Resources

Guidelines for a Public Art Plan contents list can be found in The Public Art Commissioning Toolkit (Appendix) which can be downloaded from the Resources page on the website. Please note that this list is not extensive and is purely a guideline only. Public Art Plans are bespoke to the site and condition and vary in length and detail. There is also an option for ‘further details’ outside of the plan to be submitted to the Case Officer and Public Art Officer and changes agreed should the Plan need to be updated throughout the process of delivery.

These two terms use different language to describe the same document.

Your next step will be to commission a Public Art Producer to work with you on identifying cultural opportunities for your site and to write the Public Art Plan. Please see both the Producer Directory and The Public Art Commissioning Toolkit on the Resources page for guidance on process.

A Percent for Art

In 1991 the Arts Council of Great Britain initiated the Percent for Art Campaign. This is mentioned in Bristol City Council’s 2003 Strategy and is still followed as national guidance – it is a well established principle.

Bristol City Council recognise the ‘percent’ as meaning 1% of the capital construction cost of developments. In line with the national guidelines the City Council expect that 1% of the total build cost is allocated to public art and culture to mitigate the impact of the development on people and place.  

The 1% contribution should cover:

Producer fees / project management;

1. Artist’s fees, fabrication and installation;
2. Public engagement and consultation costs;
3. Commuted sum for maintenance and decommissioning plan;
4. Community, education and skills development programmes
5. Project documentation, comms and evaluation costs

The 1% contribution excludes the preparation of materials required to be submitted with full Planning Applications. For example, the writing of a Public Art Plan/ Strategy by a Public Art Producer of which the budget should be treated separately. Where public art proposals are not submitted with Planning Applications, the City Council may refuse the application. (see process and procurement).

 We are aware that there can be viability issues on sites but encourage this budget to be allocated early, otherwise a proof of viability for not providing a significant sum will be requested. We encourage this 1% to be matched with existing budget where a culture led approach could add further value. For example, scheme budgets for public realm, landscaping, decorative schemes / surfaces play etc, or unlocking creative space through former use assets.

The Public Art Officer will often act as broker between external Producers and developers to discuss and secure budgets.

We aim for an engaged approach between the city and developer/s to enable a public art solution that is both achievable and value-adding for both the scheme and the city rather than an unnecessary and expensive ‘add on’.

Whilst most Public Art Policy agreements are currently being secured by Condition, there are some circumstances where securing Public Art via S106 becomes appropriate. For example, the securing of cultural infrastructure via S106 is needed as details of rent costs, timescales and technical details are included.

Where there are early opportunities to pool public art funds together for added value in an area to fund an initial site wide public art plan collectively between developers, S106 contributions may also be agreed alongside a Public Art Condition at approval stage.

Bristol City Council are committed to supporting you to close your Condition at a time that is right for your development process, considering all commitments have been respected. This can sometimes be on submission and approval of your Public Art Plan, or, more commonly, Conditions are left part open until the artwork has been delivered fully against the details submitted in your Public Art Plan. Breaching a Condition is treated very seriously and the enforcement team will be informed.

A specialist Arts Producer will work closely with developers to identify the cultural opportunities for their site. They will be commissioned to write and submit the Public Art Plan and deliver against the details in this plan. Public Art Producers are specialists in their field and are fantastic collaborators, they will open up opportunities and ensure you get the most out of the cultural opportunities in your development. Please download The Public Art Commissioning Toolkit and visit the Producer Directory for more information.

Bristol City Council will only except Public Art Plans written by an external Art Producer or Consultant. Please note Public Art Plans written by members of the Design team or Agents will not be accepted. Please visit the Producer Directory for a list of experienced, recommended Producers.

Bristol City Council has a dedicated Public Art Officer – Georgina Bolton.

The Public Art Officer works collaboratively across the Development Management and Arts Development teams to ensure that major and super major developments are subject to BCC’s Public Art Policy and conditions are placed on sites at approval stage. The Public Art Officer offers strategic advice to developers regarding cultural opportunities and expectations for their sites; will discuss and agree budgets (acting as broker) between Producers and developers and will review and advise on Public Art Plans and ensure that these plans are followed.

