Draft Permanent Public Art Policy and Draft Monuments and Memorial Art Policy Consultation

Closed 9 Jul 2021

Opened 7 Jun 2021

Contact

07 8386699

Feedback updated 22 Dec 2021

We asked

Hamilton City Council asked the community for feedback on two draft policies that would help guide decisions on permanent public artwork, memorials, and monuments.

The policies aim to provide clarity around what public art is, along with a better process for installing permanent artwork, monuments and memorials.

Council also proposed a panel to help review art proposals, along with a taskforce to help review and assess existing artwork that had caused significant upset.

You said

Those who gave feedback largely supported the policies, and the concept of a panel to help review future art proposals.

We did

The Permanent Public Art and Monument and Memorial Art policies were adopted by the Community Committee in November 2021.

This means future permanent public art proposals – including memorial ad monuments – will be reviewed under the new policies, which includes a specialised panel. The panel will be made up of Council staff, iwi and hapuu representation, and other art and construction specialists.

While a taskforce was also proposed to deal with existing permanent art causing significant upset, Council voted to remove it from the policies.

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

Hamilton City Council is seeking feedback on two draft policies that aim to guide decisions around public artwork, memorials, and monuments. 

Public Art enriches our communities – it inspires creativity and builds a sense of city pride and identity. 

The Draft Permanent Public Art and Draft Monuments and Memorial Art policies aim to provide clarity around what public art is, along with a better process for installing permanent public artwork, memorials, and monuments. Both policies propose a similar process for accepting, installing, and managing permanent public artworks. 

The policies propose to: 

  • Differentiate monuments and memorials from public art, so that depictions of individuals, groups, or events undergo a more robust consultation process.
  • Establish a public art panel to review and make recommendations around new artwork proposals.
  • Establish a process for dealing with existing public art that has caused significant upset to community members. The policies propose that a taskforce – made up of Council staff, Elected Members, Maaori representation and other topic related experts would review the artwork in question and report to the Council for decision. 

To view the draft policies scroll to bottom of this page under the heading Related.

Permanent Public art is high value, unique, and significant. It is usually bespoke and it should have longevity. An example of public art is Tongue of the Dog (by Michael Parekowhai) or The Farming Family (by Margriet Winderhausen). 

Memorials and monuments are public art, but they are defined as artwork that depict or memorialise an individual, group, or a significant event. Examples of existing memorials or monuments in Hamilton include In the Line of Fire and War Horse. 

What 's next?

Council will hear the community's feedback on the draft policies in a Hearings and Engagement meeting on 28 July.