IMPACT + STRATEGY:

PUBLIC ART

THE PUBLIC ART COLLECTION

The Public Art Collection is made up of 178 permanent public artworks found throughout Nashville/Davidson County. It includes artworks found in libraries, community centers, parks and within the transportation infrastructure. Learn more about the Collection through our Public Art Gallery.

Metro Arts maintains the public art collection through an ongoing schedule of routine maintenance as well as repair and restoration work. Please let us know if you see an artwork that needs maintenance or repair.

VISION AND VALUES

Since the establishment of the Metro Public Art Program with a Public Art Ordinance in 2000, Metro Public Art has continued to listen to community needs and re-examine what “public art” can mean for Nashvillians. We believe that every Nashvillian deserves to experience a creative city and seek to frame public art as an ongoing conversation between artist and community.

In 2017, the Public Art Committee and Arts Commission adopted the Public Art Community Investment Plan which serves as our roadmap for the next 5-10 years. The plan has informed many of the innovative new commissions and programs we have piloted in the past several years including temporary public art activations; community-based studios; artists embedded in planning team; and artist residencies in Metro departments, nonprofits, and neighborhoods. For example, Build Better Tables, our award-winning curated temporary public art project from 2018, focused on food issues as a way to examine urban development and understand the effects of gentrification on community health and wellness. 

METRO ARTS PUBLIC ART COMMUNITY INVESTMENT PLAN + OTHER RESOURCES

To see our strategic documents and learn more about our decision-making process, check out:

Public Art Community Investment Plan (full plan) or go directly to Executive Summary, Theory of Change Poster, or Tools Section of Plan.
Public Art Ordinance. This June 2000 ordinance established Metro Arts’ public art program by dedicating one percent (1%) of the net proceeds of certain Metro capital projects to fund the commission and purchase of public art.
Public Art Committee and the Metro Arts Commission. The 7-member Public Art Committee advises the public art program and makes recommendations to the 15-member Metro Arts Commission, the board overseeing Metro Arts' strategic work.
Public Art Guidelines. These guidelines outline the policies the Metro Arts Commission and the Public Art Committee follow to administer Metro Nashville’s public art collection and programs.

Citizen Selection Panelist Nomination. Community members play a vital role in the development of public artworks as participants in community meetings with the artist and as members of citizen selection panels who make artist recommendations to the Public Art Committee.