What works are included in the Public Art Archive?
Any work that has been commissioned and permanently placed through a public art commissioning process is eligible for inclusion in the Archive. Although most of the art included in the Archive has been commissioned in the last 40 years, public art in the United States from all time periods will be accepted.

How much does it cost?
At no cost, the public can:
Search the Archive using sophisticated search functionality, including faceted Solr searches
Map locations of public art for the creation of walking or driving tours
View videos and listen to audio files related to each work
Read detailed descriptions of the work
Connect with an artist with a commissioned work in the system via embedded web link
Access available teaching materials related to an artwork

At no cost, administrators can:
Access all functionality at the public level
Manually add their collections to the Public Art Archive, through an administrative interface. To add a collection, each agency will be asked to provide detailed information about the entire collection in order to maintain the Archive's integrity. Limited free consultation is available. Fee-based, on-site consultation and preparation of collections for the Archive is also available for agencies with limited staff resources.

Agencies with collections in the Archive will be offered full-cycle management and administrative access. The annual introductory licensing fee for this service is $1,500. At this level, the administrator can:
Access all functionality at the public and free administrative level
Access the Archive's collections management system
Use the CaFÉ™ application and adjudication management system at a discounted rate
Communicate via e-mail with all artists in the agency's collection
Use the Archive to publicize a collection
Track a work through the public art process, including maintenance schedules
Archive, search, and retrieve all correspondence
Upload images of newly installed public art
Edit descriptions and other information corresponding to each work in a collection
Add and edit new articles, correspondence, contracts and other items for your use or to share with other administrators
Edit images for each artwork by replacing, adding, or upgrading images with higher resolution or new versions

What is the Timeline for this Project?
The majority of the software has been developed for this site and the population of the Archive and the completion of the administrative segment remain. The timeline for this project is as follows:

June, 2010: Beta launch of the public portion of the Public Art Archive
September 1, 2010: Opening of the public portion of the Archive with pilot collections included
October 1, 2010: Opening of the administrative collections management portion of the Archive
December 1, 2010: Invitation to artists and agents to submit material to the Archive
June 1, 2011: Inclusion of wiki-like participation by the public

How do I add my organization’s collection to the Archive?
There is no fee for adding your organization’s collection to the Archive. To do so, however, your data and data format must meet certain threshold requirements (listed in the following question: "What is required to add a collection?"). Currently, the collections of several agencies are being prepared and installed in the initial “pilot” Archive. If you would like to add your organization’s collection to the Archive, please contact Rachel Cain or Raquel Vasquez at WESTAF. They will help you evaluate the readiness of your data for inclusion and schedule a time to work with you to move your data into the Archive. Organizations with correctly formatted data can have their collection added to the Archive in as little as a few weeks.

What is required to add a collection?
The scholarly structure of the Public Art Archive requires certain information to captured in a specific format for each work record. In most cases, no fewer than five high-quality images of each work are required. Some works, such as two-dimensional portable works, will require fewer images. Complete records will require the following information: title of the work, artist's name and contact information (including e-mail and website), date the work was created, the physical location/address of the work as placed, a description of the placement environment, a description of the artwork type and materials used to create it, project budget, funding source, material, dimensions, selection process description, and description of the work. WESTAF will provide guidance in the preparation of Archive materials. To have your collection's data evaluated for inclusion in the Archive, please contact WESTAF.

What kinds of files can the Public Art Archive accept?
The Archive can accommodate .jpg, .pdf, .doc, .mp3, .mp4 and .mov files.

What is the plan for improving the images on the site over time?
The quality of the images of work across public art collections is highly variable. Unfortunately, some collections may have substantial numbers of low-quality images. A goal of the Archive project is to improve the quality of public art images. As part of our work on the Archive, WESTAF will assess participating organizations' images and work with the sponsoring agency to contract with photographers to improve the quality of the images in their collections. WESTAF will also launch a program that will encourage artists and administrators to submit improved images. If approved as an improvement by the Archive managers and also the participating commissioning organization, the improved image will be accepted and replace poor-quality images. Once the project is more established, the Archive staff is prepared to launch a nationwide program seeking better images.

