Public art, from the meaning of word, we know that it is artwork in the public place. The public art is everywhere in people’s life. Like the fountain in the park, the sculpture on the campus, the mosaic on the wall, or even the building façade. These things are all public art. Some of these things are public funding, and some of them are private funding. No matter what funding they are, they are all shown up publicly. In my opinion these public art is not decided by government or any organization, the public art should be voted for their existence. Public art is like the word of this city. They could express the local culture and citizens’ spirit. Every city has their own public art, and there is no exactly same public art in different cities. People could also know a city from the city’s public art. When people see some famous landmark or sculpture, the city’s name will come up in their mind. This is the charm of public art. After reading this article of Doss E, I want to talk about the place-making, spirit of a place, and civic improvement.

I think the very important thing of public art is the place-making. This is a very complex problem of it. The place that you want to put the public art will decide how many people will see the artwork, what kind of people could see it, is this artwork fit the environment around it, or is this place safe for this artwork. From the Doss  E’s article “Public art controversy: Cultural expression and civic debate”, she says that “Public art is seen as a solution to the problem of placelessness, especially in its ability to remedy social alienation and generate a sense of civic and community identity” (Doss, 2006). A public art has ability of cohesion that could make people feel together and united. When people see some of the public art, it just like a tribal symbol tells people who are they and what they should do. This also depends on what the artist want to express from the public art. The artist for a public art is the key of it, their expression or spirit would influence a lot of people.

Let’s talk about the spirit of a place. Like I mention in the first paragraph, the public art should fit with the environment around it. A public art will tell people things that about this place it stands. This is the meaning of public art, because it could express spirit to people. The public art will last a long time, it will not only effect one generation. Just like Doss mention in his article, “But the sort of identity and relevance that public art is supposed to generate—not to mention which American public a public art piece is meant for.” (Doss,2006) The public art is an information carrier and a spirit spreader. Just like the pioneer sculpture on our campus. Pioneer is the spirit of West. This sculpture is a walking old man, his eyes stare the further place. This sculpture might want to tell students, being brave and put the view to the future. No matter what happen do not stop and keep moving. These spirit is just fit the university. This is a solemn sculpture, and the campus also is a solemn place. The sculpture just fit there. With some flowers around it, it also remind us to remember pioneer. The sculpture is made by bronze, so it will last a very long time on UO campus. Every people who have been UO will feel its spirit. It will remind different generation of people.

When we talk about the public art, fist we will think about is public art should beautify this area or this whole city. People build this public art do not want it to destroy the outlooking of this area, their motion is to make this place better and greater. Like the author says in his article, “A public art Public culture can be contentious, especially in a country that values individualism, freedom of expression, and First Amendment rights, and yet also prizes communal experiences and relationships.” (Doss,2006) The public art make the civic more valuable and it improve the city.