Consulting Services
Public art is a powerful expression of a community’s values, cultures, and histories, and starting or managing a public art program or collection needs expertise. With over two decades in public art, Patricia Walsh has helped hundreds of community leaders across the United States implement policies and programs that authentically reflect their communities.
Whether you're integrating public art into urban development, engaging your community through art, or developing a comprehensive program, Patricia can help. Her expertise inspires stakeholders, guides artists, and empowers public art administrators to use public art for community expression.
Let's collaborate to bring your public art vision to life. Contact Patricia Walsh at pwalsh@pawalsharts.com.
Community- and Equity-Centered Commitment: Public art reflects the community around it and so should the people, policies and systems that manage and develop the work. Patricia’s commitment to service delivery is centered in equitably reflecting the values and cultures of your community.
Services.
Best Practices and Training
Patricia works with your staff and community members to understand best practices in the development of public art projects and programs. Your community may be new to public art or just needs a review of current practices and trends. Let Patricia help you with capacity and education on the creation of your next public art project.
Planning and Policy
Patricia collaborates with your team to craft comprehensive public art plans and policies, tailored to your community's unique vision and regulatory landscape. From strategic planning and stakeholder engagement to developing robust policy frameworks and governance structures, Patricia offers expert guidance to ensure your public art initiatives are well-planned, compliant, and sustainable.
Project Development
Starting a new public art project is a feat for both first timers and seasoned professionals. Let Patricia help you with the initial development of the public art project, from identifying goals, connecting with the community, building partnerships, and selecting the artist.
Research and Evaluation
Understanding the impact that public art has on a community is important for delivering an effective program. Patricia is here to benchmark similar programs, learn from your community, and evaluate how well a public art initiative achieved its goals.
Collection Management and Assessment
Like any investment, public art needs care and maintenance to ensure longevity, and as collections grow, systems to track and manage public artworks are needed. Patricia can review current management processes, provide an initial review of completed artworks to understand the current state of needs, and devise next steps in caring for your public art collection.
Network Building
Connecting like-minded professionals in local communities or across the country is a on-going need to build healthy arts and culture ecosystems. Patricia has been building networks for over a decade and can work with you to find the most authentic means to connect artists, arts administrators, and allied professionals.
Select Projects.
Best Practices and Training
Worked with the national Public Art Network Council to develop best practices for the development of public art projects.
Five years of curating one of the only annual public art conferences in the United States to provide educational, networking, and resource sharing about professionals in the field.
Designed an in-person workshops for the City of Atlanta and Clark County, Nevada to train local artists in public artmaking.
Created virtual trainings for public art professionals to learn about current trends and best practices. Topics included street art, monuments, murals, legal issues and copyright, deaccessioning and crowdfunding, among many others.
Collaborated with Smart Growth America to educate communities on using creative placemaking techniques to address transportation challenges. Trainings were implemented for Buffalo, New York, Bozeman, Montana, and Mariposa County, California, and a comprehensive DIY toolkit was created.
Planning and Policy
Created a promotional strategy document for DezArt Murals Agency to inform government, corporate, and cultural clients about services and community impact in Abu Dhabi and beyond.
Worked with non-profit Local Artists. Local Art to draft a percent-for-art ordinance, a tax increment funding (TIF) policy, and update lodging tax language in support of local artists for Omaha, Nebraska.
Coordinated the city of Las Vegas public art master plan efforts with the inclusion of feedback from local stakeholders, elected officials, and senior staff to expand the relevance of the program.
Developed guidelines for the management of the Americans for the Arts advisory councils through the coordination of several internal departments.
Lead a design thinking approach at Americans for the Arts to identify more effective ways to engage presenters for department-related events.
Built the Public Art & Civic Design Strategy at Americans for the Arts to update legacy programming to be in alignment with the needs of public art administrators and organizational goals.
Project Development
Identified artists and completed research for the Ulster County, New York planning department to communicate the role of agricultural districts to local farmers and businesses.
Created RFPs and organized selection committees for identifying artists for public art master plans, temporary artworks, and permanent public art projects for the City of San Jose, California.
Administered temporary artworks in collaboration with city departments and regional transit agencies to engage commuters along the San Fernando Corridor as part of a community engagement and transportation plan.
Collaborated with the City Manager Office to implement a high-profile art tour for the International City Managers Convention to promote Downtown San Jose.
Developed the Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design to annually award $30,000 to an individual who supports, develops, or manages the incorporation of art into the design of places across the United States.
Research and Evaluation
Researched guidelines and policies for the implementation of wayfinding systems and public art in the historic area of Taos, New Mexico.
Evaluated a professional development cohort of municipal arts and culture leaders funded by the Walmart Foundation for the Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange.
Developed a survey of over 700 public art programs in the United States to understand the current make-up of the field and create educational opportunities.
Implemented the community and artist evaluation process to understand the impact of five public art projects as part of the Natick Center Creative Placemaking Strategy in collaboration with the Massachusetts Area Planning Council and American Planning Association.
Co-managed the Americans for the Arts public art and arts education research project to create tools and learning opportunities for arts educators and public art practitioners.
Collection Management and Condition Assessments
Created collection management policies for the Public Art and Visual Art collections of Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation/Maryland National Parks and Planning Commission, and facilitated a two-day training program to build cross-departmental collaboration on the care of arts and culture artifacts across the organization.
Developed ongoing assessments of the City of San José’s public art collection to identify potential maintenance issues and create an annual conservation plan and budget.
Organized materials for over 250 public art projects in hard-copy and digital form for easier access to archived information on completed artworks.
Oversaw the restoration of a two-story metal and acrylic mural by JoeSam in collaboration with the artist and private partners for San José Ice.
Trained volunteers to assist in the maintenance of 30+ site specific artworks by Mel Chin located at the City of San José/San José State University Main Branch Library.
Network Building
Facilitated the Public Art Network an online community of over 500 public art professionals and artists to identify trends for relevant programming and ensure connectivity of like-minded colleagues from around the country.
Evaluated a professional development cohort of municipal arts and culture leaders funded by the Walmart Foundation for the Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange.
Ongoing advisor for the Arts and Planning Division of the American Planning Association to build effective programming to connect the arts with community planning trends.
Researched best methods for developing regional public art networks to encourage and empower the growth of additional networks.
Initiated the monthly Public Art Connection Newsletter for over 1300 active members that has a consistent 30% or above open rate.