Celebrating Public Art

June 21, 2016  |   Feature
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Public art is art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all.

To celebrate public art in Greater Des Moines, the following projects and initiatives are scheduled:

10am, Wednesday, 22 June 2016: “Art Route Des Moines” , a public-private collaboration, will be launched at 10th Street and Locust Street, in downtown Des Moines. “Art Route” is a regional project that unites public art with an initial 6.6 mile-long path painted on Downtown Des Moines sidewalks and intersections, plus an additional art pocket in a surrounding city.

Crosswalk design by artist Peter Gibson for 10th and Locust Street in downtown Des Moines.

Noon, Friday, 24 June 2016: An artist bus wrap will be unveiled at 12th Street between Grand Avenue and Locust Street in downtown Des Moines. Des Moines Area Rapid Transit (DART) will join Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation to unveil the most recent bus design “Where’s the Ball” by artist Larissa Kabel. Public art tours will be scheduled for Saturday, 25 June during the Des Moines Arts Festival. The bus will travel throughout Greater Des Moines communities.

11-21 August 2016:  At the Iowa State Fair, the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation will present artist collective M12’s project called “SWITCH,” subtitled “Equine Reading Room + Projection.” This interactive art installation will utilize a stall in the Horse Barn to present a reading room for visitors and participants in the Fair’s equine programming. It will simultaneously double as the live transmission site for a video installation projected in downtown Des Moines.

The artist bus wrap and Iowa State Fair projects are part of the Public Art Foundation’s Project Spaces initiative, which places compelling, temporary works of art in highly accessible and visible public spaces.