The term percent for art refers to a program, often a
city ordinance
A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like.
China
In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () ...
, where a fee, usually some percentage of the project cost, is placed on large scale development projects in order to fund and install
public art. The details of such programs vary from area to area. Percent for art programs are used to fund
public art where private or specialized funding of public art is unavailable. Similar programs, such as "
art in public places", attempt to achieve similar goals by requiring that public art be part of a project, yet they often allow developers to pay in-lieu fees to a public art fund as an alternative.
History
Europe
In
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, the percent for art principle was first introduced as an official government policy in connection with the construction of the Finnish Parliament building in the early 1930s, though it was not implemented until 1939. In 1956 the government extended the principle to all public buildings, and during the 1960s individual municipalities also drew up their own schemes. In 1981 the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, an advocate for all Finnish municipalities and regions, recommended extending the principle to all aspects of the urban environment. In 1991 the City of Helsinki became the first city to adopt the policy for all building projects, which led to a vast growth in urban art, even within suburban areas. In 2015 the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture funded a handbook available to the sponsors of public art work under the title "The Handbook of the Percent For Art Principle in Finland", which is also published in English.
In France, one percent of the cost of all public works must be allocated to commissioning a work of art since 1951.
In
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, one percent of the cost of all public works can be allocated to commissioning a work of art. The scheme was introduced in 1978, and extended to all government departments in 1997.
United States
From 1934 to 1943, the
Section of Painting and Sculpture in the
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
followed a policy requiring one percent of the cost of federal buildings to be applied toward art and decoration. In 1959,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
adopted the first such municipal ordinance in the United States.
Other jurisdictions followed suit, including
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
in 1964,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
in 1967, and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
in 1973.
More than half of the states now maintain percent-for-art programs. On the federal level, since 1963 the
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
has maintained the
Art in Architecture Program, which allocates one-half of one percent of construction cost for art projects.
"Art in Architecture Program"
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
(accessed 2015-07-03).
See also
* Arts council
References
External links
Programs:
Australia
Western Australia
Canada
United Kingdom
Bolton
United States
Chapel HillChicagoMadison, WIMaineMontanaNew HavenNew YorkOhioOregonPalm DesertPhiladelphia Roanoke, Virginia
Digital collections:
*
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Publications:
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{{Authority control
Public art
Arts in the United States
Contemporary art