Lewes’ Public Art Committee looks to expand its public profile by taking on more events in the coming years.
Public engagement was the central topic at a committee workshop on Wednesday, and committee members seemed to agree that doing more events was the key to getting members of the public more involved in their work. Appointed by the city council, the committee works to identify opportunities to bring temporary and permanent art installations to the city and artists to execute those projects. But, said committee chair Heidi Lowe, not enough people know that.
“I don't think people know what we do or why we do it or what we do,” she said.
Committee members had a wide array of ideas about what form public engagement events could take, ranging from partnering with other organizations to putting on an art parade.
Committee member Debora Hansen stressed that events should focus on getting the community involved in creating art of their own.
“Maybe a weekend of art making is a good way to start, to say what can we do that is an opportunity for people to drop in, make a piece of art, take it with them,” she suggested.
She also floated the idea of making a public engagement event part of any future contracts with artists creating public art for the city.
“Maybe that becomes part of the application for public art in Lewis is that they're willing to engage with the community for a symposium or a workshop,” Hansen said.
Lowe cautioned committee members that it would be difficult to stage an event this year, given the committee’s budget, and urged them to consider any future events as a commitment to stage them for at least three years.
“You cannot do something one year and say it was not successful,” she said. “So whatever we do, we have to love it enough to do it three years to decide if we want to, and we have to have money enough to do it three years, and we have to have energy enough to do it three years.”
One idea that seemed popular among committee members was a yearly display of luminary lanterns on lawns and public spaces around the city, perhaps tied to the winter solstice. Those displays, common in other communities, would be a paper bag, half-filled with sand and holding a small candle or electric light.
Committee member Susan Heller seemed skeptical, leading to an exchange with Lowe about the specifics.
“Part of this proposal, I think, has to include something that aligns this with how do you inform the community there engaging in a public art creative activity?” she asked.
Lowe responded that, by encouraging both artists and the public in creating and displaying the lanterns, the event would align with the committee’s mission.
Members of the committee will be working on outlines for potential events, like the lantern display, to flesh out details over the coming weeks. It would likely be 2027 - and a new budget cycle - before the committee could undertake an event.
During public comment at the end of the workshop, gallery owner and former Public Art Committee member Terry Boyd-Heron said that the city should invest more in public art. Currently, the committee gets about $15,000 per year from Lewes’ budget. He suggested tying art funding to new construction.
“Some cities, for instance, when there's a new build, a percentage - even 1% of a new build - is for art,” he said.
That was an idea that committee member Barry Dunkin supported.
“We fund parks, so why not fund public art?” he asked.
A proposal along those lines would require a vote from city council and possibly from the city’s finance committee as well.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
