A Day of Public Art

On Saturday 13 October 2001, eight excursions to numerous public art works were organized in Leiden, Maastricht, Schiphol, Flevoland, Utrecht, The Hague,
’s-Hertogenbosch and along the Vecht (Kunstwegen). In addition to this an exhibition focusing on art in prisons was held on the same day in the prison complex, Veenhuizen.

‘Dag van de Publieke Kunst’ (A Day of Public Art) was organized in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the so-called ‘percentageregeling’ (percentage regulation). This regulation, implemented in 1951, stipulated that 0,5 to 2 percent of the construction costs of government buildings needed to be allocated to visual art. Countless buildings and, subsequently, complete neighborhoods were, as a result of this regulation, provided with art. At first the implementation of this regulation merely resulted in decorative augmentations. Later, the 1970s it centered on environmental art and in the 1980s many autonomous works were made. These works, which can still be seen on a number of squares and in or around buildings, were developed at a time that art was largely subservient to architecture. As the years went by many of these works lost their original meaning although a few are surprisingly gaining contemporary relevance. Lately more and more attempts are being made to integrate art with architecture, urban planning and landscaping in the early stages of the design process. This development is stimulated by the government. Public art is also once again seeking contact with the public. As a result of this and of the changing significance of the (semi) public spaces where these works are created, one could speak of a new development in public art.
During this day of excursions, the organizers wanted to reveal both the most exciting works that this development has spawned as well as projects from previous years. In doing so their concept of public art was interpreted in the broadest possible sense, including: art in public urban space or in the (semi) public space of government buildings, art in the public space of a modern transportation terminal like Schiphol and art in relation to the empty space of the countryside.

A publication accompanied the Dag van de Publieke Kunst in which all of the excursion programs were described, including information regarding the times and points of departure for each excursion. Many of the works could also be visited individually. The paper additionally published articles containing background information on the development of the percentage regulation as well as articles on the role of the client and the experiences of users. Descriptions of plans for a number of special art projects were also featured in this paper which was distributed to local art and architecture centers as well as public libraries all over the Netherlands.