Anchoring Communities Through the Power of Public Art

Public art doesn’t only beautify a space. It tells stories, shapes identity and builds lasting connections. It’s an investment in place and people, one that pays dividends not just in beauty but in economic vitality, community pride and cultural cohesion. Across the country, communities are recognizing the civic power of public art to drive tourism, support local businesses, enhance property values and foster social belonging.

A growing body of evidence supports these claims, as demonstrated in The Economic Power of Public Art, a national report that includes research from responses to a survey conducted with the help of ThinkLab and data from the CODAworx Project Library, compiled by data analytics firm DataCha. Drawing from dozens of case studies and supported by data analysis, the report showcases how public art can influence everything from economic development and environmental awareness to community health and cultural equity. One of its key takeaways: when art is intentionally embedded into civic infrastructure, especially in parks and public spaces, it transforms those places into engines of connection, vibrancy and resilience.

As an artist and leader of The Art Studio at RDG Planning & Design, I have seen this transformation firsthand. Public art gives shape to emotion and memory. It’s about listening — to a place, to its people — and finding a form that can hold their stories. Like other forms of art, public art is rooted in a practice of observation and storytelling, only we use cities and parks as our canvas.

Within this broader conversation, RDG’s Art Studio stands as a compelling example of how design and storytelling can create lasting civic value. The team’s work in spaces across the United States demonstrates how art can amplify place, reflecting culture, honoring history, sparking reflection and offering joy. The projects that follow highlight how public art, when thoughtfully integrated into civic environments, does more than make a space not only memorable, but meaningful. Each one is a response to its community’s unique story, inviting residents and visitors alike to experience parks as places of shared identity and remembrance.

A Sculptural Story of Movement and Meaning

Set in the heart of downtown Huntsville, Alabama, the Travelers installation reflects the city’s layered identity: rooted in industry, propelled by innovation. Developed in close collaboration with local stakeholders including the Community Foundation, the city’s arts commission and municipal leaders, the project honors Huntsville’s past while envisioning its future.

The name Travelers carries multiple associations. In the city’s textile era, “ring travelers” — small, circular tools — spun raw fibers into thread, powering the work of Huntsville’s historic mills. Decades later, the city became synonymous with space exploration, helping to launch a national legacy of travel beyond Earth. Today, as a globally recognized center for STEM and defense industries, Huntsville continues to define forward momentum. This installation weaves together those chapters of identity, embodying the idea of trajectory — personal, communal and civic.

Composed of soaring stainless-steel arcs, the sculptural forms create a threshold pause and gateway experience that links Big Spring Park to the adjacent new live-work-play urban developments and nearby Community Foundation Park. Their placement both improves wayfinding and invites physical movement and reflection. Each arc is a gesture toward what’s next, suggesting motion, possibility and a trajectory of traveling through time and space, a sculptural nod to Huntsville’s nickname as the “Rocket City.” Projects like Travelers exemplify how public art contributes to civic vitality and economic momentum. By transforming a transitional space at the edge of a cherished city park into a cultural landmark the installation invites visitors and residents to explore, the installation increases foot traffic between key public destinations, enhances walkability and encourages longer visits. In Huntsville, a city already investing in high-tech innovation, Travelers serves as a cultural anchor, signaling that creativity and connectivity are part of the city’s growth story.

Environmental Awareness Through Sculptural Reflection

Nestled along a walking path near the Huntington Beach, California park’s tranquil Secret Garden a cherished community garden serving as a specimen exhibit for sustainable plantings and a bird and butterfly attraction, the sculptural installation See Yourself in Nature invites quiet reflection and deeper connection. Created from etched brass and stainless steel, and taking inspiration from the birds and butterflies who frequent the garden, the piece responds to the formal lines and bold geometry of the adjacent Central Library — an iconic structure designed by Dion Neutra and Associates — and to the rhythm of nearby fountains. The artwork mirrors the landscape both literally and symbolically, offering parkgoers a moment to pause, observe and engage with their surroundings.

More than an aesthetic object, the installation is an experiential prompt: “…art as mirror held up to nature…to see yourself in nature….” Its curved surfaces reflect the visitor, the sky, the trees and the movement of light, encouraging a sense of personal relationship with the 300-acre park and its diverse ecological systems. Whether encountered during a walk, a jog or a moment of rest, the piece acts as a subtle yet powerful reminder of our interdependence with the environment and with each other.

Public art of this kind plays a key role in supporting environmental awareness. By anchoring this message in a beloved community asset, See Yourself in Nature enhances the emotional and ecological value of the park, while reinforcing its status as a civic destination. The result is a place that feels not just maintained, but cared for, and a community that sees itself reflected in the landscape.

