Public Art Programs: Research Update

Researchers agree that art participation is an important leisure pursuit, with benefits not only to the individual, but also to the community. Art participation can be active, where people create or perform the art, or passive, as is the case when an audience views a performance or a person visits a gallery.

A  Researcher Howard Spector suggests that active art experiences benefit all age groups by providing individuals with the means to freely and creatively express themselves. Self-expression, in turn, promotes individuality, bolsters self-confidence and improves motivation and attitudes towards academic performance. Both active and passive art experiences can provide the benefits of discovery, stimulation and relaxation (Oliphant 2000). Furthermore, people’s participation in art enhances their development and expands their thoughts about culture. In short, art can make individuals more socially conscious.

B  Communities committed to providing opportunities for experiencing art are considered more livable because they are attractive to businesses and industry and they offer a higher quality of life for residents (Riley 2002). Tourism is strongly linked to art--art activities are believed to stimulate tourism in a community, and vice versa. Art-related tourism generates tourists and revenue, attracts high-income consumers, extends the tourist season and is a "green" form of the industry (Hughes 2000). Revitalization efforts have increased in many cities because of the strong presence of art opportunities. Art programs can be highly effective in reducing community problems related to delinquent behavior and truancy in youth (Spector 2000). The Philadelphia Department of Recreation, Mural Arts Program (MAP) is one such program. It began in the early 1980s when the city undertook to remove graffiti in the city while creating a positive, productive and creative outlet for adjudicated graffiti artists, as they used their talents to beautify public spaces through the creation of murals, instilling a sense of pride, excellence, diligence and civic responsibility.

C  In recognition of these and other benefits, communities are finding many ways to ensure that the public is provided with opportunities to experience art. Public art programs are one way. These programs are typically administered by government, which commissions or mandates works of art for display in public spaces. Public art works can include street furniture, decorations, paving and landmarks, and may take on many forms, including sculpture, decorative ironwork, mosaic flooring and murals. The primary purpose of public art is to bring art into everyday life, to energize public spaces and to arouse society’s thinking and imagination.

D  Despite the significant benefits that art participation can offer to individuals and communities, only 35 percent of the American adult population visit museums or galleries at least once during the year, and only about 25 percent attend a live performance (Bradshaw 1998). Even fewer (14 percent) participate directly in photography, painting, drawing, sculpting, dance (other than ballet), creative writing or classical music. If art experiences are so beneficial, why aren’t more people participating?

To help researchers shed light on this question, the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through objective research and analysis, developed ‘A Behavior Model of the Participant Decision’, which can be used to investigate people’s inclinations about participating in an art activity (Yoshitomi 2000). According to Yoshitomi, each person has a disposition related to his or her interest in engaging in an art activity; a person’s disposition is based on sociodemographic characteristics, social or cultural identity, personality and previous experience. The RAND model clusters participants into three groups according to their disposition toward art participation: those disinclined to participate; those inclined to participate; and those currently participating.

E  The RAND findings reveal that the disinclined perceive themselves as being uncomfortable or unfamiliar with art. This disposition might occur among people who do not value art and who have not received art education, or who perceive themselves as unsophisticated or lacking skill to participate. The inclined are interested in participating, but may be constrained by particular barriers, such as cost, time, and proper attire. Current participants are those who are involved, and influence or encourage others to participate.

Researchers suggest that a strong relationship exists between childhood and adult art participation rates. Individuals with a greater number of childhood art experiences are more likely to have higher rates of participation as adults. Although 90 percent of Americans believe art instruction is important for children and should be offered in schools, almost 40 percent of schools either offer no art instruction or have art instructors with no formal art training.

F  One recreation organization working to make sure children get exposed to art is the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which offer two innovative programs: The National Photography Program and the National Fine Arts Exhibit. Both are designed to get children excited about art. The photography program promotes new art that is technologically produced, including video and computer graphics, but primarily focuses on photography. The program provides club members with the opportunity to achieve personal growth and receive artistic recognition through instruction in photography. Participants also display their work at local, regional and national photography contests. The second program is the Fine Arts Exhibit. This encourages artistic expression, creativity, cultural appreciation and the development of artistic skills through classes, special events, exhibits and competitions. It allows participants to explore a variety of mediums, including drawing, painting, print-making, collage and sculpture.

Because art experiences provide so many important benefits to individuals and communities, it is important for community programs to facilitate opportunities and provide encouragement to increase participation in a variety of programs.

Saving the Skink

What can be done to save the skink, one of New Zealand’s most endangered lizards?

