---
title: "Public art"
description: "Artwork in the public realm: murals, sculptures, installations, and monuments anyone can experience without a ticket, usually commissioned for a shared space."
glossary: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary"
source: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art"
---

# Public art

> Artwork in the public realm: murals, sculptures, installations, and monuments anyone can experience without a ticket, usually commissioned for a shared space.

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

The defining quality of public art isn't the medium. It's the audience. A
gallery decides who walks in; a plaza doesn't. That openness is what makes
public art collections such a strong civic asset, and also what makes them
easy to lose track of: works accumulate across decades, departments, and
donors, and nobody's job is to keep the whole picture.

Most cities hold far more public art than residents realize. Making the
collection visible (mapped, photographed, and told as a set of stories) is
usually the single most valuable move a city or arts organization can make
with work it already owns.

Related terms: [Mural](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/mural), [Sculpture](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/sculpture), [Installation art](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/installation-art), [Public art program](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/public-art-program), [Placemaking](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/placemaking)

## Mentioned in

- [From Open Data to a Living Guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/from-open-data-to-a-living-guide)
- [What It Costs to Run a Public Art Guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/what-it-costs-to-run-a-public-art-guide)
- [How to Evaluate Public Art Mapping Software](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-evaluate-public-art-mapping-software)
- [Ten Ideas for Your Next Public Art Tour](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/ten-ideas-for-your-next-public-art-tour)
- [What Happens When Public Art Goes Away](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/what-happens-when-public-art-goes-away)
- [Where Is It, Actually? Pinning Public Art on a Map](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/where-is-it-actually-pinning-public-art-on-a-map)
- [How to Photograph Public Art for Documentation](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-photograph-public-art-for-documentation)
- [How to Document Public Art When You Don't Know the Artist](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-document-public-art-when-you-don-t-know-the-artist)
- [How to Inventory a Public Art Collection](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-inventory-a-public-art-collection)
- [Why the Map Comes First](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/why-a-map-first-guide)
- [Introducing Civic Collection](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/introducing-civic-collection)
- [Public art inventory field checklist](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/public-art-inventory-field-checklist)
- [RFP language for procuring a public art guide](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/rfp-language-for-procuring-a-public-art-guide)