The Who, How, What, Where, When, and Why's.

From time to time, when the dust settles for an all too rare moment of calm, we are able to turn our attention from the work of fine tuning the mechanics by which UrbanArt fulfills its mission to 'enhance the cultural vibrancy of communities through the development of public art,' to clarify questions about how we do what we do and why.

Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions we are asked on a regular basis.

1. How is UrbanArt funded?
As a non-profit organization, UrbanArt is funded from a variety of sources, both public and private. It receives  compensation from each client for whom it produces projects, such as the City of Memphis, Memphis City Schools, the Memphis Area Transit Authority, the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority, as well as various non-municipal clients in the private sector, such as Boyle Investment Group, and Rhodes College, for example.

However, because these clients' funds only cover the administration of their individual projects on a case by case basis, we also must develop grants from various local and national private foundations every year to keep the lights on and the bills paid. A few of the granting organizations from which we've received support in the past are: ArtsMemphis, the Assisi Foundation, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Hyde Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Finally, we also are fortunate to be the focus of targeted giving from private citizen donors who believe in our mission to enhance the cultural vibrancy of our community through the development of public art.

2. What branch of the City government are you under?
A common misconception is that we are a part of the City of Memphis government. We are not, actually, but are instead a private and independent organization that manages a City-funded program called the 'Percent for Art' program for the as a non-profit sub-contractor. We 'commission' artists to create works of public art for the enhancement of our city's built environment. The 'Percent for Art' program that UrbanArt coordinates for the City of Memphis is under the remit of the Division of Engineering. There are over 300 such 'Percent for Art' programs in cities across the United States today, the first having been founded in Philadelphia in 1959.

3. Why so many committees?

The short answer is because each project will be uniquely designed to reflect the character, culture, history, and aspirations of the residents of the surrounding neighborhood in which the final work of art is sited. So, each individual project needs its own individual committee to provide the motivating logic behind what the completed piece shall become when finished. Additionally, various sub-committees and ad-hoc temporary committees also review projects depending on what community partner, client, or project type you are proposing. Basically, when you're in the public art business, your fundamental modus operandi is that of the group process of decision making. UrbanArt Staff are not the ones actually choosing which projects to do, which artists to commission, or where to even install the projects. Our job is to inform the individuals comprising committees as to the rules of the road, provide them with the data and background information required per every project and coordinate the process.

*NOTE: If private sponsors wish to retain our services to develop a project without committees, that is fine, too!

4. Why does it take so long to produce the projects?
See the description of committees above (ha!). No, but seriously, it requires UrbanArt approximately 400 staff hours per project from start to finish for 'Percent for Art' type projects. That's about 50 individual 8-hour days. Now, if we could tackle one project at a time and devote 50 straight days to it with all partners suspending all their other activities to give us their full attention for the duration of the process, you'd see things turned around at an astonishing pace. However, the reality is that everyone else involved has other work to do outside of any specific UrbanArt project's needs. Therefore, the seemingly simple acts of scheduling, selecting, contracting, reviewing, approving, fabricating, installing, and publicizing each project are really not simple at all! It is far more akin to the process of a tailor building a bespoke suit, customizing each pattern and panel to fit the individual who shall wind up wearing the finished garment, rather than going to Target and pulling a t-shirt off the rack. One size most definitely does not fit all. A good timetable is approximately 18 months. We are now aiming for 1 year from funding to dedication ceremony, but we're not there yet. In some cases, it can take a lot, lot longer.

*NOTE: In contrast, privately funded projects not requiring extensive committee-based processes tend to move very swiftly compared to those mandating a multiple committee structure of production.

5. Why don't you just write grants to fund public art projects?
We would love to, but we are not able to currently devote the time it takes to appropriately research grants for which we are eligible, establish working relationships with such granting organizations, then develop and write grant proposals on an ongoing basis with the substance it truly requires to garner enough funding (reliably) to make it worth our time in diverting staff hours from managing our current projects caseload. In short, we are so busy coordinating all the public art projects for our existing partners, that we are rarely able to develop new funding partners for other types of projects like new media works or biennials, etc. We would love to pursue expanded definitions of public art projects being produced by the likes of Art Angel UK, Creative Time, Figment, Site Santa Fe, Prospect New Orleans, and Digital Graffiti, but the reality is there is not enough financial support for such projects in Memphis, and not enough public clamor to see it that such support might be more forthcoming. That being said, we are constantly researching the possibilities. If you are an experienced grant-writer with a desire to make public art flourish in Memphis, and are willing to donate your time, give us a call!

6. How does the artist for each project get selected?
For 'Percent for Art' projects, each artist we commission to do a project is selected by an individual selection committee assembled for that specific project, then confirmed by the Public Art Oversight Committee.  To summarize, we issue a 'Request for Qualifications' (RFQ) for every project that describes what it's all about. Then the committees make the decisions. After an artist is selected we coordinate the design reviews, approvals, and fabrication processes.

7. Why don't you do more anti-blight type of design 'clean ups' on underpasses, etc.?
Essentially, we don't have the required permission to do it in a manner that is cost effective. Railway and roadway underpasses can be controlled by a variety of property owners, and obtaining the go ahead is incredibly time consuming. Years, not months. In cases where a blighted property is privately owned, however, the time can be relatively swift. Examples of our work on privately held blighted properties can be found in the 'Gallery' section of this website under 'MIFA Paint Days' and 'I Love Memphis Murals'.

8. Why don't you create a project for ________ location?
Property ownership and permission has a lot to do with the site that we are able to produce projects on. If the owner doesn't want a project on a particular site they control, it is out of our hands unless we can convince them otherwise.

Got a question for the list? Let us know at: info [at] urbanartcommission [dot] org, with the subject line: 'FAQ's'.