Permission to Place Art on City Property

Approval Process for Painted Public Art Projects on City Property and in the Right of Way

The Minneapolis Arts Commission, City of Minneapolis Art in Public Places and Department of Public Works announce a new approval process for painted public art projects on City property and in the Right of Way.

Guidelines, Deadlines and Informational Meeting

Artists, community members or organizations may apply to place artworks on City property or within the right of way, either on a temporary or permanent basis. The policies that govern decisions regarding these applications are outlined in the City of Minneapolis Public Art Policies and Procedures, for Gifts and Loans and Encroachment Permits, as well as other City policies and ordinances on issues such as banner permits, signage, encroachment in the right of way, and special service districts.

Approval Process for all Other Projects: Applications to place art on City property are reviewed by the Minneapolis Arts Commission and its Public Art Advisory Panel. Recommendations from these bodies are then forwarded to the Department of Public Works. In cases where applications include putting art in Special Service Districts, applications also need to be reviewed by their Boards. Long term gifts of art to the City need to be approved by the Minneapolis City Council, and may also require one or more community meetings.

Most applications are approved. Find a list of previous applications. One of the main purposes of the project is to educate applicants about technical issues that need to be addressed in order for their projects to be successful. To that end, the Arts Commission and the Public Art Advisory Panel often make recommendations to the applicant for strengthening their projects, including ideas for:

• Maintenance planning and so projects have a longer life spans;
• Avoiding damage from maintenance equipment and vandalism;
• Addressing issues of public safety and handicapped accessibility;
• Supporting artist’s copyrights.
• Developing projects at a scale that is doable for the applicant and City staff.

Find a list of technical questions to consider in developing a public art project.

Property Owner: Before submitting an application, we strongly recommend you determine whether your desired locations are City property or within the right of way. Desired locations could also be on private property, Hennepin County property or on the property of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Application materials: To be considered, applicants generally need to submit a project description which includes information on:

• The artist(s) or on how the artist(s) will be selected.
• What your copyright agreement is with the artist
• The artwork’s design or process for developing the design
• Desired location(s)
• Site Plan
• Materials and structural information
• Timeline
• Plans for ongoing maintenance (the City does not fund ongoing maintenance for such projects)

Timeline: Note that the length of time required for such an application varies depending on the complexity of the project, the review bodies involved, and whether the project is temporary or long term. Simple temporary projects take approximately one month to review, and need to be submitted three weeks prior to the review date by the Minneapolis Arts Commission.

Contact us early in your planning process: To find out whether your desired locations require City approval, which policies may affect your proposal, which review bodies need to be involved, and what the review timeline may be, contact the City’s Public Arts Administrator, Mary Altman at mary.altman@ci.minneapolis.mn.us or 612-673-3006.

Read a review on MNArtists.org about the process.