Public Art: Revitalizing Our Everyday Surroundings  

The Puerto Rico Public Art Project, a program of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, Urbanism Directorate, recently launched the English version of its Web site Public Art: Tangential Spaces , an impressive showcase of close to 100 public art works made possible by an investment of approximately twenty-five million dollars. Here you will access information about the evolution of the projects, participating artists and related subjects.
     The Puerto Rico Public Art Project will generate a varied selection of works by local and foreign artists, turning the island into a live museum, and endowing it with an impressive public art collection. In this site, you will see works under construction. You will also find "Tangential Spaces", a cover section of essays devoted to art, the city, and intervention in public spaces. Moreover, you will be able to access the official competition announcement, information about the members of the jury, and a location map of the works.

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A message from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Honorable Sila María Calderón, upon the inauguration of the Puerto Rico Public Art Project Web site

I am pleased to present to the Puerto Rican people the Web site of the Puerto Rico Public Art Project. This initiative gives continuity to a program that began when I was mayor of San Juan, and that, due to its success there, I have extended to the entire Island.
    The Public Art Project, will endow the country with a valuable art collection, highlighting and enriching its open spaces and the everyday life of the people, by means of the beautification and rehabilitation of towns and cities. With an investment of $25 million for the production of nearly 100 works, Puerto Rico will be the setting of a rich sample of contemporary art.
    In this site, you will find information about the progress of the project, and the transformation of urban centers, recreational spaces, and sites of historic and cultural value. We hope that it will encourage local and international tourists to visit the island and enjoy the beauty of our towns and cities.

Welcome!

A message from Doctor Fernando Fagundo, Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works

The Puerto Rico Public Art Project is an unprecedented effort in its acknowledgement of the unique social value of our public spaces and the essential importance of art for a people.
    The development of artistic activity, in addition to requiring the strengthening of educational programs, demands that the Government facilitate the implementation of forums and workshops such as this one, where artists may express their ideas about reality through their creations.
    The Puerto Rico Public Art Project has been greeted with enthusiasm by artists, critics and others; to the extent, that our island will be the setting of approximately one hundred works
    This project provides a great opportunity for our artists, and, furthermore, an instrument for citizens to make a vital connection between the artist and his or her work.
   Through these pages you may access our great, common living room: our public spaces.

A message from Architect Diana Luna, Executive Director, Directorate of Urbanism

Welcome to the Internet portal of the Puerto Rico Public Art Project (PRPAP). In this interactive site you will find updated information about the installation of selected works, about the artists, and many other interesting anecdotes.
    The Public Art Project is an unprecedented initiative of Governor Sila María Calderón. Its main goal is to improve the quality of life of Puerto Ricans. With this in mind, the PAP will install more than ninety pieces throughout the island, taking art to everyday spaces, such as urban centers, coastal areas, train stations, highways, and others.
    As Executive Director of the Urbanism Directorate, a unit of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, I am committed to projects such as this one, which promote economic and social capital investment. These projects foster the rehabilitation of public spaces that are the settings of our everyday existence, and shape the lives of all Puerto Ricans.

I hope you enjoy surfing this portal: Public Art: Tangential Spaces.

Introduction to the competition guidelines of the Puerto Rico Public Art Project, Architect Miguel Rodríguez

For ancient man it wasn't enough to satisfy his hunger and thirst, nor to adapt his body to a cold and hostile environment. From the first day of history, man needed to express himself artistically, to find his place in a universe that he hardly understood, with the hope of controlling it through an aesthetic spell. The first artistic expression occurred in the intimate surroundings of the cave, where the most profound fears and the most basic desires acquired form in a private ritual performed by a human being with a desire to live and with an innate feeling for pleasure and beauty.
    The birth of civilization coincided with the emergence of a creature that had learned to express his fears through art. Back then, long before there were any cities, art was already public in the first bonfires of history. It was born together with language, or perhaps it surged ahead like a restless twin who is the first to cry, while the other cried out at the wrong moment in an echo of confusion and life.
    Since then, people of all ages and of all levels of intelligence, in rich nations and poor, drew near to art, in their own manner and in their own time.
   The millennium has not dissipated our thirst for art. The confusion of humanity's first days has apparently not surrendered to history. The assertions of civilization provoke more questions, some new, others, not so new. As long as doubt exists, there will be art.
   Millions of years have changed our universe and our place in it. We no longer see or feel things the same way. The acceleration of change in the 20th century transformed our cities and our fields. The market came to stay and its influence has irreversibly affected the way we make and understand art. We're no longer what we once were; we too have changed. Where is our art headed?   Where will it take us?
   The place, which once served as a point of reference to situate ourselves in the universe, has become a confusing network where what is local and what is global co-exist. Both spheres overlap in such a way that we often confuse them, without much thought to restoring their essence. Can art exist as a new point of reference, a hard or soft mark, permanent or ephemeral, clear or confusing, of our place in the universe, of our relationship with it and with ourselves?
   Let us examine our surroundings and ourselves with the certainty of the native and the curiosity of the visitor. Let us reconstruct our surrounding landscape with art. Let's reinvent this landscape and reinvent art along with it. Let us look once again at our environment, as it was originally and as it has been transformed. Let us find beauty in the imaginary world and in the current hyper-reality of Puerto Rico. Somewhere, between the fantastic and the factual, we exist.

Artist and spectator come and join the Puerto Rico Public Art Project.

Read the original competition guidelines.

On-line Bibliography

Hasta este momento contamos con 71 referencias. Si desean incluir algún recurso adicional, por favor envíen la información a través de el enlace "escríbanos" o a administrador@artepublico.puertorico.pr. Por favor incluya los siguientes datos:

1. Nombre del libro
2. Autor
3. ISBN
4. Editor
5. Fecha de edición
6. Categoría: ArtePúblico, CríticaArte, Exposición, AntologíaArtistas, Novela, Multimedia, Filosofía, Internet, Ficción, CríticaCultural, Referencia, AntologíaCrítica, EnsayosMonográficos y Otros.
7. Comentarios acerca del libro.