Informant questions
External informants
Vision and Mission
- How do you define public art? Are there special considerations for ephemeral or time-based art?
- How does the vision and mission for public art at your institution serve the organization’s overall mission and vision?
- What is the role of your institution’s public art in the wider community? What opportunities and challenges do you observe with respect to engaging the wider community?
- What principles or values are important to your public art policy? (i.e. innovation, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, equity, accessibility, etc.)
- Are there underrepresented communities or perspectives that you are prioritizing in your mission and vision? How has this impacted your policies and planning?
Governance and Administration
- How is your public art policy governed? Who is responsible and/or accountable for the policy? I.e. do you have a governance or advisory committee or other structure? How do you ensure equitable representation in the governance of your policy?
- How important is community consultation in the development of public art policies? In key acquisitions or deaccessions?
- How are decisions about acquisitions or deaccessions made at your institution? What is your process? (Who takes the lead? Who is involved in decisions? Where does approval come from?)
- How large is your organization’s public art collection and how many people are employed in relation to the acquisition, caring and deaccessioning of the collection? How are these positions funded?
- Where does the funding for the implementation of your public art policy come from? What are the key considerations when developing a budget for public art at your organization?
- What best practices have you observed to facilitate the involvement of other departments in meeting the goals for public art at your organization (for example, Facilities/Physical Plant, Advancement Office, etc.)? How does your institution empower its Advancement office to promote its public art policy to potential funders?
Diversity and Inclusion
- How do you approach the collection and programming of public art at your institution to ensure that it is inclusive and equitable?
- How and when do you consult with the different communities you serve?
- What, if any, are the challenges with consulting the community on new acquisitions and/or programming? How are difficult issues resolved?
Engagement
- How do you promote engagement with public art at your institution?
- Can you speak to some of the initiatives (successful or unsuccessful) at your institution to engage the wider community with public art?
- What are the trends or success factors that you see with respect to engaging people with public art?
Partnerships (Montreal-based organizations)
- Concordia is interested in developing community partnerships to enhance engagement with its public art collection. Are there opportunities that you see for Concordia to partner with your organization? Are there specific events or programming that you think could benefit from a partnership with Concordia around public art?
- In your experience, what are the best practices for working with living artists who have or will in future contribute to Concordia’s public art collection and/or programming?
Internal informants
Vision and Mission
- How do you define public art? Are there special considerations for ephemeral or time-based art?
- What do you see as the mission and vision for public art at Concordia? (A mission describes what you do and is inspirational, while a vision describes what you strive for in the future and is aspirational)?
- How closely do you see these serving Concordia’s overall mission and vision (as provided above)?
- Are there communities or perspectives currently underrepresented in Concordia’s public art that should be prioritized in the public art mission and vision?
- How might Concordia’s public art collection intersect with pedagogy at this institution?
- What are the opportunities for public engagement with Concordia’s diverse communities? What are the opportunities for engaging the wider community beyond the university with public art at Concordia?
- What principles or values are important to include in Concordia’s public art policy (i.e., innovation, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, equity, accessibility, accountability, Black perspectives, etc.)?
- How might Concordia best acknowledge its location on unceded Indigenous land, for which the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians, through the public art policy?
Governance and Administration
- How should decision making around acquisitions of public art at Concordia be organized? Who should take the lead? What functions or offices should be consulted or involved?
- What are the university’s functions or positions that should be represented on Concordia’s Public Art Advisory Committee?
- How can we ensure continuously equitable representation in the governance of Concordia’s public art policy?
- What best practices have you observed to facilitate the involvement of other departments in meeting the goals for public art at Concordia (for example, Facilities/Physical Plant, Advancement Office, etc.)? How can the Advancement Office be empowered to promote Concordia’s public art policy to potential funders?
Funding
- Where should resources come from for new acquisitions of public art at Concordia? For the maintenance and conservation of the collections? For promoting university community and public engagement with the collection?
- In what way could Concordia’s public art policy ensure transparent communications that encourage awareness of how public art at Concordia is funded?
Partnerships
- What are the opportunities that you see for partnering with the Public Art Lead around the public art collection? Are there specific events or programming that you think could benefit from a partnership with the Public Art Lead around public art? What are the opportunities for community-specific partnerships?
- In your experience, what are the best practices for working with living artists who have or will in future contribute to Concordia’s public art collection and/or programming?
