As Barbara Goldstein notes in her preface, art in public places in the United States has greatly expanded from simple depictions of a hero in the town square. Beginning with the government-supported efforts of the Works Progress Administration, there has been a steady movement toward an embrace of the concept of "public art" —— art within a public space that helps create a keen sense of place and community. Goldstein's book, drawn from a series of conferences sponsored by the Seattle Arts Commission, is designed to give a 360-degree view of the current-day public art world in the United States. Members of city and community governments, staff and administrators of art agencies, and artists themselves are given a practical introduction to all steps of the public art process from idea to installation and beyond.

The book is divided into several sections of essays by artists, administrators, curators, and legal experts from within the public art field. Sections on planning, funding (both private and governmental), and exhibiting a project are followed by an expansive middle section describing how individual artists, design teams, and communities can initiate public art projects. Case studies within this section discuss everything from the ephemeral public art of a half-trimmed/half-wild lawn to the way the Rosie the Riveter Memorial led to the creation of a new national park. The final sections of the book give examples of artist contracts, ways to plan programming around a new public art piece, project maintenance and record-keeping methods, and the legal rights of the public artist and community. The book concludes with a long list of print and video resources, research and advocacy associations, material suppliers, active art projects, and neighborhood matching-fund grant programs.

Goldstein, Public Art Program Director in San Jose, draws on her long experience in this arena to link the book's sections together. Her examples show how different models work under different governmental or environmental circumstances, and she ensures that each section has a complete representation and cogent explanation of possible approaches; for example, in her chapter on government-based funding models, the full text of public ordinances guiding public art creation in several large and small cities are provided, along with fact sheets clearly summarizing the effects of each ordinance.

Lest city ordinances and artist contracts seem too dry, it should be noted that the book also celebrates the art of public art. Several essays underline, as artist Helen Lessick terms it, "the glory and dream of public art," and the numerous illustrations throughout the book give a taste of the excitement that public art can generate. Public Art by the Book is both a practical and colorful guide to the public art world.

For citations to additional materials on this topic refer to the Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject headings "Art" or "Arts."