West Palm Beach launches year-long 'Collection Connection' linking public art and library

The City of West Palm Beach will launch Collection Connection, a year-long partnership between Artlife West Palm Beach and the Mandel Public Library, on Feb. 12 with an event at the Urban Living Room at 4 p.m., City Center podcast host Jerry Marcello announced. The program uses “passports” and a phone-friendly Artlife map to encourage residents to visit public artworks across the city and redeem stamps and prizes at library locations.

Sibile Contal, director of arts, culture and community building for the City of West Palm Beach, described Collection Connection as a way to deepen public engagement with the city’s public-art program. “The library is a wealth of information,” Contal said, explaining that the passports prompt participants to look closely at works, then return to the library for stamps, enameled pins and periodic raffles.

The passport program includes a children’s version available at the Third Floor Children’s Library and an adult version with prompts and a QR code linking to the city’s GIS-based Artlife map. Contal said the map is “user friendly” on phones and helps users locate nearby artworks and plan walking visits. The program is intended to push participants to spend more time with artworks: the adult passport prompts visitors to “start at the artwork without glancing away” and to reflect on what they notice on repeat viewings.

Collection Connection will run for a full year and open with librarians on hand to demonstrate how the passports work. Contal said the city expects new pieces to appear as the year begins: “We anticipate by March having 5 new pieces,” she said, adding that additional installations are expected in the months that follow.

The program builds on the city’s existing Artlife initiative. Contal told the podcast that an ordinance implemented in February 2014 set the groundwork for a public-art master plan, and that over the last five years the city has placed roughly 55 permanent and temporary projects throughout West Palm Beach. She described a mix of large-scale temporary projects and permanent works, public–private partnerships downtown, neighborhood installations such as the recent Echo Lake Park project, and collaborations with the Community Redevelopment Agency and private developers.

Contal also highlighted specific artist initiatives tied to the city’s planning: the Commons Project, a competitive program that selected five Palm Beach County artists to create public works; and several private-development partnerships expected to install new works, including three pieces for Forte Residences. She said the city aims to mix international, national, regional and local artists to create a varied public-art portfolio.

Marcello framed the initiative as an accessible way to introduce residents, especially young people, to slow-looking and arts literacy. “Collection Connection is a joint project between the Mandel Public Library and Artlife West Palm Beach that encourages participants to explore the city, connect with art, and relate it to other aspects of their lives,” Marcello said.

Information about Collection Connection and the Artlife map is available at wpb.org/collectionconnection and on the Mandel Public Library pages of the city website. The city will distribute passports at library locations and at the Feb. 12 launch event at the Urban Living Room.

Details not specified in the podcast: total program budget, exact number of stamps required for specific rewards, and full installation schedules for the items Contal said are anticipated in March and later months.