The exterior and interior of City Hall contain over 250 works of sculpture, many of which relate to Philadelphia’s government and history, principally attributed to one man, Alexander Milne Calder.
For summer 2014, artist Candy Coated temporarily transformed The Oval in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum into a magical environment of color, pattern, illusion, and movement.
“Sculpture,” said Henry Moore, “should always at first sight have some obscurities, and further meanings.”
In 1952, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s purchase of the Prometheus cast represented the institution’s largest payment for work by a living sculptor.
As of 2017, only twelve medals have been awarded since the first was given in 1936, with recipients including Isamu Noguchi, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and Mark di Suvero.
Over the years, the Association has advocated for good civic design, the commissioning and placement of permanent and temporary public art along the Parkway, and the presentation of innovative public programming.
Public Art Decoded is a series of annual walking tours that take a in-depth look at the sculptures and installations that exist in popular Philadelphia locations. The tours explore how and why the artworks exist, the artists behind them, the untold stories, and both the historical and contemporary contextualization.
The Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) presents Site Seeing: Rediscover Public Art This Spring! This series of four free programs, taking place throughout the month of April, aims to engage city residents and tourists with public art in new and unexpected ways.
In September, the Association for Public Art (aPA) in Philadelphia presents a major new site-specific work by the internationally acclaimed artist Cai Guo-Qiang.