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LIVABLE CITIES Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

By the time I began my first public art project in Philadelphia, the city’s progressive position had long been codified in an ordinance requiring all public and private development to allocate a percentage of a building’s construction budget for public art. My projects in Philadelphia – Sheraton Hotels, Buttonwood, Penrose Plaza, PNC Bank Operations Center – were collaborations with private developers.

A model for other cities, Philadelphia’s percent-for-art program was the remarkable work of visionary city planner Edmund Bacon. 100 The city established a national standard for percent-for-art legislation in 1959, founding the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia (RDA) Fine Arts Program. Unusual in that it applies not only to public buildings but also to the private development which benefited from Bacon’s planning, the city’s mandate not only requires that one percent of all building construction costs under the RDA be budgeted for original works of art, but those works must be created specifically for public spaces within the development. Philadelphia’s longstanding commitment to public art had long been set by the Fairmount Park Art Association (founded 1872; now the Association for Public Art), another program supporting art in public places, now directed by Executive Director and Chief Curator Penny Balkin Bach. It has produced such innovative works as Jody Pinto’s Fingerspan. One good program in a city encourages another.

Philadelphia has one of the most exceptional public art collections in the country, including sculpture by three generations of Calders. The RDA seeks artists internationally, but local and regional artists have benefited as well. Hundreds of works enhance diverse developments: high-rise commercial and residential towers, industrial plants, universities, hotels, hospitals, libraries, and schools.

Developer, architect, and artist work together from the inception of each construction project, selecting a public art consultant or panel of art professionals to guide the process. The site for art, the artists selected, and the proposal must be approved by the Fine Arts Committee of the Redevelopment Authority (RDA), which includes at least one contemporary art professional, architect, landscape architect, artist, and lay-citizens with an interest in the arts. That the private developer has an integral role in the process is a testament to the city’s commitment to public/private collaboration.

One of the first projects I did for the RDA was with the Korman Company, the developers of a project for Penrose Plaza, a private shopping mall in