'What is art?' tackled by Charlottetown committee

Charlottetown's art advisory board held a public meeting Wednesday night, seekinginput onthe future of public art in P.E.I.'scapital city.

"I've been to many cities that have great public art, and they're all kind of different and they all kind of suit the city that they're in," said art advisory board chair Mark Sandiford.

"I think there's probably something that we'll come up with as a group that's really suited to Charlottetown, and that builds on what Charlottetown really is. Not trying to turn it into something else."

Over the last few years there has been an increase in the amount of public art in the city. Many of the projects were commissions ofPEI 2014.

Sandiford said the growth in public art is good, but it needs moredirection.

Maria Campbell, who attended the meeting, feels that as the city changes so must the art.

"Bring in some non-traditional art that involves cultures that might not be traditionally found on Prince Edward Island but are now very vibrant in both Charlottetown and across the Island," said Campbell.

Barbara MacLeod attended the meeting because she felt something is missing.

"I would like to see more colour injected, especially with our long winters," said MacLeod.

"Wouldn't it be lovely to see bright, colourful sculptures? We could dig them out of the snow."

The arts advisory board will take the ideas to create a vision for the future, which will be used in considerations of what projects will go ahead.