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Project Overview

The Office of Arts and Culture presents an ongoing series of temporary public interventions through the Experiments in Public Art program which serves as a city-wide laboratory expanding the potential of public art. Unlike a traditional public art commission, Experiments in Public Art projects are as much an experiment for the community as they are opportunities for artists to work within unconventional parameters. Participating artists are selected, in part, by incorporating concepts and materials that extend beyond the notion of traditional public art.

Call for Artists

Open Call to Artists: Prioritizing Conversations

Calling creatives, artists and community leaders! The City of Boulder has an open call to artists to join the comprehensive plan for an experiments in public art project with Prioritizing Conversations.

The city and a consultant group plan to host several in-person events to facilitate conversations around priorities, and the artist will work in tandem with this team at their events. The artist will develop a plan to engage the community members who participate in Prioritizing Conversations to infuse the process with creative perspective and an opportunity for expression beyond conversation.

Budget: $20,000

Deadline: April 30, 2025

Past Experiments in Public Art Projects

Experiments in Public Art: 2025 Lecture Series

The City of Boulder is launching an Experiments in Public Art Lecture Series, designed to foster conversations around artistic expression and creative processes in the city. Several of the lectures include a community workshop component, allowing attendees to experiment with their own creations.

2025 Lecture Dates

Experiments in Public Art: The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Update

Through the Experiments in Public Art program, the City of Boulder will embed artists in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP) Major Update, which kicked off in 2024. This project is a collaboration between the Planning and Development Services Department and the Office of Arts and Culture in the Community Vitality Department.

The BVCP, updated every ten years, is the city and county’s primary long-term policy guide for the Boulder Valley. Experiments in Public Art: The BVCP Update will integrate artists into communications and community engagement for the update. Artists add value to planning processes: they can help illuminate and humanize aspects of the plan; visualize, embody and create works of art to explain complicated information; diversify and elevate the voices and perspectives that are engaged in the process; and help us celebrate Boulder’s identity now and envision where we want to be in 20 years.

Experiments in Public Art: The BVCP Update is being organized with support from consulting firm More Sky, Less Ceiling.

BVCP Artist Engagement

A Boulder Future