens.
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  The great thing about temporary work,
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  which is usually under 18 months and it could be a day is that there's more of a,
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  you can experiment more,
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  you can take a higher risk because it is just temporary.
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  So an artist is,
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  you know,
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  it,
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  it's not about success or failure.
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  It's about like,
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  hm,
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  well,
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  I tried this and it sort of works.
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  I think if I go back,
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  I would do Xy and Z to tighten it because temporary really is about going into a space that you're not particularly familiar with taking your art practice to another level because now you're going into the public realm and sort of um taking risks playing around,
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  seeing what works,
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  what doesn't.
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  And then it goes away.
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  The thing about temporary work,
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  I don't think people realize is even though it went away,
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  it,
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  it did exist.
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  And so it already changed something.
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  And so that's what I love about temporary works.
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  It existed to a point that changed that context,
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  that area,
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  people's idea of that area,
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  how they interact with that area irregardless of it.
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  It,
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  if it already is gone.
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  So and then you look at that space with new eyes and you're like,
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  oh,
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  you know,
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  maybe this will work instead,
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  how do people react when a piece of public art descends and is installed in their neighborhood?
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  Are they positive?
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  So the neighborhood projects are really great.
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  The neighborhood projects you really get into the community.
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  They're very different from downtown downtown has so many different audiences.
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  You don't,
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  I mean,
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  who is your audience?
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  You can't define your audience necessarily,
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  but in community projects,
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  they're very defined,
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  you go in there,
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  you work with them and every piece that has been uh installed in a neighborhood thus far has been absolutely embraced and it's great.
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  It's just great to see.
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  I mean,
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  you know,
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  Sullivan Park is one,
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  I probably one that you,
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  I can tell you it was so embraced by the Children there and the neighborhoods and this is a re very residential neighborhood.
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  This is,
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  there's no community centers involved.
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  There's you know,
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  people aren't like coming through and it's just a stunning piece in this neighborhood.
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  It really raises a sense of value and worth in the neighbor.
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  Yes.
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  And yes.
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  And they've taken ownership of it because it's theirs and it is theirs.
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  That's really cool.
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  Well,
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  let's go back to basics.
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  Ok.
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  So tell us the process for the selection or of either artists and their ideas.
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  How does we start,
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  go from an idea to a to a finalized installed bit of art?
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  So each project is so different,
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  but let's say a large project,
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  right?
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  You start,
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  you start,
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  the committee may determines how they want to go about it.
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  So I'm gonna,
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  I'm gonna go through the permanent side.
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  So the committee says,
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  OK,
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  why don't we identify several artists and look at their art practice?
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  And when you look at their art practice,
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  you're really analyzing their practice.
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  Does this make sense for this project?
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  Does their art practice?
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  Will it relate to the context?
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  Do,
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  will they be able to um if necessary to community engagement?
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  Um Because when you go into neighborhoods,
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  right?
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  How does it all?
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  And so they do a extensive review,
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  extensive research and then those artists,
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  if let's say three of them are selected,
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  they come up with proposals,
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  given the parameters of that project.
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  And from there more discussion is made.
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  So what happens is the artist gets commissioned or an artist gets selected right away and then that artist starts the conversation early on about the context.
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  And when I say context,
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  I mean,
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  we're part of the city who,
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  who comes there,
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  like,
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  what are the other buildings,
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  what are the other things that are happening around that area?
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  And as they research and they start to develop more and they start to understand more and they use their art practice,
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  the artwork starts to become informed.
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  I mean,
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  it's just an organic process,
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  you start putting that all together.
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  And next thing you know,
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  you know,
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  that creative intelligence starts happening and they propose something that you're like,
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  yes,
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  that's great.
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  But part of the catalyst is understanding the people and the environment around where the art is in the public realm,
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  you have to and it's very different from a studio practice.
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  So this is one of the one of the reasons that art life always puts out temporary projects because people,
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  artists should have an understanding that you're going into a very different domain.
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  You're and you're in your studio practice.
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  It's very specific.
