All proceeds benefit the Association for Public’s Art (aPA) contemporary commissions and programs.

Something of a public art movement has taken hold in this country in the 40 years since Penny Balkin Bach joined the Association for Public Art (aPA) in 1980. Bach has played a major role in the maturation of the field. Most critically, early on she posed questions about public art and community that today echo ever louder as issues surrounding public monuments spill over into the mainstream.

Free and open to the public with reception to follow! Join us on December 13th at Moore College of Art and Design for a captivating look at the Association for Public Art’s contributions to the last 150 years of public art and urban design in Philadelphia. Illustrated through archival materials and photographs, this sweeping historical view will include early city planning, untold stories and projects, encounters with artists and more.

The Association for Public Art is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a series of special events this fall: a virtual speaker series that brings together thought-leaders to reflect on the challenges of stewardship, representation, race, gender and power, and walking tours of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that explore its art, architecture, history and landscape. All events are free with registration, with limited space for in-person tours. We hope you’ll join us!

Re-issued in 2022 to celebrate the Association for Public Art’s 150th Anniversary, you can now purchase t-shirts and a tote bag with Barbara Kruger’s artwork Untitled (When I hear the word culture I take out my checkbook). This 1985 artwork by Kruger was first featured on a t-shirt given to attendees as part of our organization’s Public Art in America ’87 conference held in Philadelphia. The conference was the first national, interdisciplinary forum to examine public art in its broadest context through the perspectives of politics, urban design, cultural anthropology, and the social sciences.

This fall, we’re celebrating the Association for Public Art’s 150th anniversary as the nation’s first private, non-profit organization dedicated to the integration of public art and urban design. We’re marking this milestone year with an exciting guest speaker series and walking tours, plus the launch of a never-before-seen digital archive and a sculpture’s big return.

Commissioned 40 years ago by the Association for Public Art for Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia, the “Louis Kahn Lecture Room” by Siah Armajani is on its way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.