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Join us in Milwaukee, home to a vibrant and growing arts community, for the Americans for the Arts 2006 Public Art Preconference. Feel the city’s new energy as expressed in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s new addition, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and named “Best Design of 2001” by Time Magazine. Experience Material Meaning: Process, Product, and Preservation, this year’s preconference theme, which is designed to foster understanding of the field’s most exciting developments and pressing concerns.

Engage fellow public art professionals, community leaders, and public artists in vital conversations about cutting-edge technology, effective advocacy, public participation and decision-making in the commissioning process, new and uncommon materials, and maintenance and preservation. Explore Greater Milwaukee during excursions to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, and John Michael Kohler Arts Center; tours of local public art; visits to artists’ studios; and views of architectural highlights. Enjoy neighborhood hospitality at evening receptions in the heart of the city.

Preconference Highlights

• Breakfast Roundtables: Wake up with hosted peer dialogues and networking organized around current and compelling issues in the field of public art. Topics include digital standards for public art applications, professional liability insurance for artists, art in private development, public art conservation, and controversy in public art.
• Milwaukee Public Art Tours: Sample Milwaukee’s growing public art landscape during tours led by local artists. Tour themes include the Milwaukee Art Museum and Lakefront Public Art, Racine Art and Architecture, and Monuments to Milwaukee’s Socialist Past.
• A Day in Sheboygan/Kohler: Visit the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; experience the inner workings of the nationally acclaimed Arts/Industry residency program in the Kohler Co. factory; and participate in discussions about the Arts Center’s innovative public art initiatives that connect communities and preserve visionary, outsider, and folk art environments.
• Public Art Review: Enjoy your complimentary copy of the spring 2006 issue of Public Art Review, featuring a profile of public art in Wisconsin. Public Art Review is published by FORECAST Public Artworks, an organization that strengthens and advances the field of public art locally, regionally, and nationally by expanding participation, supporting artists, informing audiences, and assisting communities. Learn more online at www.forecastART.org.