Public Art Master Plan for Seattle Public Utilities Drainage and Wastewater
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Commissioned by the City of Seattle
Office of Arts & Culture Seattle Public Utilities Written by Vaughn Bell Graphic Design by Amy Harrington Executive Summary: The Drainage and Wastewater Art Master Plan guides 1% for Art investments related to Drainage and Wastewater’s work. The Plan was developed through a comprehensive, months-long process of research and staff and stakeholder discussions. Book 1, the Vision for Public Art in Drainage and Wastewater, provides a unified conceptual framework within which public art unfolds and offers guidance on the conception and execution of public art projects and programs. Book 2 presents a catalogue of Opportunities for Public Art. Following are some key aspects of the Vision for Public Art: Equity, Accessibility, Relevance and Engagement Artworks should be accessible to a diverse audience while maintaining rigor, relevance, depth of meaning, and aesthetic value. To go further, public art should engage people and communities across cultures, especially youth. The Drainage and Wastewater public art program seeks to address fundamental issues of equity and environmental justice by applying an equity lens to all aspects of the public art process, and by actively seeking out opportunities to engage communities in these issues through public art projects. The Vital Work of Drainage and Wastewater in Seattle Seattle Public Utilities Drainage and Wastewater manages and maintains the flow of water through our city. By zooming out to see the connection of clouds, pipes, streets, swales and Sound, we begin to grasp the scale and importance of the work that drainage does. Seattle is a city of water, with plentiful rain and interlaced with creeks, lakes and Puget Sound. The context of Seattle as a city, the unique environment in which we are situated, and the history we inherit all inform how public art practice takes place here. The Vital Work of Public Art Through public art, we imagine and experience our place in a new way. Public art provides an opportunity for awareness of ecology and community to blossom. This Plan embraces a vast range of artistic modes, methods, and media. Rather than dictate artistic process or identify ‘messages’ that SPU wishes artists to express, this Plan instead presents inspiration and materials that serve as a sort of compost from which artworks may grow. What Art Can Do Here Art can make us experience water differently. We are in need of experiences that make us see the water, and see the system. We need experiences that erase invisibility and encourage comprehension of our place in our local ecology. We need to notice how our home is part of the watershed, how our car drives a street that is a stream. Witnessing the work of Seattle Public Utilities Drainage and Wastewater, and seeing the flow of water through our environment, offers us the chance to experience our place as a complex ecology. Likewise, art can make the connection to science through acts of translation and creative communication. | ||||
