Public Art Consultant Jack Becker Unites Greensboro in Considering Futures for Public Art

November 8, 2011

Greensboro is pleased to welcome Jack Becker, Director of Forecast Public Art (Minneapolis), for two speaking engagements where he will present two talks on Public Art as Civic Catalyst. The project represents a partnership between The Public Art Endowment, The Downtown Greenway, Elsewhere, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum, an exciting collaboration of organizations working together to build public art and creative community in Greensboro.

Jack will discuss the complex, beneficial, and sometimes contentious role that art plays in the public realm. He will be at the Weatherspoon Art Museum Auditorium on Saturday November 12th from 2-4pm, the event is open and free to the public.

Jack will discuss the ways public art and community participation contribute significantly to the identity of a city. He will broadly address the role of the over 350 public art programs in the United States working at the federal, state, city, and county levels, as well as transit and aviation programs nationally.  He will also offer reflections on the scale of budget allocations that make public art possible and beneficial.

Jack Becker is the founder and Director of Forecast Public Art, a public art generator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Forecast is the publisher of Public Art Review (a public art magazine), the distributor of grants and commissions to the local Minneapolis/ St. Paul artist community, and a leading consultancy for building community interest and investment through a public process for public art.

Elsewhere is a living museum building a more curious, collaborative culture. Set within a former thrift store housing an immense 58-year collection of surplus and thrift, Elsewhere museum events, residencies, educational projects, and public works connect global artists with local communities. http://elsewhereelsewhere.org

The Public Art Endowment was established in 2008 by The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, which believes that art is closely tied to a city’s identity and the people who inhabit it. Through the generous contributions of Endowment trustees, new and significant pieces of art will be installed in public places – breathing new life into Greensboro streets and parks. As the Public Art Endowment strives to reach an initial $2 million goal in support of public art, it will focus on the annual long-term, but temporary, installation of a work, as well as educational programming related to selected art. Once fundraising is achieved, the Endowment will commission and/or purchase a significant works of art for public spaces. http://cfgg.org

The Downtown Greenway is a planned 4 mile walking and biking trail that will loop around downtown Greensboro and encourage economic development and growth in our city.  This public/private partnership between Action Greensboro and the City of Greensboro will enhance the urban landscape with a green space that will promote fitness, encourage alternative transportation, and provide connectedness and well-being for residents and visitors in an aesthetically pleasing environment. The loop itself provides a unique opportunity for Greensboro to have the only one of its kind in the state and one of the few in the country. In addition, with the connections to the extensive existing and planned trails systems in the city and the county, this loop will connect residents from all parts of the community and beyond.  www.downtowngreenway.org

The Weatherspoon Art Museum is one of the leading collections of 20th and 21st century American art in the Southeast. http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu/

 

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