The Public Art Officer leads on the Public Art Condition discharge process and will involve enforcement should conditions be breached or not followed correctly.

To contact the Public Art Officer and the culture team please email artandthepublicrealm@bristol.gov.uk

Please see The Public Art Commissioning Toolkit section on De-commissioning for guidance.

Please see The Public Art Commissioning Toolkit section on Maintenance Plans for guidance.

There is tag function that enables you to search for projects that hit the criteria for different categories. For example, you can search ‘landscape’ or ‘cultural infrastructure’ to bring up different projects under these themes.

Currently there are the following search tags but this is a live and growing list. Please let us know if there is a tag missing that you may find helpful in your searches.

Activation and events:
Public Art and Culture can take the form of temporary activations and engagement events as well as permanent installations. Bristol City Council encourage investment into a mixed programme of both meaningful permanent works and temporary activations.

Cultural Infrastructure:

Bristol City Council is supporting and prioritising securing Cultural Infrastructure as Public Art provision through our current policy.

The below definition is taking from London’s Cultural Infrastructure Plan and describes how Bristol City Council are also thinking about the term.

‘When we talk about ‘cultural infrastructure’ we mean the buildings, structures and places where culture is –

Consumed: Places where culture is experienced, participated in, showcased, exhibited or sold. For example, museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas, libraries, music venues and historic cultural sites.

Or Produced: Places of creative production, where creative work is made, usually by artists, performers, makers, manufacturers or digital processes. For example creative workspaces, performing arts rehearsal spaces, music recording studios, film and television studios and industrial and light industrial units used by creative and cultural businesses.’

Education:
This tag is used to search for projects that have been developed as part of Primary/Bristol, a series of permanent contemporary art commissions for Primary Schools, that is the most significant programme of commissioning art for educational contexts in the country. It is also used for Public Art that has been produced by and with higher education institutions in our city.

Historical:
This tag relates to commissions that have been produced in relation to a site’s history, or that re-imagine or bring alive historical context through contemporary work.

Installation:
An installation work often includes the act of installing something into a space. This can be temporary or permanent.

Landscape:
Used to describe art works and commissions that are rooted in landscape design / green infrastructure and have an ecological focus. Bristol City Council are especially welcoming projects that have a sustainable and environmental outlook.

Sculpture:
In a more traditional sense sculpture may be seen as ‘the art of making three-dimensional representative or abstract forms’. BCC’s approach is to think of this as a more expanded term, a sculpture can be temporary or permanent, it can involve an ‘object’ type commission or be more social and transient.

Space:
Public Art and Culture that responds specially to space and context and/or has a ‘spatial’ concept.

Residency:
Bristol City Council are supporting the idea of artist residencies as part of public art provision agreements. An artist residency could mean an artist being employed for a certain amount of time to research and explore a certain site or development. Residencies often focus on process, engagement and social practice. Any visible ‘outcomes’ or end results are likely not to be seen until the end of the residency process. Bristol City Council are encouraging investment in meaningful creative processes and supporting artists to expand their practices and ideas in response to place.

Social:
This term is used to describe projects that include elements of ‘Social Practice’. Defined by Tate UK,  ‘Socially engaged practice describes art that is collaborative, often participatory and involves people as the medium or material of the work’.

Bristol City Council expect an aspect of social practice and engagement to be funded by developers as part of the development of their public art /culture programmes.

Urban:
Referring to the urban/built environment context of the city Bristol, including our urban parks.

Bristol City Council is supporting and prioritising securing Cultural Infrastructure as Public Art provision through our current policy. Once creative spaces are lost from areas of regeneration it is extremely hard to get them back. We believe in supporting artists and creatives to have the space they need to thrive –  to grow and protect our cultural facilities and to support Bristol’s reputation as a city of culture by encouraging good growth and putting culture at the heat of local regeneration.

There are a number of pilot projects currently in progress that demonstrate securing cultural infrastructure via our planning policy using S106 agreements. We encourage developers to identify opportunities with their Producers and to explore the management models for how ‘giving space’ in their developments would work in practice. The offer of cultural infrastructure can exist alongside a programme of events and permanent works that make up the public art offer for your site.