Public art can make your town more beautiful, more beloved and more economically productive. 

Public art brings unique value and character to our neighborhoods.
The most successful public art is the result of community desires and goals, not top-down planning.

Featured
When the Need to Develop Trumps Public Art
Jason Schaefer
When the Need to Develop Trumps Public Art
Jason Schaefer

This park has served its purpose and now it's time to move on to the next phase of its life: as a mixed-use development that will support local businesses and bring more people downtown—to stay.

Jason Schaefer
Public Art: Project vs. Process
Gracen Johnson
Public Art: Project vs. Process
Gracen Johnson

Just as we at Strong Towns do not have a formula or solution for productive growth, but rather an approach to development, I believe that effective art is more about process, than project.

Gracen Johnson

Do you care about public art and its place in a strong town? Support the work of Strong Towns by becoming a member today.

Top stories

Featured
How music has helped one neighborhood connect with its past and plan for its future
Nicole Stempak
How music has helped one neighborhood connect with its past and plan for its future
Nicole Stempak

A pop-up music venue is making a big impact in Akron, Ohio.

Nicole Stempak
Sign of the Times
Kea Wilson
Sign of the Times
Kea Wilson

What can signmaking’s past and present tell us about our cities’ futures?

Kea Wilson
A changing city struggles to maintain space for art and artists
David Goodwin
A changing city struggles to maintain space for art and artists
David Goodwin

As new residents move in, will the arts be pushed out?

David Goodwin
When Public Art and Historic Preservation Clash
Alex Pline
When Public Art and Historic Preservation Clash
Alex Pline

Hurdles to revitalization based not on substance but control are the last thing America's cities and towns need.

Alex Pline
Top Stories from Public Art Week (May 15-19, 2017)
Strong Towns
Top Stories from Public Art Week (May 15-19, 2017)
Strong Towns

This Public Art Week, we discussed big questions about the value and role of public art in our towns. Here's what got the most reads this week.

Strong Towns
A Place for Public Art
Rachel Quednau
A Place for Public Art
Rachel Quednau

Is public art doomed to only be invited and placed in locations that are lacking and empty—a band-aid to cover up our cities' design failures?

Rachel Quednau
When the Need to Develop Trumps Public Art
Jason Schaefer
When the Need to Develop Trumps Public Art
Jason Schaefer

This park has served its purpose and now it's time to move on to the next phase of its life: as a mixed-use development that will support local businesses and bring more people downtown—to stay.

Jason Schaefer
Podcast: An All-Night Citywide Art Festival
Strong Towns
Podcast: An All-Night Citywide Art Festival
Strong Towns

For one day in June, hundreds of artists, dozens of venues and tens of thousands of residents take part in a free, all-night art festival in the Twin Cities. Here's the story of Northern Spark.

Strong Towns
The Great Place Project
Rachel Quednau
The Great Place Project
Rachel Quednau

A unique program in Cook County, MN gives local organizations and businesses grants of up to just $1,000 to take on small projects that improve their town. And it's making a big impact.

Rachel Quednau

Related Topics

Placemaking

Placemaking
See Your City Differently by Slowing Down
Daniel Herriges
See Your City Differently by Slowing Down
Daniel Herriges

One of the best ways to deeply understand the place you live is to slow down—way down—the way you get around it.

Daniel Herriges
Creative Reuse Saves a Memphis Building
Suchi Rudra
Creative Reuse Saves a Memphis Building
Suchi Rudra

Untapped, a six-week pop-up beer garden in the landmark Tennessee Brewery in downtown Memphis, might well have been a goodbye party for the long-neglected building. Instead, it caught a local developer’s interest and led to a second life for the historic structure.

Suchi Rudra
Harvesting Hope In Akron
Alissa Danckaert-Skovira
Harvesting Hope In Akron
Alissa Danckaert-Skovira

To visit the Hapi Fresh Farmer’s Market in Akron, Ohio, is to see the beginning of a journey. Seeds have been planted to draw in more residents, more businesses, and to nurture a return to prosperity for the neighborhood.

Alissa Danckaert-Skovira

Architecture

Architecture
A Quiet, Country Life in the Middle of the City?
Alexander Dukes
A Quiet, Country Life in the Middle of the City?
Alexander Dukes

Savannah, GA fulfills the desire for rural home space in a financially sound urban environment.

Alexander Dukes
Bozeman: A Blessing and a Curse
Johnny Sanphillippo
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Johnny Sanphillippo

Bozeman is becoming the new frontier for tech workers who don’t want to slog it out in the Bay Area. What does that mean for the city?

Johnny Sanphillippo
Absolution and the Changing American City
Strong Towns
Absolution and the Changing American City
Strong Towns

How can we be fair judges of city builders in the past while still maintaining a critical eye toward their failings?

Strong Towns

(Top photo source: Brisbane City Council)