Public Art, according to Cameron Cartiere, is "art that is found outside of museums and galleries and must be either in a place accessible or visible to the public, concerned with or affecting the community or individuals, maintained for or used by the community of individuals, or paid for the public."1 When we look around us, we see public art in our daily lives. Millions of dollars are spent commissioning public works. In the United Kingdom, the Arts Council England incorporates nine regional offices, many of which have art officers who are charged with public art programming. In addition, dozens of cities and townships across the United Kingdom have local public art councils.
Public art engages with the environment in the sense that it can reflect and reveal a society, add meaning to a city, and add uniqueness to a community. It humanizes the environment and invigorates public spaces by adding providing a medium where the past, present, and future can intermingle. Through public art, we can imagine what an area was like in the past and contrast this to what it currently is. It allows us to teleport to another era and contrast this to what is currently in front of us. Public art is a distinguishable part of public history and our evolving culture.
A good example of public art explaining the past of an area is the West India Dock Arch in Canary Wharf. There is no other area that has gone such a drastic change such as Canary Wharf. While the area is now a financial hub filled with tall and glassy skyscrapers, it used to be a bustling storage area for goods imported from the West Indies.2 The arch is a replica of the main gate that was commissioned by the Canary Wharf Group to commemorate the original entrance to the West India Docks built in 1803. There is also a ship on the top of the arch, which was used to bring sugar, rum, cotton, coffee, and tropical hardwoods from the West Indies to London.
