The UrbanArts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art
MISSION
Celebrating 25 years of service to the community! UrbanArts works to promote excellence in public art and design. This mission is accomplished through services which facilitate public art and design projects, through educational programs for professionals and students, and through public policy advocacy. The UrbanArts Institute is an independent non-profit organization 501 (c) (3) affiliated with Massachusetts College of Art to strengthen each institution's commitment to the study and practice of public art and design. Our programs and a selection of registry artists are highlighted on our web site at www.urbanartsinstitute.org.
BACKGROUND / PROGRAMS
The UrbanArts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art (UrbanArts) was founded in 1980 as UrbanArts, Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit organization with a mission to incorporate the arts and cultural programming into urban design and community revitalization efforts. Its mission is based on the belief the cultural vitality of our Commonwealth depends on a more active role for the arts in shaping the urban landscape, with greater involvement by artists and citizens as participants in this process. Since the late 1980s, Massachusetts has been without a policy for public art; and Boston is one of the few major U.S. cities without a proactive public art policy. UrbanArts works to ensure the arts continue to have a vital role in our shared public life. Over the years, it has accomplished its goals through programs in three key areas: Art in Public Places: Providing services to implement public art projects for private and public-sector clients. UrbanArts administers public art commissions for public agencies and institutions as well as for private sector developers. These projects are funded through fee-for-service contracts. Arts and Community Development: Creating neighborhood-based collaborative design projects that involve citizens in planning for the future of their communities. By forging community partnerships, UrbanArts promotes the incorporation of art at an early stage in urban revitalization and community-building efforts, with support from private and public grants. Education and Resources: Offering educational programs for the public and access to resources for artists, community groups and design professionals seeking to implement public art programs. UrbanArts maintains a national slide, image registry and database representing over 2000 artists and a library of resource materials on public art. It also sponsors lectures, panel discussions and workshops on a variety of relevant topics and, from time to time, it also produces publications. In 1999, UrbanArts announced publicly its new affiliation with Massachusetts College of Art, an alliance which significantly expands the singular role UrbanArts has occupied in public art programming, policy development and community education.
Examples of projects administered by UrbanArts include the award-winning Urban Writer project, featuring urban poems and prose works inscribed on granite pages located in and around nine MBTA stations; the Vendome Firefighters Memorial, on Boston's Commonwealth Avenue Mall by artist Ted Clausen; Atlantic Journey, a terrazzo floor designed for walkways at Logan Airport by artist Jane Goldman; and Tribute to Harold Connolly, a monumental bronze placed in Brighton at the old Taft School celebrating the achievements of the Brighton native and Olympic athlete by sculptor Pablo Eduardo.
