---
title: "Percent for art"
description: "A policy that sets aside a fixed share of a capital construction budget, commonly one percent, to commission public artwork as part of the project."
glossary: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary"
source: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/percent-for-art"
---

# Percent for art

> A policy that sets aside a fixed share of a capital construction budget, commonly one percent, to commission public artwork as part of the project.

Glossary: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary  
Source: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/percent-for-art

Philadelphia adopted the first municipal percent-for-art ordinance in the
United States in 1959, and hundreds of cities, states, campuses, and transit
agencies have followed with their own variations. Some apply only to public
buildings; others extend to private development over a certain size. The
percentage itself ranges from half a percent to two percent, and some programs
pool the funds citywide rather than tying each commission to its building.

For anyone managing a collection, percent-for-art programs matter because they
are the steadiest pipeline of new work. The collection is always
growing, and the map of it is never finished.

Related terms: [Public art program](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-program), [Commission](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/commission), [Public art master plan](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-master-plan)

## Mentioned in

- [How to Inventory a Public Art Collection](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-inventory-a-public-art-collection)