Make for and in public space
Street Works applies MJN’s 3 values — justice, loving care, and solidarity — to make justice normal in the cultural asset ecosystem. (Read more here about why we're focused in this particular program on the cultural asset ecosystem.) Public space is one of its design principles.
We design for public space — like streets, sidewalks, and parks.
We serve public space and are committed to being stewards, by respecting them, advocating for them, and caring for them.
Public spaces are places that are maintained by gov’t and quasi-gov’t entities, mostly with taxpayer dollars. They are parks, streets, and plazas. They’re also our subways and libraries, although they might come with more limitations.
Why public space?
We desperately need new presentation models for the arts designed at their core to serve justice. Unfortunately, status quo presentation models, including commercial galleries and nonprofit /private museums, are not often set up to do that. Many have colonial histories, and injustices are not a thing of the past: from trafficking in heritages and remains of BIPOC, to abysmal record on acquisitions and pay gaps, institutions continue to suppress, control, or erase BIPOC narratives and advance wealth inequality. Still, 60% of arts funding went to 2% of large museums in 2017.
Public space is an alternative. First, it’s more accessible. Not only do public spaces have fewer doors and admissions turn styles; they also often have fewer stairs and more access points. While none of them are perfect, they are far more inclusive than nearly any private space.
But it's more than just the location; it’s what the location represents.
Public infrastructure is how we can get close to democracy. First, we can literally stand on it: it’s a concrete (no pun intended :)) reflection of choices in which we can have a say— close enough to home that we might even be able to see how our actions affect it. For example, if we call our local council folk, we're likely to get a call back.
We see this, like co-creation, as a gateway to bigger democratic action. Those of us who are jaded by democracy can build our sense of power by influencing the places that we can. If we design the right feedback loops and build positive connection throughout that process, it's a hop, skip, and a jump to voting in local and federal elections and activating in support of bigger policies.
How public space?
Our investment in public space is not merely to put together an event. Some of us have spent 15 years working in public spaces. And we’ve learned stewardship is essential to Street Works.
Yes we need to figure out how to fill out permits and deal with insurance differently. But we also need to invest: understand how our public spaces work, get to know why they work the way they do, and foster the pathways for others committed to serving justice to steward them, in their artistic practices as well as in their influence on policy. That's why Street Works centers artists who live and work where the make and are committed to their homes.
