With the civilization of our species there have been a dramatic increase in public art. Many think that the major reason of public art is because of the beautification it provide to the human eyes but this is not the major reason as public art are basically defines the culture and the history of a country or its people. Moreover, public art have also one of the ways that many have been able to capture history and bring a sprit of personality to places. One example of such art is the Runquist Murals of the Development of Arts and the Development of Science.
The Murals by the Runquist brothers of the development of arts and science first and foremost represent the history of human civilization in both fields of arts and science. These pieces of arts do not only signify beauty but also history. As Erika Doss points out in her article Public Art Controversy: Cultural Expression and Civic Debate that “Public art’s multifaceted dimensions segue with the multifaceted forms and multiple publics of America itself” (Doss, 2). We can see this happening in the case of the Runquist’s bothers murals, as there is a diversity, which shows the contribution of different cultures toward the development of art and science. Moreover, such diversity also represents the culture of where a mural was painted as in the case of Runquist murals it represents the culture of Oregon. Presented in the University of Oregon Knight Library, this mural serves as an object of civic beautification, civic identity and spirit of a place.
Erika Doss states the importance of place making as she states that “A widespread interest in genius loci—spirit of place—has helped generate site-specific works of art: public art projects that engage specific factors such as location, audience, and history” (Doss, 5). These factors contribute towards the uniqueness of a particular place in the modern world as well as towards to it beautification. The process of using art as a method of place making as become thoroughly common in the modern world. Many countries and cities now represent their culture, values, and history with art. Their usage of art in place making is not limited to the usage of representation but also to inspire people, to show a community of commitment and to signify the values such as peace, friendship and love. Public art place making also serves in economic benefits to a country or a city as it attracts the attention of tourism.
Though, Public art have many benefits there are always controversies that immerge from public arts forms and individual thoughts about them. As Erika Doss defines the cause of the controversy nature of public arts she states “public art controversy relates to the essentially conversational nature of the art itself” (Doss, 6). There many reasons of public art controversy but one of the main is the lack of diversity among public art. As Doss explains a controversy that occurred because of the lack of diversity is The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C. as she stats that “his public sculpture was deemed inadequate by disability activists, who insisted that Roosevelt’s memorial more blatantly commemorate their own interests” (Doss, 6). This controversy shows how the lack of diversity can cause controversies among public art. Thus, diversity of public arts in all form is necessary towards its usage as a public art.
Finally, I think that public art plays an important role in society especially when it comes to representation of cultures, uniqueness of society and civic beautification. Moreover, public art is also an important aspect of our history that has developed with our civilization and it has also been an important asset in the studies of previous civilization that lives before us. Public art is also a visual representation of the achievement of our species that’s has contributed to civic improvement over the life of our species. Today, public art is the identification of our species and stand as a symbol of our values. Therefore, an important aspect of public art is the diversity of it to represents us as a species. In this view, my personal view about public art is; public art is merely a mirror that shows us our selves but in a manner of historical, cultural, and symbolic aspect as it can be seen in the Runquist murals.
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