---
title: "Public art master plan"
description: "A strategic document setting a public art program’s direction over five to ten years: priority sites, funding, selection processes, equity goals, and care."
glossary: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary"
source: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-master-plan"
---

# Public art master plan

> A strategic document setting a public art program’s direction over five to ten years: priority sites, funding, selection processes, equity goals, and care.

Glossary: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary  
Source: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-master-plan

The master plan is what separates a city that accumulates artworks from one
that builds a collection. Without it, public art happens wherever a capital
project or a donor happens to put it; with it, each commission is a move in
a larger picture: filling geographic gaps, diversifying the artist roster,
pairing art with the infrastructure the city is already building.

Read any master plan by flipping past the vision to the mechanics: who signs
off, where the money lives, and who maintains what's built. Plans that
answer those three questions get implemented; the rest get admired.

Related terms: [Public art program](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-program), [Cultural plan](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/cultural-plan), [Percent for art](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/percent-for-art)

## Mentioned in

- [What It Costs to Run a Public Art Guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/what-it-costs-to-run-a-public-art-guide)