Alexis Vannett
Mural Art in Mexico & U.S.
Professor Moody
1 March 2017
Who Authorizes and Supports the Production of Public Art?
This question is one that can be discussed perpetually. Many different ideas and opinions come into play. First of all, who gets to decide that certain places have public art? Who pays for it? What is the definition of public art? All of these are questions that play into this topic. In my own opinion, I think that the answer to this question can vary from place to place, and ultimately can only be satisfied when looked at through multiple perspectives. I think it matters where the art is going to be displayed, who is paying for it, and how long it will last in the certain area. In this paper, I will discuss a certain work of public art—that of Jose Clemente Orozco’s mural in the Dartmouth College Library: The Epic of American Civilization.
The first part of answering this question is to look at where the art is going to be displayed. In this instance, The Epic of American Civilization is displayed for the public to view in the basement of Baker Library. Many students study in this part of the library every single day, thus, the mural gets a great deal of people coming in and seeing it this way. There are also people that come in who just want to view the murals for themselves. It is free and open to the public whenever that part of the library is open. Because of this, the murals are so easily accessible to a wide variety of people. Orozco painted these murals knowing this, and Dartmouth College, who was commissioning Orozco, also knew this. The Epic of American Civilization’s audience was and will continue to be broad, and that is very important when asking whether or not this mural is appropriate for the setting.
The next question to unpack is an important one: who is paying for this? Dartmouth College footed the bill with this mural, meaning that tuition money might have been used to make The Epic of American Civilization a reality. This might not be a topic of controversy for some people. However, others might not be too happy that their money is going towards a project like this. When this conflict happens, it is of utmost importance to make sure that the piece of art being created has proven benefits for those who are purchasing it—whether that be directly or indirectly. This is much easier said than done, as it hard to prove this. The way to combat this conflict is to make sure that there is proper education provided to the audience it is made for. Without the available knowledge of a piece such as this, some people might not take the time to appreciate what was created for them to learn from.
The final perspective to look at this bigger question from is how long the piece of public art will last. The Epic of American Civilization was created with fresco technique, meaning that it was created with the intent to be permanent. This is an important decision that Dartmouth College had to make when commissioning Jose Clemente Orozco, as whatever he created on their walls would be there until the walls themselves weren’t there anymore.
When looking at the question Who Authorizes and Supports the Production of Public Art?, it is important to answer it in multiple layers. Those in charge of purchasing the art need to take into account who their audience is, where their money is coming from in order to make the art a possibility, and how long the art itself will last. Only when the answers to these three questions are reasonable can the public art even be at all possible in my opinion. Public art is extremely important, but certain perspectives need to be looked at in order to ensure that it stays important to many people for years to come.