Public Art Now!

A Public Art Campaign to empower younger culture and voices in public art.

FrancisKnight were commissioned by Great Place: Lakes & Dales (GPLD) to produce a public art plan, focusing on the geographical area primarily based along the A65 linking Skipton to Grasmere.  GPLD aims to use art, culture and heritage to attract and retain younger people to live and work in the Lakes & Dales. 

 At first an assessment was made of the types of public art already commissioned in the area and by talking with artists, creative businesses, organisations and developers about what they wanted to see.  The next step involved exploring how local public art strategies and policies could support more joined–up working for the project partners and making recommendations to ensure younger people will continue to be included in future decisions. 

Then the Public Art Now! campaign was developed for public art to be embedded in the future working of the four GPLD partners – Craven District Council, South Lakeland District Council, Yorkshire Dales National Park and Lake District National Park. 

The campaign is intended for the local authority and national parks officers and their planning teams and describes a continued, organised effort to raise awareness, advocacy and actions for the role, provision and future delivery of public art.    

The campaign was designed to open up opportunities for younger creatives to get more involved in public art. It aims to demystify and redefine public art to make it more accessible. It creates potential for public art guidance for planning authorities to open up opportunities and engage with developers. This will enable meanwhile uses of empty spaces, continued professional development for artists, and more creative, community-led planning, as well as a programme of public art bursaries and a digital marketing campaign for public art.