From Jeremy Hunt, Editor, Art & Architecture Journal
I read with interest the article by Phillip Dawson on the Rise of the Public Realm (AP issue 115, 13 February). While it was an interesting snapshot of some current attitudes within the public art debate, it left much unsaid and most frustratingly gave no profile of significant developments and information available from a wider group of professional organisations.
The broader activity of public art on a national scale should be acknowledged and the ArtsProfessional readership made aware of significant research being undertaken by organisations such as ixia (www.ixia-info.com); PROJECT engaging artists in the built environment (www.project-awards.org.uk); Public Art South West (http://www.publicartonline.org.uk); or the Art in the Public Realm initiative of Axis (www.axisweb.org), together with the contributions of a further 100 organisations from Artangel (http://www.artangel.org.uk) to Workplace Art (http://www.workplaceart.co.uk). The debates around art outside the gallery as a multi-disciplinary activity encompassing architecture and urbanism need to be addressed by as wide a public as possible. I welcome the role of ArtsProfessional as a facilitator in this process.