Public Art on Canadian Campuses

As has been discussed earlier on this blog, York University is home to an impressive and diverse collection of public art that contributes to the overall character of the campus landscape.

YorkU is not alone in recognizing the value of public art in creating a sense of ‘place’ and illustrating the institution’s commitment to creativity.

Canadian universities have experienced a recent surge in commissioning and acquiring public art. With renewed investment in capital projects, academic institutions are deliberately setting aside funds to include public art within or alongside these new developments.

The University of Toronto Scarborough unveiled its very first commissioned work last year. Created by artists Christian Giroux and Daniel Young, the 40-foot sculpture leads patrons into the new Instructional Centre.

(Interregnum at UTSC’s Instructional Centre credit: UTSC Commons)

Although there is a growing trend in installing majors works such as Interregnum, the opportunity still depends on funding. Often the means for a commissioned or acquired work come from donors or public funding, but can also be derived from percent-for-art policies that require a percentage of the budget for new buildings to be reserved for public art.

An early adopter of this policy was the Quebec provincial government. The Politique d’intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement was developed in the 1960s and requires that 1% of the budget for publically funded buildings be allocated to public art. The policy now extends to every institution that benefits from government funding for construction, which includes Concordia University.

Renderings of Leap by Adad Hannah, a Concordia grad, to be installed later this year (credit: Adad Hannah Studio and Saia Barbarese Topouzanov Architectes)

Concordia is home to over 40 works of outdoor public art across its two campuses, and over 200 in their entire public collection. To manage such a vast collection, the University established a Cultural Property Database that assists in organizing the ongoing documentation and management of each piece. This system also helps the University to promote the collection on their website through a highly trafficked ‘virtual exhibition’.

Solar Net by Gerald Gladstone at the University of Toronto (credit: Toronto Sculpture Guide)

Other universities are not far behind in creating a mandate for public art and policies to help guide the acquisition and management processes. The University of Alberta approved its Art Acquisition and Commissioning Procedure in May of 2011 to support the existing collection, which was established in 1912, and regulate processes for the addition of new works. The University of Toronto Art Collections Policy, published in 2009, operates similarly by outlining the principles and processes for public art management. This includes the establishment of an Art Acquisitions Committee for each campus and the University of Toronto Art Committee as governing bodies.

Where have you encountered public art that has had an impact on you? Would you support a percent-for-public-art policy at YorkU?