2014 Downtown Pittsburgh public art installation receives national honor
WASHINGTON, DC - Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, honors 31 outstanding public arts projects created in 2014 through the Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review program, the only national program that specifically recognizes the most compelling public art. Congregation, a temporary public artwork in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Market Square, was among the 31 works chosen from more than 300 entries across the country and recognized today at Americans for the Arts’ 2015 Annual Convention in Chicago.
Congregation is a dynamic, interactive video and sound installation designed and choreographed for pedestrian performers, created by UK-based pioneering media artists, Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler (known collectively as KMA). The North American premiere of Congregation transformed the public plaza of Pittsburgh’s Market Square into an interactive stage, where the audience explored and responded as they wished to projected imagery on both a screen and on the plaza while immersed in the music by the contemporary composer, Peter Broderick. Congregation commenced the inaugural installation for the Market Square Public Art Program, a program of the City of Pittsburgh, managed by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which showcases compelling public art in Market Square during the cold, Pittsburgh winter months from 2014 – 2016,energizing the recently redesigned Market Square as a local, regional and national arts destination.
"Congregation was the perfect installation to kick off the Market Square Public Art Program," said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. "We were so pleased to work with the City of Pittsburgh and the Office of Public Art to engage Pittsburghers in a transformative, world-class public art installation, by welcoming thousands of people to Market Square during the cold, winter season."
"It is very exciting that Pittsburgh has been nationally recognized as a city that commissions innovative and excellent public art", says Renee Piechocki, director of the Office of Public Art, "especially for a project that engaged over 10,000 people in an interactive and immersive experience in one of our most important civic spaces. I am so grateful that the Market Square Public Art Program brought Congregation to our city."
“The best of public art can challenge, delight, educate and illuminate. Most of all, public art creates a sense of civic vitality in the cities, towns, and communities we inhabit and visit,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “As these Public Art Network Year in Review selections illustrate, public art has the power to enhance our lives on a scale that little else can. I congratulate the artists and commissioning groups for these community treasures, and I look forward to honoring more great works in the years to come.”
The 2015 PAN Year in Review jurors were Peggy Kendellen, Public Art Manager, Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland, Oregon; Laurie Jo Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Public Arts, Social Justice and Culture at the School of Art and Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Ernest C. Wong, Principal, site design group, ltd in Chicago. The 31 public art works selected for the PAN Year in Review can be seen on this page. The presentation, which includes photos and descriptions of these works, is available through Americans for the Arts’ store.
The Public Art Network (PAN), a program of Americans for the Arts, is designed to provide services to the diverse field of public art and to develop strategies and tools to improve communities through public art. The network’s constituents are public art professionals, visual artists, design professionals, and communities and organizations planning public art projects and programs.
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
The Office of Public Art, a partnership between the Department of City Planning of the City of Pittsburgh and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, provides technical assistance to commission works of public art and develop policies for public art. OPA publishes Pittsburgh Art in Public Places: Downtown guidebook, the definitive guide to public art in our region, and hosts Pittsburgh Art Places, the online public art archive, and the Pittsburgh Artist Registry, the only free, online portfolio site for artists in southwestern Pennsylvania. OPA is a national leader in the area of public art, offering resources, trainings, talks, and consultation and assists artists to develop careers as public artists. For more info about OPA, please visit their website, here.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) is a dynamic, nonprofit organization comprised of business and community leaders, property owners, civic organizations, foundations and residents who provide energy, vision and advocacy for Downtown Pittsburgh. Working collaboratively with its partners, the PDP strives to create a positive Downtown experience for residents, workers and visitors alike. The PDP’s strategic initiatives include clean and safe services, transportation, and economic development and advocacy. For more information, visit www.DowntownPittsburgh.com.