Asheville’s Public Art Program has taken on new meaning as the City Council unanimously approved to reallocate $200,000 from the program to ArtsAVL to support local arts businesses impacted by the storm.
The $200,000 came from existing, unassigned funds for capital improvement projects — the reallocation won’t impact any of the city’s ongoing public art projects or long-term management of the Public Art Program.
As Civic Learning Week wraps up, we thought we’d give a quick history lesson on Asheville’s Public Art Program, which was established to strengthen and support the city’s creative identity.
Let’s journey back to Asheville in the 1970s, before our city was decorated with galleries, murals, and public art installations. Residents were starting to notice that Asheville didn’t have nearly as much public art as other cities at the time.
By 1988, a group of volunteers, city officials, and artists discussed the idea of a public walking trail through downtown, highlighting significant people, places, and town history, which eventually became the Urban Trail, which opened in 2002.
In 2000, the city established a Public Art Board and Asheville’s first Public Art Master Plan.
Today, the Public Art and Culture Commission is responsible for the creation and maintenance of public art throughout the city. This includes projects like the playable harp art installation at the Broadway Public Safety Center.
See the full list of ongoing projects.
