MARC PALLY Public Art: A New Avenue for the Pleasure Principle

Curator, artist, and art worker Marc Pally talks about his career facilitating public art over the last 25 years, touching on projects by such contemporary artists as Janet Echelman, Jenny Holzer, Nam June Paik, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Tony Tasset, and Jennifer Steinkamp. Starting with examples of innovative, artist-initiated projects, Pally will argue for public art’s role as a potential convener of diverse audiences whose power is embedded in the sharing of space and a common object of observation and conversation.

Pally calls himself an art worker because the term covers so many of the roles he has played in the art world. In addition to teaching at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, Pally has held several significant administrative positions, including Director of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and City Planner for Public Art at the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. Beginning with the latter position, his career in the public art field grew to encompass the development of public art projects throughout the US, including a term as the Artistic Director of Glow, an all-night outdoor art event in Santa Monica. His passion is to engage the vision of artists in the public sphere, helping to create environments in which the unexpected and enigmatic may reside as key elements in our common spaces.

Pally earned an MFA in Post-Studio Art at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), working with mentors Judy Pfaff and Michael Asher. His artwork is in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the San Jose Museum of Art, among other institutions.

Cosponsored by Designing Local, Ltd.