In praise of public art

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There’s nothing to stop residents and community leaders to get more creative about how they decorate a space

When one thinks of iconic landmarks that cities are known for, Toronto’s CN Tower, the Eiffel Tour in Paris and New York’s Statue of Liberty all readily come to mind.

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But ask your average North American if there’s a single statue or monument that stands out about Antwerp in Flanders, Brussels and you’ll most likely draw a blank.

From my own perspective, having visited the city a handful of times over the years, there are two answers.

The first, most obvious is the towering Brabo fountain in Antwerp’s central square, atop of which there is a sculpture of a young soldier famous for guarding the city during ancient times.

But one could also argue that rather than being known for a single sculpture or monument, Antwerp really deserves to be known as Art City by virtue of the fact its downtown core is graced with hundreds of sculptures and murals.

In Antwerp, the widespread use of public art beautifies the city and in doing so, bolsters public pride. At the same time, these works promote art appreciation at an early age, which no doubt helps to explain why there’s also so many art galleries here which cater to a broad range of interests – from the Rubens House which celebrates the work of the 16th century Master Painter to the FOMU Photo Museum to the MoMU Fashion Museum.

While not every city can match the scale in which Antwerp showcases art, there’s nothing to stop residents and community leaders where you live to get more creative (literally) about how they celebrate and promote public art for the benefit of all.

Here’s just one example of how Antwerp undertook this task last year. When the city launched a major exhibition of an artist known as Ensor, not only were the artist’s works shared amongst several galleries to draw traffic to all of them but a walking trail between the galleries was created along which selected storefront windows also featured works of art. So anyone out and about was subtly encouraged to explore the art whether streetside or actually inside one of the galleries.

Apart from adopting a more creative approach to showcasing art, there is a practical side to how the city manages its art scene as well. Including investing in ongoing maintenance of sculptures, which as the curator of the city’s more than 300 outdoor sculptures shared with me demonstrates that the city is genuinely invested in taking care of its art collection.

It’s also important he added that as in the case of Antwerp if you continue to expand your collection year over year that you pair the right artwork with the right location so they are mutually reinforcing.

Yet another consideration when choosing a site is whether there is space to accommodate seating, or at the very least, that the art is being showcased in a higher traffic area to ensure it will be enjoyed by more people.

Another way to incent more residents and visitors to explore the city’s art – whether there’s a major exhibition on or not – is to create both guided and self guided street art tours.

When it comes to celebrating art, and you aren’t quite yet ready to make your way to Antwerp, there are of course sources of inspiration to be found closer to home.

An excellent example highlighted in a recent Toronto Sun story is how Art City, a youth arts organization worked with developer Medallion Corp. to create a vibrant abstract mural on hoarding at the developer’s construction site in St. James Town.

Further to that, StreetARToronto.ca lists dozens of works ranging from art murals on the side of buildings, to numerous painted traffic light switch boxes – about 350 of them created by local artists dating back to the Outside the Box program launched in 2023.

Similarly, Ottawa has an active mural program as well as a unique Paint it Up youth engagement program which each year encourages kids to submit a mural proposal and if accepted, a specific location is chosen where over the course of the summer the painting is completed.

To learn more about Antwerp and its public art collection, go to visit.antwerpen.be and to get a better handle on public art options here in Ontario, go to destinationontario.com and search “art, mural and graffiti walking tours.”

Mark Wessel lives in Ridgeway, Ont. and is a passionate advocate for living more sustainably at home and in the greater community. Visit www.markdouglaswessel.com.