How It’s Made: Behind the scenes of Public Art production at Public Art Agency Sweden

The paper aims at investigating what working structures and methodologies lie behind the implementation of artistic practices in urban spaces, through the case study of Public Art Agency Sweden, the leading institution dealing with public art projects in Sweden. Production processes of art in public space may often seem unclear and contorted, thus discouraging its inclusion in urban development and design projects. This problem is also stoked by a relative scarcity of scholarship regarding procedures and methods to develop public art projects: the present contribution constitutes a first attempt to start filling this gap, outlining both the bright and dark sides of Public Art Agency Sweden’s model. This research has been carried out by the author during a six-months internship at the aforementioned governmental agency, where she did documental and bibliographic research in the agency’s library and archive, interviewed staff members, participated in the agency’s activities, and personally took part in the development of two artistic projects.