Add to Public Art PDX

Tapping the ‘+’ button displays this email template:

Add details about the art you'd like to find

I had a more robust way to submit art in an early beta version (similar to the photo submission screens in PDX Trees)  but then decided to remove this feature from the initial release while we finalize some of the details of how to process submissions.

Why an email template? It’s not a good design, I know that. My apologies for the awkwardness of it.  I still wanted to have some way for everyone using the app to send us requests directly, without leaving the app. This will change back to a proper submission screen soon.

Until then, if you’re looking for a piece of art in the app, and and it’s not there, let us know and we’ll bump it to the top of the list of ones to find and add. If there is a type or style of art that you’d like to see that’s not in the app, please let us know that, too.

The first release of the app is limited to permanently-sited works that are maintained by Regional Arts & Culture Council. They have excellent records and were willing to make them available, so we started there. Expanding the scope of art presented in the app will be an ongoing process that requires a significant amount of coordination between different agencies. We’re working on it, but we were also eager to make what we already had available to the public as soon as we could. We’ve added more than two dozen works to the app since submitting it to the App Store.

As Cary Clarke (Arts & Culture Policy Directory, Office of Mayor Sam Adams) put it:

Part of what makes Public Art PDX such a unique app is that it is constantly evolving as more art is added to its database. Over 400 works from the City of Portland’s public art collection are already featured on the app, and more are being added. Additionally, Portlanders can suggest pieces from their neighborhoods that they would like to see included in the app. Some personal favorite “unofficial” public art pieces like Scott Wayne Indiana‘s Horse Project or City Repair’s intersection street murals come to mind as good candidates.

Your input helps us decide where to focus our attention. Please let us know what you think, and thanks for contributing to the project.

What kind of art does it include?

If you are a long-time resident Portland, or if you’ve ever visited the area, you probably have some ideas about what art is featured in the the app.

Portlandia? Check.

Skidmore Fountain? Check.

The statue of Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste in Washington Park? Check.

But there are 412 more, and the list is growing.

When I started working with the data provided by RACC, I was delighted at the variety of works listed, from pool-side tiles at a community center:

Streamwatch by Fernanda D'Agostino, Valerie Otani

To murals that cover entire buildings:

Women Making History in Portland by Robin Corbo

I’ve lived within walking distance of downtown Portland for almost nine years, and I’ve encountered hundreds of works of art I’d never seen before, such as this sculpture near the St. John’s Bridge:

"Water, Please" by Don Merkt

And this painting at the Brentwood Darlington Community Center:

A Moment of the River by Laura Bender

On this blog, I will highlight some of the art already in the app, announce when upgrades are released and new pieces added, and explain some of the features of the app in more detail.

I hope the app is a tool for discovery and inspiration, and that it fosters deeper appreciation of and connection to the art and artists that make this city so great.