Originally planned as an in-person one-day event for last March, the forum has been revised and adapted to a two-day online event in light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. This Zoom gathering will emphasize creating meaningful connections between artists, communities, and partners, with a renewed and urgent focus on the racial and cultural equity of our civic spaces. A guiding question for the forum will be: How do we extend access and equity within public art?

Participants – including artists, community leaders, and city partners - will take away practical knowledge of who is creating public art, how they create it, and awareness of critical perspectives in the field. Through several panels, participatory workshops, and constructive critique sessions, the forum will encourage sharing on all aspects of the public art process from multiple, intersectional perspectives. Part of the discussion will also be about what has been learned during the three years of Now + There’s Public Art Accelerator program including how to increase local artists’ production of public art and collaboration between artists and communities they work as well as to assess the outcomes of resulting artworks. Participants need no formal or prior experience in public art to experience.