As art and creative industries grapple with the devastating impacts of COVID-19, there are bold predictions Perth could emerge as Australia's new street and public art capital in a post-coronavirus world.
In the late 1980s, Western Australia became one of the first places in the world to introduce a "per cent for art" scheme, which quarantined 1 per cent of the budgets of medium- to large-scale developments for public art.
Since then, hundreds of pieces of art and sculptures have been installed at schools, hospitals, train stations, apartment buildings, public spaces and commercial buildings across the state.
Thirty years later, a second wave of art is on the horizon.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," said urban designer Peter Ciemitis, who is predicting a public art "explosion" in Perth.
Mr Ciemitis recently co-authored a review of the take-up of per cent for art policies by Perth councils, which found almost three quarters of metropolitan councils now had a public art policy — and most were implemented in the past five years.
"It's crept up on us slowly and we haven't noticed the absolutely transformational change that's occurred here, but to an outsider to come through and just be aware of it … there's just this huge abundance of visual art."
"You just wait another few years before you see this constant proliferation right across our city.
"I think it's going to quietly turn us into a really interesting city from a global perspective."
What makes good public art?
There are several different styles of public art visible around Perth including standalone pieces, art integrated into the design of the building, murals and painted artworks, and also temporary installations.
Mr Ciemitis argued the sheer volume and refinement of public art in Perth was changing the aesthetic and people's perception of the city.
"But when you're thinking about all of these cultural interventions in public spaces occurring … when people visit it will be nothing like what they expected.
"In terms of art, Perth has got to be one of the most densely populated cities I know.
"You go to other major cities, whether Tokyo or London, you'll go 4 kilometres without seeing anything like that."
Fred Chaney, who heads up WA's peak visual arts association ArtSource, said good public art activated public spaces and provoked conversation.
"It's certainly part of Perth maturing as a city and we'll continue to do that over decades," he said.
"The best projects make you look at a place differently, make you look at the city differently, make you look at our history differently, whatever it is. That's what good art does.
"I mean, it's sometimes contentious. It's sometimes easy for people to poke at it and say, 'what a waste of money'.
"But I think that's rarely the case now."
Mr Chaney said until recently, public artworks created by local Indigenous artists were uncommon in Perth.
"Until six or seven years ago, there was virtually nothing in the Perth CBD that actually celebrated Noongar culture in a visual sense, unless you went into the art gallery or a museum," he said.
"Now there's a number of significant artworks that have been undertaken by local Aboriginal people.
"Then there's local artists who've really become experts in in this sphere and have done a lot of very significant work — they've almost built their mature artistic practice on this sector of art."
The rise of coronavirus art
In 1998, the inner suburban City of Vincent was the first WA council to implement a per cent for art policy.
Mayor Emma Cole said it was a bold move that took time for developers to warm to.
"But I think with everything in Perth, design has lifted, the art offering has lifted.
"There's some requirements around public art so it's not something that you buy that is mass produced — it has to be unique and it has to be provided by an artist."
The council this week offered grants of up to $10,000 to local artists to create public art that reflected the experience of living through a global pandemic.
More than 50 local artists had since applied to the fund, which was comprised of per cent for art contributions from developers.
"We've been very lucky to have that at this particular time when we're dealing with the pandemic," said Ms Cole.
"We know that during this time our local arts community, the creative arts and creative industries, they've really suffered in terms of their work and livelihoods."
The city will offer up public spaces for artists to work with and had early success with a coronavirus-inspired mural in Mt Hawthorn by street artist Scroller.
After moving to Perth from London just before the pandemic, Scroller was unsure of his job prospects as coronavirus took hold.
"But one of the reasons why I decided I wanted to stay is it was clear as soon as I got here, there was so much artwork," he said,
"In Perth, it seems really acceptable, it seems like there's not loads of tagging and stuff like that.
"If you look around, there's actually some quite iconic art."
Scroller said he was surprised at how quickly he was able to gain approval for his mural idea after contacting the council.
"Sometimes it's kind of easier to get forgiveness rather than permission over this, but it seems Perth's a bit of an anomaly in that," he said.
Mr Ciemitis said he believed public art would thrive in a post-pandemic setting.
"Public art is much more important in public spaces now than ever before, especially now that we're seeing museums and galleries shut down," he said.
The WA Government has also committed $1.5 million to help artists struggling financially as a result of the pandemic.
And with economic recovery strategies on the cards to fast track major infrastructure projects and reform development approvals, Mr Ciemitis said public art practitioners would bounce back.
"What we've seen over the last 10 years, we'll probably see double that again," he said.
"The development trends that we're seeing into the future favour more and more per-cent-for-art-friendly projects — things like apartment buildings, office buildings.
"Of course, just simply the sheer growth of Perth over the next 10 years is just going to be one of those drivers that keep pushing all of that forward."
Public art misfires
There have been instances in Perth where public art policy has gone wrong.
Earlier this year, the State Government was criticised for using more than $100,000 raised from a taxpayer-funded levy for emergency services to install public art at new fire stations.
Woolworths last year successfully argued against budgeting for public art at its new high street store in Inglewood, while BGC Group won a legal fight against having to stump up cash to install art at their Hazelmere industrial asphalt plant.
Mr Chaney said while sound policy was essential to the success of a public art project, there had to be a will from the developer to do it.
"My personal view is there's great examples and not such great examples of public art," he said.
"If you've got a project team or a developer or an owner who's not fully engaged in it and they're just doing it because they have to, the results aren't as good as they should be."
The blending of fine art and street art
Mr Ciemitis said the power in public art was its accessibility to all.
"There are fewer people today that will talk about fine art, let's say in a barbecue conversation," he said.
"But people will happily have a chat about public art projects they've seen — sculptures, murals — and you really hear some often very passionate debate.
"Some might love it, some might hate it, but of course, that's a part of what art is supposed to be doing."
Scroller viewed fine art and street art with the same lens.
"Having art on the street, whether it's sculpture or graffiti — I mean, there's no divide between that and fine art.
"It's more relevant and more acceptable."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA1LTMxL3BlcnRoLXRvLWJlY29tZS1hdXN0cmFsaWFzLXBvc3QtY29yb25hdmlydXMtcHVibGljLWFydC1jYXBpdGFsLzEyMjkyMjM00gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyMjkyMjM0?oc=5
2020-05-30 23:17:22Z
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