Art in Public Places: Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and its cultural significance

I have based this study on the idea that providing art for the people is a legitimate responsibility of government, which must make aesthetic experiences available for all. By its very nature, art for the people raises broad political and aesthetic questions that often result in controversy. If the state of the arts and their support by government are to remain healthy and vital, such controversy is important as a catalyst for discussion.;As Hawaii's official agency, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts assumed a significant role as art patron. Its role expanded when the legislature passed the percent-for-art law establishing the Art in Public Places program. This program was responsible for the purchases of portable, relocatable works as well as permanently installed, commissioned works of art. Its goal was to enhance public enjoyment of art, develop public awareness of art, encourage professional artists, and preserve the multicultural heritage of the people of Hawaii.;Using the case-study method, this research focuses on how the program's commissioning process demonstrates the cultural democracy that is the basis for its policies. The Foundation democratized the arts by bringing fine art traditions of the East and the West to the people. Such a dissemination of fine art conveys an aesthetic standard that values high culture as the best or most appropriate for the people. The Foundation also democratized the arts by expanding the definition to include ethnic and folk art as well as the crafts. It considered all aesthetic expressions art. This melding encouraged popular participation. Thus, Western abstractions incorporating Asian and Hawaiian forms competed for resources with ethnic representations of mythical Hawaiian deities.;In addition, the Foundation accommodated two different visions of art. One involved a multicultural synthesis within a Western concept. The other included various expressions of the different cultural enclaves striving to preserve their heritage. Both visions of art were valid, as were the two approaches to cultural democracy. They helped to explain how the Foundation operated its art program.