New Zealand’s reptiles come in three forms: the tuatara, the geckos and the skinks. With their gleaming scales, long bodies and often surprisingly short limbs, skinks are instantly recognisable. There are more than 90 species, half of which still await formal description. Identification depends on where specimens are found, and such minutiae as the number of scales on their toes. Two of the largest species of skink -- the grand and the Otago -- are found only in Otago, in New Zealand’s South Island. Skinks, being reptiles, need to regulate their temperature, and lie on sunny rocks to absorb heat. However, the grand and Otago are the only kinds that do not hibernate through winter; when snow can fall even in summer in Otago, there is no point in them lying dormant for extended periods. Like all other New Zealand reptiles except tuatara and the egg-laying Suter’s skink, they give birth to tiny baby lizards. Today, the Otago and grand skinks are lucky to reach five years of age in the wild, although in zoos or research centres they can live beyond thirty.

Unfortunately, extinction may loom for these reptiles. With any decline in New Zealand fauna, predation is always suspected, so the efforts of the Department of Conservation (DOC) have focused on controlling specific pests. An example was a six-year project to control the feral cats on the Otago Skink Reserve, launched in the 1990s. Despite the capture of hundreds of cats, skinks showed no signs of recovery; indeed, there were further declines. The trapping programme also revealed rats and hedgehogs to be predators.

Parasite infections are also thought to be on the rise. Although no direct health implications have been detected, the trend is a concern, as it may signal a subtle deterioration in the skinks’ living environment. Infection with mites is suspected of inhibiting reproduction among captive animals.

Another potential threat is habitat loss. Eight hundred years ago, Otago was covered in forest. However, extensive burning produced wide open tussock country. The skink’s response to this change isn’t known, nor what their habitat was in the earlier environment, with its predominance of shrubs and trees. Furthermore, recent intensive farming has led to poor soil. Even if we had the answer to the eradication of predators, we haven’t a clue to the habitat we should be recreating for the skinks, or if where they persist is best for conservation.

It is also puzzling that grands and Otagos are disappearing more rapidly than other species in the same region. The explanation likely lies in their delayed sexual maturity. Taking five years before you can breed is a handicap, since there is little likelihood of surviving that long. If survivors have only two offspring annually, they do little to remedy the situation. The commoner skinks mature earlier and produce more offspring, thereby doing more to counter predator pressure. Not that there is room for complacency concerning these species. As more is learned about the size of skink populations, it becomes clear that even common species may be facing a doubtful future.

So far, DOC’s efforts to eliminate specific predators have not resulted in a recovery of skink numbers. The prediction that less than six years is all the Otagos and grands have left is supported by data from surveys conducted outside the protected areas between 1984 and 2002. These show that more than 50 per cent of sub-populations of both skinks have died out over the past 20 years. Populations in other regions are believed to be smaller, although access issues on some properties limited knowledge. No more than five years remain in which to turn things around -- a close call considering it will be at least three before a detectable response in the populations can be expected owing to their low breeding rate.

DOC’s recovery-programme team has recently embarked upon an experiment to extend nearly two kilometres of mammal-proof fencing around a population of Otagos and grands in the Macraes Flat reserve. Choosing a site was difficult, as with a limited budget and the high cost of the fencing it had to be small. It also had to include vacant space and resources for a growing population. An added complication was that grands and Otagos have subtly different environmental preferences, both of which need catering for.

Because of the danger of imminent extinction, the team has also had to develop emergency captive-management techniques. Specially permitted breeders, who have had some success in breeding the Otago in captivity, are now developing techniques to breed grands. Captive management, however, is a last resort. The priority is to manage and protect skinks in the wild.

Getting the public to understand the plight of these creatures is essential. Without public support, their chances are slim. Conservation is as much driven by public opinion as it is by political decisions. In New Zealand, the situation is more pressing than just about anywhere else on the planet because many of its native birds and lizards have simply not evolved to defend themselves against species introduced in the last few hundred years. In the once-isolated islands that form New Zealand, ecosystem collapse didn’t happen 5000 years ago or even 500 years ago; it’s happening now.

Fortunately, DOC no longer faces these problems alone. The challenge has been taken up by a group of conservationists representing business, science and agriculture.

Central Otago Ecological Trust (COET) aims to establish a refuge for the reintroduction of native species. It has identified suitable habitat and, with the generous support of a local farmer with grazing land there, has begun the construction of a mammal-proof fence to protect a 24-hectare area. The recovery programme and COET provide hope that skinks might once again flourish.