Last month, Colorado Springs’ City Council voted to adopt Public Art COS, the City’s first public art master plan. The adoption of Public Art COS by City Council follows endorsements by the City’s Public Art Commission; Planning Commission, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Advisory Board; and the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Board.
Since 2001, the CSPM has been responsible for the management and preservation of the City’s permanent art collection, which currently numbers 100 pieces. The majority of these works are located in downtown– eight artworks are on the grounds of the CSPM, 12 on Pikes Peak Avenue in the two blocks between South Cascade Avenue and South Nevada Avenue, and five are in Acacia Park. With this new plan, the museum staff will play a major role in implementing the plan’s goals and strategies.
“Thanks to passionate community members who added critical perspective and valuable input, Colorado Springs now, for the first time, has a plan to guide the aspirational vision for outdoor art in public spaces throughout our city. What we heard most clearly through this process is the desire for a sustained, permanent public art program, and the master plan delivers a framework to help our community achieve exactly that.”
Central to Public Art COS is a mission to build a robust, impactful and more widely accessible public art program. The community-based and action-oriented document aims to better educate and inform residents on the importance of public art as a place-making tool for creating and inspiring community identity. It also provides numerous, prioritized goals and strategies for the growth and sustainability of the public art program.