PUBLIC ART PARTY #4

Please join us for PUBLIC ART PARTY #4: FUTURE SHOOK at the Van Alen Institute, a driving force behind community-led urban design in New York since 1894!

Artists, fabricators, public art administrators, real estate developers, private art consultants, public art curators and more are welcomed to join this community building event. Learn more about the PUBLIC ART PARTY.

In the public art world, we don't have natural meeting places like gallery openings, art fairs, or residencies. This is our chance to meet, talk, make friends, hang out and have fun together.

The event will kick off with “Hot Topics in Public Art,” an interactive and irreverent conversation with experts from across the field. Our topic will be Future Shook, a play on Future Shock, a 1970 book by Alvin Toffler, who coined the term "as a way of describing the social paralysis induced by rapid technological change." That change has only intensified in the past 56 years, moving faster than we can grasp or counteract. Who can blame us for feeling shook?


What is the future of public art as it faces these light speed changes? Not just in terms of adopting new materials and technologies, but what we ask of public art. How will those demands expand or limit public art's artistic possibilities? How will permanence or temporariness affect what artists decide to make, how it's funded, and how it's received by the public? Prepare to ask and answer questions!

“Hot Topics in Public Art” Panel (in formation - stay tuned!):

Shaun Leonardo

Executive Director, Socrates Sculpture Park

Jean Cooney

Executive Director, Creative Time

Mia Pearlman

Artist and Moderator

And then...we will get the party started! At 8:30pm, all are invited to join the afterparty at a Hidden Rivers one block away.

All ticket proceeds cover event production costs. If the ticket price is a barrier to entry, please email studio@miapearlman.com for a complimentary ticket.

PUBLIC ART PARTY is organized and hosted by Mia Pearlman in the spirit of community.