Public Art

The County of Fresno approved a Percent for Arts Program on public buildings in 2007. The Board of Supervisors selected the Fresno Arts Council as the County’s Public Art Consultant for the program for all Fresno County capital development projects. The Fresno Arts Council partnered with the County to develop the Public Art Program Guidelines and administer the art policy. Fresno now joins many other cities and counties in California and the west coast that have adopted a percent for public art. Sacramento, Oakland, Seattle, and San Francisco are a few of those that have an active public art program.

Recent public art projects include Corky Normart’s exhibit at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus, and Stan Bitter’s mural on the Fresh N Easy Market downtown.

Galleries / Exhibitions Accessible to Public

The Fresno Arts Council administers exhibitions on the 1st and 2nd floors of City Hall. Annually, Requests for Proposals (RFP) are sent to our mailing and e-mail lists and also posted on the website with links to the nomination form for Valley artists interested in exhibiting. A peer panel chooses the exhibiting artists for the following calendar year. Each month the public is invited to view the exhibition with a reception and to meet the artists. These openings draws between 100 and 400 people.

FAC sponsors ArtHop which is open to all valley artists and art venues. Currently there are over 80 galleries, artists' studios and other exhibition spaces open to the public free on the first and third Thursday of each month. Annually, 30,000 brochures are printed and distributed to the public, listing all the locations in downtown, the Tower District, and the greater metropolitan area with maps to each site.

Art in Public Spaces

The Fresno Arts Council formed a partnership with the City of Fresno in 2004 to administer its Public Art Program. FAC meets with appropriate City Departments to review capital improvement projects where public art is appropriate and suggests needs, sends RFP's, screens the applicants and, with input from the City, property owners, and a panel of jurors, selects the art. Mosaic floor murals were installed in two new City fire stations in 2005 with more public art projects in the coming years.