City Of West Palm Beach AiPP Program Commissions 15 Artists, Offers Coronavirus Relief

From City of West Palm Beach:

July 30, 2020

The City of West Palm Beach Art in Public Places (AiPP) program committee announces the commissioning of 15 professional, Palm Beach County artists for “The Commons: 15 Artists, 15 Locations” project. The project brings work to the local creative community, provides monetary relief during these challenging times, and launches a new wave of public art in West Palm Beach.

The selected artists are:

• Amauri Torezan,
• Andrew Ulloa,
• Anthony Burks,
• Ates Isildak,
• Batia Lowenberg,
• Dana Donaty,
• Emilio Apontesierraparetti,
• Erick Marquez,
• Gregory Dirr,
• Ken Mullen,
• Mayling Marquez,
• Missy Pierce,
• Nicole Galluccio,
• Robert Fehre, and
• Trina Burks.

City Commission unanimously approved $90,000 from the AiPP Reserves to provide an Artist Relief Initiative during Covid-19. Private developers who have contributed to the AiPP fund have afforded this opportunity to our local artists.

15 multidisciplinary artists were selected by the AiPP committee after responding to the City’s Call for Artist. Each selected artist will receive $6000 to create unique artworks that reflect, comment, and reimagine our common spaces during COVID-19.

Public spaces inherently connect us to one another. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our public environment and inadvertently created a greater tension between the public and private spaces. The Commons: 15 Artists, 15 Spaces project provides an opportunity for our local artist community to ask what we seek from our public spaces and how to safely rebuild our community in solidarity after isolation, while receiving them economic relief.

“We are excited to be working with a diverse and talented pool of artists who will each add their unique voice our commons,” said Sybille Welter, Administrator of Public Art and Culture. “Each artist will also determine their public space as they develop their art concept which will be brought back to City Commission for approval.”

The West Palm Beach Art in Public Places (AiPP) Program seeks to create public art that encourages artistic exploration, infuses creativity into the City's diverse neighborhoods, celebrates the City's historical richness and embraces art as an integral part of everyday life to transform the City into a local, national, and international destination.

Learn more on the City Website at https://www.wpb.org/our-city/art-in-public-places or email either aipp@wpb.org or scwelter@wpb.org.

This press release was produced by the City of West Palm Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.