The Public Art Commission has approved the group’s first Annual Work Plan, Mayor Linda Gorton said today. The plan details public art projects and priorities for 2023.
“The Public Art Commission makes important decisions about the long-range planning of public art and monuments on city-owned and managed property,” Gorton said. “The commission has put together a strong Annual Work Plan that will significantly expand opportunities for publicly-accessible art in Lexington.”
The selected 2023 projects account for a total of $545,000, sustained by the City’s Percent for Art Resolution.
- $220,000 for Lexington Detention Center art on the Old Frankfort Pike corridor
- $110,000 for art at Gainesway Park
- $165,000 for neighborhood association art projects chosen through a competitive in-kind match program
- $50,000 for evaluation, and maintenance and conservation of current city-owned public art
In addition, $50,000 in matching funds is being made available to support public art on Town Branch Commons Trail at the Martin Luther King Boulevard Underpass, pending additional financial support through grant programs.
“Public Art has long been recognized for the enormous cultural, social and economic value that it brings to cities and communities,” said Heather Lyons, Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs. “Lexington is taking a great step forward, as we now begin to activate the Public Art Commission’s Annual Work Plan and its facilitation of artwork that is meaningful to our community, and in which the community is engaged in the process.”
The Public Art Commission was created in 2002 after the Urban County Council passed the Percent for Art Resolution in 2018, requiring 1% of all bonds for capital improvement projects be set aside for the purchase, commissioning, installation and maintenance of public art located on city-owned or managed property. For major capital projects, the resolution requires that the art be located at the site of the project that produced the funds.
In 2022, a Public Art Master Plan was completed, and the Urban County Art Review Board was merged with the Public Art Commission. Since that time, the group has focused on approving its first Annual Work Plan based upon the goals, strategies and program objectives of the Public Art Master Plan.
The Public Art Master Plan and Work Plan can be found at www.lexingtonky.gov/boards/public-arts-commission.
