Social and Public Art Resource Center

SPARC’s intent is to examine what we choose to memorialize through public art, to devise and innovate excellent art pieces; and ultimately, to provide empowerment through participatory processes to residents and communities excluded from civic debate. SPARC’s works are never simply individually authored endeavors, but rather a collaboration between artists and communities, resulting in art which rises from within the community, rather than being imposed upon it.

The ideas we propagated have gained credibility over the years:

• That art was for everyone regardless of their status in society
• That the distinctions between high and low art, fine art and folk art were false
• That innovation is important only while nurturing the significant traditions in which various ethnic groups preserve their cultures
• That art should not dwell only in rarefied halls but in the places where people live and work
• That the process not only the product, is the measure of the value of an art work
• That all Americans could be participants in the making of art and that collaborations work
• And last… That the arts can have significant transformative impact on the most significant social problems of our time