Although most people associate civic art with outdoor sculptures, there are more surprising ways to view it in Los Angeles. For instance, the swerving ramp beneath the skateboarder’s wheels in the park, the shimmering fused glass wall at the neighborhood urgent care center, or the coloring book made for kids whose parents are admitted to a public hospital are examples of municipal art.
The Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection includes all types of civic artworks—both modern and historic—located on County sites. The Civic Art Division actively collaborates with artists, County departments, and communities to commission socially engaged works.It also supports conservation initiatives, artistic and cultural services, and a changing range of programming across Los Angeles County’s unincorporated areas across all five Supervisorial Districts.
How may local communities benefit from civic art? The Civic Art Division of the Department of Arts and Culture aims to do “placekeeping,” which is responding to and sustaining cultures in the many neighborhoods they serve, given that Los Angeles is the most populous county in the United States, home to over 10 million people.
For instance, Abbott Construction designed the civic artworks at Olive View Restorative Care Village to create a healing, welcoming environment where patients and staff feel a strong sense of belonging to the neighborhood. In addition to recording sentimental objectives in their own words, the Civic Art Division held discussions with neighborhood people to learn what types of artwork they desired on-site. These phrases then served as the foundation for the artists’ design development. The neighborhood responded enthusiastically to the completed pieces, which included a fused glass panel, a micrography triptych, and two outdoor murals. They honored Olive View’s history, culture, and close ties to the natural world while exuding a general feeling of optimism.
