APAN Summit 2019 – Medicine Hat
Public Art:
Challenging Assumptions
and Expectations
APAN 2019 explored where and how public art can change, be reconsidered, refocused and reconstituted. By exploring current issues, we examined the relationship between public art and our contemporary context, public art’s responsiveness and importance to our everyday lives.
We came together in Medicine Hat with artists, curators, and administrators to reflect on processes and structures in public art, and to support more critical ways of thinking and working.
Download a summary of the summit HERE.
Download the program HERE.
Keynote Speaker:
David Garneau
Uncommon in the Commons: Non-Colonial Public Art
Public art is a relationship between people and special things in public spaces. It is a moment when a mere real thing becomes animated by attention and care, and where individuals become social beings. Public art is the expression of shared desires and aspirations. This talk looks at how public art might perform and inspire non-colonial, non-patriarchal, and non-capitalist social spaces, beings, and relations.
David Garneau (Métis) is a Visual Arts Professor at the University of Regina. His practice includes painting, curation, and critical writing. Garneau has recently given keynote talks in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and throughout Canada. He is part of the curatorial research project Creative Conciliation; Sensory Entanglements, a 5-year, Australia/Canada, SSHRC-funded creative research project; and is working on the Tawatina Bridge project, a large public art work for the City of Edmonton. His paintings are in numerous public and private collections.
The Schedule
Friday, September 13, 2019.
Friday Evening Mix & Mingle
Saturday, September 14, 2019.
Session 1 – Breadth of Public Art: Contemporary Public Art Practices Internationally – Ciara McKeown
Breakout #1: The Logistics – Artist Calls – Randy Niessen
Breakout #1: The Big Picture – Creating New Narratives: communication and education strategies – Andrea Linkert
Session 2: Commissioning Strategies – Barbara Cole
Session 3: Indigenous Perspectives – Lead by the Moh’kinsstis Public Art Guiding Circle
Public Art Tour – Deborah Forbes & Arne Handley
Medalta in the Historic Clay District Tour
Keynote: David Garneau
Sunday, September 15, 2019.
Session 4: Curating Collections: Care and Intent of the Curator – Barbara Cole & Diana Sherlock
Breakout #2 – The Logistics: Contract Management – Dick Averns, CARFAC
Breakout #2 – The Big Picture: Place and Context – Artists’ Talk and Discussion – Artists Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis with Aaron Nelson (City of Medicine Hat)
Free Bonus Event: Post-Summit Pot Throwing at Medalta
September 13-15.
The UpFront Project
For three days, the front lawn of the Esplanade served as the studio for local artists and artist groups as they produce temporary public art while fostering public participation in the creative process. The work shared the artists’ perspectives on current issues such as the environment, consumerism and mental health that affect our everyday lives. The UpFront Project brought artists and their work out of studios and galleries into a casual and alternative setting, to encourage community interaction and social engagement, and to generate an upfront and open dialogue surrounding the deeper meaning of each piece.