PAA Database
The Public Art Archive™ (PAA) is a free, continually growing, online and mobile database of completed public artworks throughout the U.S. and abroad. By uniting records from public art organizations and artists into one comprehensive resource, PAA aims to provide universal access to the complex stories that characterize public artworks not as static objects, but as dynamic, interconnected keepers of history, context and meaning. PAA’s mission “to make public art more public” has guided the program’s growth into one of the largest active databases of public art. Since the Archive’s inception in 2010, public art organizations and artists have submitted informational text, images, and additional multimedia files describing completed public artworks at no cost.
- Document and support best practices in cataloging public artworks across the globe;
- Provide free access to information about public artworks in one central repository;
- Raise awareness about the significance of public art;
- Develop resources to inform diverse audiences about the breadth and depth of what constitutes public art;
- Encourage sustained engagement with public art to support discovery and education;
- Preserve the transforming history of public spaces to continue to learn from public art practice.
Products & Services
Developed with the mission of making public art more public, the Public Art Archive provides free and low-cost resources for the public art field. Built for artists, administrators, consultants, planners, educators, and researchers, audiences of all ages can engage with public art through our suite of services and offerings. Click the links below to learn more about how PAA can support your needs.
Public Art in Private Development Database
The Public Art Archive is proud to announce it will now house the Public Art in Private Development (PAPD) Database, originally built and maintained by art lawyer and subject expert Sarah Conley Odenkirk.
About the PAPD Database
The PAPD Database represents years of work by Sarah Conley Odenkirk and her team to gather documents, analyze information from communities around the United States, and compile it into an accessible database. When the project began in 2013, it focused on finding out how many communities across the country have some sort of ordinance or policy that relates to public art for private development. As it turns out, the answer is quite a few.
Since 2013, Odenkirk and her team have added more than 90 communities, and the numbers will continue to grow as the PAA team begins its stewardship of the database.
What’s in the PAPD Database?
All public art requirements, including those in private development, are defined and specified in ordinances, policies, and other supporting documentation like master plans and development guidelines. These requirements evolve in different ways and for a variety of reasons, often involving complex strategic planning and policy implementation processes. Numerous parties contribute to this process, including municipal administrators and city attorneys, who work in coordination to ensure the resulting policy facilitates constructive community involvement. The resources in this database allow users to understand the nature and scope of existing PAPD programs and can help municipalities and developers define and implement best practices for their circumstances and communities.
The database contains all underlying documentation, including publicly-available and online material. Wherever possible, all citations to reference information are included, as well as the specific people to contact for each program. Where applicable and feasible, you will also find the actual legal text.
Odenkirk and her team made efforts to contact every public art administrator for each community to verify that the information is up to date and complete. As part of the migration of this database to the Public Art Archive, the PAA team reviewed each policy link to update the documentation as needed. Nevertheless, we will continue to update this database from time to time with new information and communities. If you discover that any of the material needs to be updated or revised or that we missed your community altogether.
Sarah Conley Odenkirk continues to be a resource and represents artists and communities around the country. She is the founder of ArtConverge, a law firm providing legal strategies and thought leadership for the arts. Reach out to Sarah via.
Email Us: PAArchive@wearecreativewest.org
Call Us: (303) 629-1166
