Association For Public Art

Preserve public art: the apa's collections management agenda for 2024 celebrated forty-two 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 2024 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, city of philadelphia's public art office, philadelphia parks & recreation, university of pennsylvania, and numerous conservation professionals. The year prior the apa received the board of director's award for exceptional stewardship of historic properties from the philadelphia 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 2024 included resuming deferred maintenance for jo davidson's "walt whitman" (1939, cast 1957), repairs and special surface treatment of daniel chester french and edward c. Potter's "general ulysses s. Grant" (1897), jacques lipchitz's "spirit of enterprise" (1950-60), and robert morris' "the wedges" (1970). In partnership with the city's public art office and the mann center, the apa contributed to the comprehensive conservation treatment of daniel chester french's "law, prosperity and power" located at the mann center.landscape conservation: the apa oversees ongoing landscape conservation at the "ellen phillips samuel memorial sculpture garden" in fairmount park. Donations & deaccessions: in 2024 arrangements were made for a number of apa owned artworks to be relocated to off-site storage from another facility that ceased operations, which included the donation and deaccession of 313 c.15th/early 20th century french facade stones from apa's collection. Outreach continued regarding the potential repatriation and deaccession of various artworks from apa's decommissioned international sculpture garden during this time, including discussions with the national museum of the american indian and u'mista cultural centre, kwakwaka'wakw nation in british columbia regarding the repatriation of a 19th century "house post."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, philadelphia preservation alliance, fairmount park conservancy, and parkway council to promote awareness and the need for ongoing care of the city's historic treasures.

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 2024, the program was further developed, adding to the number of sculptures, voices, stops and interpretive signage. Museum without walls: audio now features over seventy-five stops with more than 200 voices discussing the sculptures. Additions in 2024 included an audio program for "the radical black elite" street pole banner project featuring artist xenobia bailey and morgan lloyd of 1838 black metropolis. 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, and provide public art tours and talks.as part of "the radical black elite" street pole banner project with the historical society of pennsylvania, artist xenobia bailey was invited to provide the society's 200th anniversary signature talk for the theme "soul of america: literary, visual, and performing arts." the presentation was posted on youtube and included in the citywide (re)focus festival.the apa produced a variety of public programs related to "art on the parkway." this included an artist talk combined with apa's annual meeting by artist rachel hsu in partnership with the asian arts initiative at their facility. The presentation was moderated by "art on the parkway" juror and asian arts initiative curator joyce chung. Additionally, a free public poetry workshop inspired by hsu's "the weight of our living" was held on-site, presented by former philadelphia poet laureate trapeta b. Mayson.other public programs included participation in the historical society of pennsylvania's "history on the streets" block party through an audience participatory public art trivia project, and the production of a self-guided tour highlighting notable examples of public art in philadelphia by women artists as part of the (re)focus citywide festival program. The tour featured works by louise nevelson, beverly pepper, joyce kozloff, diane burko (all in the original "focus" exhibition), and new artists simone leigh, mei-ling hom, colette fu, and soo sunny park (including an exclusive interview by park). A public art walking tour was provided in old city as part of the monument lab 2024 summit, as well as one for representative waxman's constituents in rittenhouse square.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 2024 we collaborated with bloomberg philanthropies for inclusion in bloomberg connects, the free arts and culture app highlighting 450+ cultural organizations worldwide. Temporary decals were installed around the city to promote the bloomberg connects app, which more than quadrupled the number of users for apa's museum without walls program.