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  When you go into the public realm,
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  you don't know your audience,
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  you don't know what you know the elements and I mean,
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  the elements of nature,
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  especially in South Florida.
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  And,
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  and so you have to look at your work in a very different way.
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  And I,
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  you know,
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  I always say,
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  you know,
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  you need a little courage when you go out to into the public realm I mean,
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  it's exciting but it's not,
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  you know,
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  it's not easy how any perception of ease is,
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  is wrong.
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  It just is,
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  I mean,
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  they really,
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  they know they,
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  they need,
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  you know,
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  I always tell any artist who wants to go in the public realm.
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  I'm like that.
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  That's,
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  it's amazing and it's courageous.
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  The question that I get often is,
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  is all the art that we see,
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  say in the downtown area of West Palm Beach,
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  is that all under,
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  you know,
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  this program or is there private art?
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  There's private art too.
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  So it's a beautiful mix of the private sector um in the public sector.
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  So anyone and it doesn't even have to,
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  a lot of it doesn't go through art life.
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  So if you own a building and you'd like to put a mural up there,
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  you just need a permit,
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  you know.
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  And so it's a,
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  it's a great mix and I'm working on a,
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  a map,
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  a GIS map that shows the location of all the art.
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  And I've started to include the private sector as well.
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  See,
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  that takes me right to the next question.
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  Obviously,
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  we got a ton of art that's available for,
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  for,
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  for people to see.
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  Is there a exac exactly that a map or a guide of some sort?
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  So people can go see the stuff.
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  So I'm working at.
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  So through the city's website,
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  you can go on to um the art installations.
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  It's a work in progress.
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  So it's constantly updated.
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  It's,
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  you know,
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  if someone sees something that should,
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  should be there.
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  And I always tell people,
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  I'm like,
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  just send me a quick note.
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  Um And so I've started to integrate the private sector's artwork as much as I can because I would love for that map to show everything that the city has so that people understand like the richness that it's just not the public sector that's doing it.
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  But the private sector has been tremendous in providing art to the public.
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  So because I'm familiar with the website,
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  I,
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  I would assume that the the URL people would be interested is going to be W PB dot org slash art life that will take you to the section with all this information that you just described.
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  Yes.
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  Fantastic.
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  Um One of the things I always love to do during the podcast is sort of have a sort of open mic time.
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  This is imagine that you have your ma your magic megaphone and you're able to talk to folks all over the city about what you do with art life.
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  What would you say to them?
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  What would I say to them if I giant megaphone?
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  Um When you look at art,
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  don't make assumptions,
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  just be open,
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  be open.
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  Let the experience just happen,
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  whether it's good,
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  whether it's bad,
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  whatever it is,
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  let's let the experience happen.
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  You know,
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  you sometimes it takes several visits when you start to sink in what the artists intent was and the artist has an intent.
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  Um and how you,
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  as you,
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  as the viewer experience,
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  it is completely personal because you come at any piece with your own ideas,
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  with your own,
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  your own kind of day.
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  I,
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  you know,
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  maybe you had a like,
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  great day and you're like,
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  this is the best piece I've ever seen or,
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  or vice versa.
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  But I um I really encourage people to when they're looking,
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  put the assumptions down and just experience it with and see what happens.
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  That's fantastic.
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  Sabila.
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  You thank you for being here.
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  Your effort is part of the glue of our community.
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  And uh you know,
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  the art is colorful,
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  it is uh uniquely ours and uh signature of the community.
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  And you guys are doing great,
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  great work.
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  Oh,
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  thank you.
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  It's been a pleasure and you know,
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  I have to say,
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  I really love what I do.
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  The City Center podcast is produced by the City of West Palm Beach.
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  We hope you found today's discussion useful.
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  And if you did,
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  please subscribe,
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  if you have any questions or comments,
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  please write us at podcast at W PB dot org.
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  If you wish to learn more about what the city reso what city resources are available when it comes to public art,
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  visit the city's website at W PB dot org slash art life.
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  This is Jerry Marcelo.
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  We'll see you next time.