How can my organization maintain its identity in the Archive?
Each organization that adds its collection to the Public Art Archive will have the ability to create its own page that describes the organization’s public art program and vision. In addition, as the system grows, and in consultation with the field, additional features can be added to the Archive that identify, credit, and engage others in the work of the organization.

What is the long-term vision for the Public Art Archive?
The Public Art Archive is designed to serve as a centralized collections management tool for public art administrators and artists. Administrators will have the tools to publish information about an open call, manage applications as they are received, all the way through the contracting and commissioning process, and perform and track maintenance tasks. Artists can find and apply to calls for entry, upload and organize files of examples of their artwork, and manage their applications through the adjudication and commissioning processes.

The Archive has been designed to allow for flexibility in refining existing functionality and will be developed further to become a fully comprehensive online tool for aiding the research process, manage the selection and commissioning process, and facilitate maintenance tasks.

Collecting and sharing information about public art in a centralized and easily accessible location such as the Public Art Archive will:

Educate the general public about public art and how it serves communities
Increase public visibility of each collection
Benefit administrators, advocates, and researchers seeking to draw from a large pool of data about public art
Advocate for percent-for-art programs and policies
Reinforce best practices in the field
Add to the overall value of public art programs

Who created the Archive?
The Public Art Archive was developed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), a 37-year-old regional non-profit arts service organization engaged in cultural policy and technology development. The core team for this project includes the following WESTAF staff members:

Rachel Cain is the project manager for the Public Art Archive. Rachel has worked on WESTAF technology projects for several years. Prior to joining WESTAF, she worked in the Art in Public Places program for the city of Aurora, Colorado, and was a project administrator for the Colorado Council on the Arts. She holds a bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences with a minor in aviation. In addition, she earned a master's degree in social sciences.

Raquel Vasquez is the associate manager of the Public Art Archive project. She joined WESTAF in 2004 and has served as the primary administrator for both the ArtistsRegister.com and CallForEntry.org. Before joining WESTAF, Raquel worked at the Denver Public Library in the Western History and Genealogy department. A practicing artist, Raquel pursues creative projects that include the combination of traditional studio arts with computer imaging technology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and computer imaging and a master’s degree in library and information science, with honors, from the University of Denver.

Shannon Daut is WESTAF’s deputy director. In addition to her arts policy work for WESTAF, she is responsible for overseeing the operations and strategic vision of WESTAF’s technology systems. She serves on the board of the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film and is a member of the Create Denver Advisory Committee, an initiative of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs. Shannon holds a bachelor’s degree in communication/film studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is scheduled to receive a master's degree in communication from the University of Colorado, Denver, in August, 2010.

Chris DiBartolo is WESTAF’s associate director of technology. He has worked as a project manager, technology consultant, and software engineer. Chris oversees the architectural framework and technological vision of WESTAF's technology systems. He came to WESTAF from Accenture Ltd., where he worked on large and highly complex technology projects across the United States. Chris holds a master’s degree in business administration and entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado at Denver.

WESTAF has been developing and maintaining complex technology systems for more than 11 years and is proud to offer particular expertise in image managment and a high level of system availability and security. Like all WESTAF technology systems, the Public Art Archive is hosted on a highly secure, multi-tier architecture deployed on a clustered server environment located in an off-site secure data center. Our backup protocol is invoked every thirty minutes for all data to ensure multiple copies of all data always exist, in multiple locations. In addition, a purposefully underutilized network consisting of multiple high-speed network providers ensures the type of redundancy necessary to make the Public Art Archive available from anywhere. The WESTAF technical support and program development teams continually monitor all WESTAF systems for optimal availability, reliability, and integrity.

Contact WESTAF
For more information about the Public Art Archive, please contact:

Rachel Cain, e-mail: Rachel.Cain@WESTAF.org | Phone: (303) 629-1166
Raquel Vasquez, e-mail: Raquel.Vasquez@WESTAF.org | Phone: (303) 629-1166
WESTAF 1743 Wazee Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202