A Poetic Gateway to Culture, Nature and Community

In San Antonio, Texas’ Elmendorf Lake Park, Aguas Onduladas (Rippling Waters) transforms a former traffic barrier into a luminous, lyrical entry point — an invitation to reflect, connect and take pride in place. Set along Apache Creek as part of a broader watershed improvement plan, the installation now serves as the new “front door” to a revitalized neighborhood park, welcoming pedestrians and drivers alike with sculptural rhythm and poetic resonance.

The piece is composed of three stainless-steel waveforms that meander like water across the landscape, their perforated surfaces catching light and casting shifting shadows. By day, they glimmer with movement and reflection; by night, they glow with soft internal illumination. Interwoven into the metal are bilingual excerpts of poetry by Dr. Carmen Tafolla, Texas’ 2015 State Poet Laureate and a native of San Antonio’s West Side. Her words, “soft voices throughout the Centuries…,” speak to beauty, resilience and cultural memory, turning the walk through the sculpture into a journey through time and identity.

Aguas Onduladas was created through a deeply collaborative process. Artists from The Art Studio at RDG engaged with residents, city officials and fabricators, listening to aspirations, reviewing site concepts with Public Art San Antonio (PASA) and working directly with Dr. Tafolla to select and arrange poetry that felt rooted in both place and people. The resulting work is both landmark and landscape — an icon for the neighborhood, a habitat for pollinators and a contemplative path that invites movement and meaning.

Public art of this nature illustrates how investment in civic space can carry economic, environmental and cultural returns. By transforming a previously inaccessible traffic island into a dynamic cultural threshold, Aguas Onduladas increases visibility for the park, supports local stewardship and instills a lasting sense of pride for residents. It is art that not only reflects a community but grows from it.

A Living Tribute to Community, History and Shared Values

Set within the heart of Lake Como Park in Fort Worth, Texas, the public art installation Do Something GOOD for Your Neighbor offers a powerful blend of remembrance and reflection. Conceived as a sculptural plaza and gathering space, the installation is inspired by the park’s natural beauty and the cultural legacy of one of Fort Worth’s most historically significant African American communities. Designed through deep collaboration with residents and civic stakeholders, the piece stands as a tribute to community pioneers and an emblem of hope for future generations.

At the center of the work is a weathering steel frame, cut with care and engraved with voices from the past. The “gap” within this frame represents both what’s been accomplished and what remains unfinished — a symbolic invitation to continue the work of community-building. Around it, custom benches carved from 100-year-old white oak offer visitors a place to pause, gaze outward at the lake and reflect inwardly on legacy, responsibility and belonging.

The engraved steel panels incorporate historic text excerpts from The Lake Como Weekly, a local newspaper once edited by William H. Wilburn Sr. and highlight other leaders such as land donor Amon G. Carter Sr., whose contributions helped establish the park. One inscription, written by Wilburn himself, encapsulates the installation’s spirit: “There should be a place where everyone can go…for after all, we are all human beings, all striving to live in peace and harmony together.”

The vision for the piece, outlined in the Lake Como Public Art Master Plan, was to create a work with “soul, spirit, mind and heart.” Stakeholders asked for something that would not only protect the beauty of the park but also elevate the cultural identity of the neighborhood as a profound civic voice within Fort Worth. What emerged was an installation rooted in research, oral history and public dialogue, culminating in a place that honors pioneers, legends and everyday heroes.

Do Something GOOD for Your Neighbor is also a testament to the social and economic impact of public art. Installation that reinforce cultural identity and promote inclusive narratives, can strengthen community cohesion, attract heritage tourism and spur local investment. This project does all of that, anchoring a beloved neighborhood landmark while signaling that the stories of Lake Como matter to the city’s evolving identity.

Selected as a finalist for the U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Do Something GOOD for Your Neighbor exemplifies how public art can function as civic architecture to foster connection and cultural continuity across generations.

Sustaining a Vision for Meaningful Public Spaces

As cities across the country grapple with how to create more inclusive, livable spaces, public art is emerging not just as an amenity, but as infrastructure for connection. At its best, it becomes a civic gesture: a visible commitment to valuing memory, voice, nature and possibility. The work of The Art Studio at RDG illustrates how art, when created with care and community, can turn parks into cultural landmarks — spaces that are both mirrors and beacons.

The growing recognition of public art as a strategic asset in economic development, environmental resilience and social equity makes this work more urgent than ever. When communities are invited into the creative process, what emerges goes beyond a sculpture or a piece of signage. It instills ownership, pride and stewardship, and serves as the beginning of a shared story with space to grow.

Looking ahead, the question is not whether art belongs in public spaces, but how we ensure that those spaces reflect the complexity and beauty of the communities they serve. Whether interpreting a city’s trajectory, elevating ecological awareness or honoring the lived experience of local leaders, these projects remind us of the enduring truth at the heart of public art: when people see themselves in a place, they are more likely to care for it and each other.

This is the power of art in civic life. Not to speak for a community, but to listen with it. To mark what was, acknowledge what is and imagine what could be.