Public art policy sets standards for Charlottetown

Artists interested in creating public art forthe City of Charlottetown should now have a better idea what the city is looking for, thanks to a new policy.

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The City held public consultations this past summer andcollaborated with Culture P.E.I., and on Monday night released its new public art policy thatoutlines priorities of diversity, interactivity, and balancing historic and contemporary pieces.

"We just want to make it super clear, the steps you have to follow," saidMarkSandiford, Executive Directorof Culture P.E.I. and Chair of the City's Arts Advisory Board.

"What were trying to avoid is a situation where we have people going so far down the line that they're really committed to a project only to find out it wasn't really what the city was interested in at the beginning," addedSandiford.

Sandiford said it was also important to make sure artists from P.E.I. would be given first consideration when possible. And when it's not for example, no Island artists currently work inlarge bronze sculptures the policy requires that Island artists be hired to help.

"So that means if they're doing something that's out of the scope of what the Island artist can do, that person can learn from them, build their skills and now they're in a more competitive position," said Sandiford.

Peer-reviewed pieces

Artists will also help choose what art is approved because all proposals to the city will be peer reviewed.

"That's a nice transparent process, and it's used a lot in the arts everywhere," said Sandiford. "It allows it to get away from just one person's opinion about whether it's good or bad."

The policy lays out specific criteria for approval somethingthe community saidwas lacking.

'It's good to have vision'

"It's nice to see the city taking initiative to set some standards for themselves and some processes around art and expression in the city," said Becka Viau, who manages Charlottetown's Art In The Open event.

She's excited at the prospect of more public art.

"There's lots of areas that we could have some brilliant public art happening in and this is just the first step," said Viau.

The arts advisory board, which was created inspring2014 on the recommendation of the Mayor's 2013 Task Force on Arts and Culture, says it will continue to look at the policy every couple of years to make sure it's still relevant.