Public Art, Children, and Playgrounds

Design of an Earthwork for the Hidden Valley Elementary School Playground

Abstract

Studies have shown that achild's early participation and education in the arts are important in establishing arts-related activities as an adult. Behavioral researchers have also found that both appreciation for and understanding of the arts are related to the environment i which artwork is presented. The environment of art museums and concert halls, which children encounter while on formalized class field trips, is often perceived as inhospitable by those children unaccustomed to the social context of appropriation and rigid codes of behavior. The playground, however, can provide a welcome environment for art, comfortable inits familiarity. Combining art and play brings art within the context of everyday life, demystifying but not devaluing art. Further, combining art and play suggests an acknowledgment of new ideas about public art as being art plus function, having both practical and aesthetic functions as well as higher social goals such as education and democracy.