Today, a new way of thinking about public art has emerged. In current practice, an artist is an essential member of the design and construction teams. This allows their vision and creative energy to be infused from the beginning and sustained throughout the project. Importantly, this collaboration allows the project to become much greater than a mere sum of its collective parts.

In this creative collaboration the public artist and community share values, beliefs and cultural context that result in a shared visual expression. So, while the studio artist follows their own head and heart in relating and expressing their ideals, the public artist collaborates in determining and articulating the community vision as well as the personal artistic vision.

The character of a community and its sense of place can be profoundly changed by public art. A powerful example is Maya Lin's "Vietnam Veterans Memorial" in Washington, D.C. Her simple, but powerful idea, has the ability to transcend the complexities of emotion and recognize the need for national healing. Her elegant and evocative memorial is installed in a reverential place and visited annually by millions of people.

Another, yet decidedly different, work evokes quite a different response. It is "The Cincinnati Flying Pig" by artist Andrew Leicester, created in collaboration with the Minneapolis architectural firm of Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle. Mr. Leicester describes his work with a bit of humor…
"The work consists of four bronze winged pigs emerging from smoke stacks above a canal lock. Cincinnati's main industry in the 19th Century was pork packing. For a while, it was the largest pork processor in the world and gained the nickname ‘Porkopolis'. Proctor and Gamble made soap and candles from the pork fat left in the slaughterhouses bordering the canal. The remaining blood and offal were swept into the canal and flushed down into the Ohio. Its resultant sanguine appearance earned it the appellation of ‘Red River.' Therefore, this choir of four phantom angelic porkers sings the praises of all their brethren who died so the city may prosper."

"Prior to the completion of the Cincinnati Flying Pig project, a public debate arose over the prominent inclusion of the pigs amongst the thirty historical references in the work. Mayor Luken questioned their ‘appropriateness' as to representing his vision for a ‘modern' Cincinnati. This ignited a media blitz, which ended several months later in a town hall meeting to debate ‘enshrining the swine.' A full-size hog was let loose amongst the council members as well as several pink-ribbon (festooned) piglets. After solemn debate, a public vote was taken ending in a raucous victory for the pro-pig supporters. Thus officially sanctioned, the pigs got to fly, if only once, to their final resting places above the canal." *

* Attribute and copyright, Andrew Leicester