City proposes eliminating public art committee in favor of task forces
More than 600 people provided feedback to the city about public art, and city officials recently released an update to the city’s public art master plan detailing the future of public art in Reno. The draft plan, developed in 2024, aims to expand the city’s public art program over the next decade.
The plan calls for launching larger public art initiatives. Highlights include expanding public art near the river and increasing the number of murals around the city. One proposed focus is light-based art that explores Reno’s relationship with natural and artificial light.
As part of the plan, the city’s public art committee will be dissolved in favor of task forces for project oversight. The public art committee is part of the city’s arts and culture commission of volunteers.
Megan Berner, the city’s arts and culture manager, said the task forces will increase public participation.
“The task forces are intended to be more inclusive and bring more stakeholders and community members into the process,” she told This Is Reno. “These would be run as ad hoc committees that would follow the open meeting law. The hope is that it will help us gather more public input relevant to those directly impacted by the artwork and allow for more direct participation in the process.”
Most public art projects are vetted by the public art committee under a 20-year-old program.
“The task forces will allow other community members to be involved in the process directly so that it is not just this one group of 11 community members that have a large influence on the direction public art projects take,” Berner added.
The plan also proposes changes to the city’s public art ordinance to provide more flexibility in funding. New programs like “Small Walls” for rotating murals and a temporary sculpture exhibition are proposed to provide more opportunities for artists and enliven city spaces.
The City Council is expected to review the final draft of the plan for adoption in March 2025. If approved, implementation of the new initiatives could begin later in the year.
Read the plan here.
Source: City of Reno