Reframing Public Art Essay

There are thousands of types of art work all over the world including mural art which is one of the oldest types of art, painted on walls and ceilings that are usually filled with many different colors. Murals show hope, values and memories of the community. Public art is outside of the gallery or museum, public art exist outdoors. It shapes are abstract, realistic, built, etc. Public art is can express community values, and enhance the environment. However, as our evolving culture of technology increase, more of those mural art, and public art are vanishing in the eyes of the people.

Jane Golden demonstrates the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Mural Art Program that has changed the appearance of the city in a positive way and that gives people a way to embrace how they feel. While Harriet F. Senie in Reframing Public Art and is stating that most public art is being ignored by people and is slipping away into urban-scape. Public art is often ignored art, we don’t know how those pieces of art are actually successful. Public art such as sculptures

big or small, its shape can be abstracted or realistic. Public art attracts critical attention only when it is the subject and is talked about. A mural is a painting for the viewer to see it, and maybe try to relate to it. It’s nice to actually be able to see these abstracted public art, and colorful paintings on walls. But lately, that doesn’t even matter because electronics and mobile devices are everywhere. In every developed nation in the world the enormous population of mobile technology is still growing and is only getting more advanced, it will never slow down. Cell phones are now a way for people to socialize electronically and not face to face interaction, so when there are these nice public parks, and public spaces, that include beautiful murals or unique sculpture people can socialize too they most likely won’t, because the use of electronics are there in place of that. Murals and public art are just being ignored.

Jane Golden program was designed to help graffiti artist put an end to their destructive vandalism and turn it into a more creative one, by helping Golden and her program paint a mural. Her murals have changed the city neighborhoods into a meaningful community. While at the same time letting young painters and graffiti writers express themselves in a nondestructive way. Jane was completely against graffiti, "I was always intrigued with murals," she said, "because they are able to break down barriers about where art should and should not be." Page 30. For those graffiti writers that started to take part in the mural program, and started to interact with the community, they were opening up better opportunity for themselves, instead of vandalism and risking their lives climbing on highways and build boards, or possibility ending up in jail. The graffiti writers started feeling appreciated by their work "People loved it. The kids were seen as heroes. I remember people pulling over and stopping traffic on the bridge, beeping and waving, and the kids taking bows. Really, it wasn't about art, it was about the fact that kids were doing something productive for their community." Golden and her program turned the city’s that weren’t recognized and were neglected, into city’s everyone wants to stop and look at.

I don’t quite see this at all anymore, maybe a nice glance at Love Park or a beautiful view, but even with that, cellphones are being pulled out to take pictures. Everywhere you look, you see people walking down the street with their eyes glued to the small screen in their hands. Not maybe people appreciate someone else’s art work or even care to try to learn the work that is presented because we are so glued to our phones to even pay a spec of attention to what’s going on around us in the world. Being on your cell phones make people feel less important, because that’s all your paying attention too. In Golden’s program those kids that participated in making the mural made them feel as though they did someone good for not only them but for other people as well, since they were admiring what they were doing for the community.

Reframing Public Art Senie examines art in a non-museum setting, which is public art in urban settings.

She finds out that site matters, her art is like a land mark “I was here” usually captured by photos. “Nearly every sculpture in the study at one time or another served as a meeting place, providing an easily recognizable landmark.” Pg. 6 Most people don’t see art as art, only when it’s convenient to them. That’s when the land mark comes in, such as meet me by the giant dominos. Most people don’t notice the art at all. Usually art on the streets are vandalized, or invisible to many. Most public art is often ignored by immediate audience or used according to their everyday need” Pg. 1. Why even put the money out to make a couple thousand dollar sculpture, when nobody even notice it. A sculpture is a creative hard-working craft that takes months or years to make a single one that is either going to be ignored or

invisible.

Modern technology such as smart phones have given us private bubbles that exclude all what’s happening around us, or what is around us. Cellphones are making us loose many things, such as directions because we rely on a GPS, or landmarks such as (meet me at the domino), or actually speak a ask a stranger. Public space is all about unknown people, and communication used to be the main source of information, but I believe that as dropped 95%. While walking through a park, nobody even makes eye contact with one another, or a nice greeting, we using just follow social media, and worry about what’s happening in the cyber world. The murals or sculptures are less important in the world today, because acknowledging all your friends on Instagram who recently liked your photos is more important.

While Senie is more of knowing how art is being ignored, Golden is more about how art enhances the community, and gives people a way to express themselves in a proper way. Although both Senie, and Golden’s information is important and useful, I believe they are outdated. This time in our history is changing fast, and I don’t believe most art matters to people. Years ago cellphones were just used for talking now it’s for checking emails, social media, talking on the phone at the same time as sending out text messages. Art is becoming extinct to most people, because our cellphones are our multimedia tool. Not only are these art pieces being ignored but also cameras, watches, and other gadgets. Modern day smartphones, mostly Apple iPhone which are incredibly expensive have everything you need to expect from your phone. It’s only going to becoming more advance, maybe even just the movement of our eyes, we won’t even have to use our fingers to touch the screen. People have become less socially isolated in public space, I would believe in the last 30 years. Electronics have become a significant impact on the economy and society as a whole. Technology makes the economy worse, because of the decrease in social interactions, and I believe it made obesity increase because it made our country lazy.

Public space is any social space that is open and is accessible towards everyone. Where social and economic exchange can happen, or even meeting up with friends. Having a good place to sit that is comfortable are all forms of a good public space. Public space is a way to build sociality and civic engagement out of the encounter between strangers. But, now it’s rare for people to say anything to one another. The impact of public art seems harder to impress people, to actually check the work that