SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - The City of Savannah and partners will host the community launch of the Public Art Master Plan on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
The event will be held at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center. Designing Local, Ethos Preservation, and W Projects partnered with the city to develop a "comprehensive vision for integrating public art into the Savannah community," according to the City via press release.
This initiative aims to reach the City’s vision of improving access to the arts for residents with the goal of establishing a public art program and ordinance for the City of Savannah.
“Supporting Savannah’s arts and cultural vitality has long been a priority for the City,” City Manager Jay Melder said. “The Public Art Master Plan will build on the work we have done and provides us a roadmap for creating a public art program representative and inclusive of our entire community. We have a thriving community of talented artists in Savannah. The potential for public art that inspires and enhances our community is exponential.”
Designing Local is a firm specializing in arts and culture planning, comprised of a team of urban planners, landscape architects, and public art administrators.
The Designing Local team started city-wide community engagement events for each Aldermanic District in January and will continue meetings through March.
“The City of Savannah has a wealth of distinctive communities which have unique histories and personalities,” Director of Cultural Resources Stuart Miller said. ”Public art provides a way for residents to tell their stories through artwork that both commemorates and inspires. Through surveys and community meetings, we are asking residents to advise us on how public art can embellish their respective corner of the city.”
Residents can provide input through an online survey and find a list of virtual and in-person engagement workshops at savannahpublicart.com.
Information and feedback gathered will aid with findings and provide an outlet for how the community would like to see the new public art come to fruition.