tc: temporary contemporary is a city-wide, public art program initiated by the Bass Museum of Art with the City of Miami Beach. It seeks to activate the urban landscape with art, surprising and engaging residents, visitors and passers-by with outdoor works of art in unexpected places. Sculpture, murals, sound installations, video and other interactive works of art, will interrupt people’s daily routines and encourage thoughtful interactions with the city and its communities.

ArtPlace caught up with Megan Riley, the Director of External Affairs at the Bass Museum of Art about their unique experience of the Creative Placemaking Summit.

ARTPLACE: How was your experience of the Creative Placemaking Summit held right here in Miami Beach? What lessons did you learn from the other summit participants? 

Riley: Located in Miami Beach, a mere 6 blocks away from The James Royal Palm Hotel, the Bass Museum of Art held a unique position among all of the institutions with creative placemakers present at the summit.  Everyone attending the conference was invited to partake in a tour of our initiative tc: temporary contemporary, which consists of public sculpture installed around the city of Miami Beach. Thus, we were able to receive valuable feedback by having several creative placemakers see our program in action.

As I led a group around Collins Park and the adjacent city blocks, I engaged several creative placemakers in conversations that really encouraged me (as a part of the curatorial team at the Bass Museum of Art) to really push the envelope when it comes to projects like these. I was reminded of the significance and gravity attached to public art projects—the weight that comes with placing a work of art in the sphere of public life, allowing art to confront the public in their day-to-day living. When enacting public art projects, the bureaucratic hoops that institutions must jump through can become inhibiting, but it was these conversations with other placemakers that continually encourage my team and me to press on!

So as tc: temporary contemporary continues on, both in time and space, we’ll remember the conversations we had with other placemakers, encouraging us to continue to engage the public—both its people and its spaces—in ways that challenge the limits of everyday ideas.