Public art is an important and necessary ingredient in the life of a modern city. Art has the power to provoke, inspire and transform. It plays a strong role in shaping place, enhancing the environment and supporting the reputation of a town or city. Art forms a focus for storytelling, navigation and community engagement, it connects places and people. Art can stimulate the local economy, provide opportunities for artists and creative people, and contribute to our shared sense of identity.

The purpose of this strategy is to refocus our relationship with public art, and advocate the value of having a good quality portfolio and programme of both permanent and temporary (including eventbased) public art. Here in Birmingham we have a diverse range of public art, everything from statues of scientists of the enlightenment; the pioneers of emancipation, and civic leaders who fought for the vote during the 19th century; through to late modern artworks such as Anthony Gormley’s Iron:Man (1993) in Victoria Square and Ondre Nowakowski’s Sleeping Giant (1992) near St Andrew’s Stadium, which often has its nose painted blue by Birmingham City Football Club supporters. Alongside these, Birmingham hosts an array of festivals that reanimate our city, allowing us to rediscover the familiar through film, dance, theatre, music and visual arts.

In many cases public art reflects, and is a source of, controversy, debate and difference of opinion. This, in our view, is a good thing. Most public artworks are not intended to be ignored, they are intended to be useful and engaging to a place and to its communities. A Real Birmingham Family is a good example of this, creating something of a media furore and strong opinions both for and against. In considering the future for public art, there is no place for being timid or afraid of controversy. Instead, let’s allow our public art to challenge and contribute to these debates, and act as a catalyst for collective thinking about what we want from our society.

Forming a part of Birmingham’s new Cultural Strategy and the forthcoming City Centre Public Realm Strategy, this strategy reflects a wide range of considerations including quality, impact, local engagement, siting and maintenance. This strategy establishes a framework for commissioning and funding future artworks, and how Birmingham will care for its public art in the context of budget cuts that mean that the council cannot fulfil this task on its own. Looking forward, collaboration in place-based practice and sharing of resources between all of Birmingham’s stakeholders will be needed to ensure we have good quality public art, whether it is temporary, permanent, new or existing.