By creating a collection of public art, Dublin Arts Council’s Dublin Art in Public Places program’s goal is to enhance the quality of life for Dublin’s residents and to strengthen the city as a destination for visitors.
The collection includes both large and small visual artworks acquired through a variety of models in which Dublin Arts Council is actively engaged; including major gifting, committee-directed projects, calls for entries and jurying, on-loan programs with an acquisition component, interactive projects, contributions to the City’s interior collection and projects which define a community initiative. The collection is currently valued at $3.8 million.
The Dublin Art in Public Places program was begun in 1988 and has grown to more than 60 large and small-scale permanent, temporary and interactive public art projects today.
Dublin Arts Council maintains that public art should inspire an emotional response, provoke questions and invite interaction, while encouraging ingenuity and creative discovery by artists. The collection of public artworks distinguishes our community and creates a sense of place while contributing to Dublin’s aesthetic legacy.
Dublin Arts Council, in collaboration with City of Dublin adopted its first Public Art Master Plan in 2021. A copy can be downloaded here.
The role of public art in community — its importance and relevance
A message from Dublin Arts Council leaders
We believe public art is essential as it invites us to experience ourselves and our environment in new ways. Experiencing public art slows us down and provides a space for pause and contemplation. Public art awakens and hones our senses. As we come upon an artwork, we see, hear, and feel things anew. We observe, wonder, sense, and play with heightened humanity. This full-bodied engagement sparks our curiosity and can restore our connection and belonging to the places we inhabit.
We believe public artists are essential. The creative work of artists fuels our imagination and makes us more human. When we experience art in public places we enter into a dialogue with our local and global communities. We exchange reactions and opinions with others that may strengthen our connection, challenge our perspective, expand our understanding, or motivate us to action. Public art has the power to disrupt the status quo and reveal our biases and beliefs. It can open our minds and hearts to ponder our relationship to ourselves, others and the environment. Public art is civic engagement that demands curiosity and open-mindedness in public spaces for all.
The commission for M.L. “Red” Trabue Nature Reserve has provided an amazing opportunity for our community to work with world-renowned artist, Ilan Averbuch. We define community as those who live, work, visit, learn, and play in Dublin. Ilan’s work will provide a moment of discovery, a moment to see the world differently. As we walk the path and approach The Boat in the Field, we will bring our own beliefs, responses, and experiences in dialogue with others. We will be invited to wonder where we have been and where we are going – and perhaps just give pause to where we are in the moment.
Please stay with us during this transformative project to experience the power of art and the nuanced moments of discovery that await.
David S. Guion, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Ava Morgan, Ph.D.
Public Art Manager
M.L. “Red” Trabue Nature Reserve Public Artwork
Shown above: Artist Ilan Averbuch’s site-specific rendering of The Boat in the Field selected as Dublin’s latest permanent public artwork, to be installed in M.L. “Red” Trabue Park in 2023.
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Ilan Averbuch of Long Island City, N.Y. has been contracted for a $150,000 commission for Dublin, Ohio’s newest public artwork. Averbuch’s site-specific proposal for The Boat in the Field, a permanent artwork in Dublin’s M.L. “Red” Trabue Nature Reserve, consists of two intertwined images.
One image is of a stone skeletal structure of a boat raised 11 to 15 feet in the air as if frozen in mid-flight. The other image is of a skeletal tower made of vertical steel beams covered with a sloping round roof. The stone boat looks as if it floats weightlessly in mid-air, seeming to defy gravity and the laws of physics. Below, steel beams, some straight and some bent, appear in motion, possibly having walked out of the nearby Karrer Pond. The sculpture will be 25 feet tall, 18 feet wide and 15 feet deep, created from recycled and Ohio industrial materials, such as stone and weathering steel.
Averbuch has located recycled stone from the steps of St. John Cathedral in Cleveland, a historic Roman Catholic church building that was completed in 1852. The stone has been delivered to Averbuch’s studio, where he is cutting it to fit the newly formed steel structure of the sculpture. The artist is developing a full engineering plan with Dublin, Ohio engineer Larry Paxton.
Averbuch was selected from a field of 151 applicants from 33 states. The sculpture will be long-lasting and will require very little maintenance. The Boat in the Field is slated for installation 2023.
Read the announcement about the award here.
View Averbuch’s proposal presentation here.
Public artist Ilan Averbuch talks about his concept for The Boat in the Field
Dublin’s permanent, large-scale collection
Feather Point
Feather Point is a permanent artwork in Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park. Artist Olga Ziemska's proposal takes inspiration from the Coat of Arms of Kosciuszo’s native Poland and finds commonality with Bill Moose, known as the last of the Wyandot American Indian Tribe to have lived in Ohio.
Dublin Tunnel Mural
The Dublin Tunnel Mural was created in 2015 as a joint collaboration between Dublin Arts Council, ADAMH Board of Franklin County, ALTernative and the City of Dublin.
Tree of Life, Future Tense
Tree of Life, Future Tense pays homage to the tree as a monument. Columbus artist Mary Jo Bole encapsulates the visualization of time through a bronze cast sculpture that embraces a red oak tree planted within.
Daily Chores
The Daily Chores sculpture was inspired by Dublin’s historic town water pump that sat in the middle of the intersection of Bridge and High streets in the early 1900s. While the pump was a primary source of drinking water for the town, it was also a community gathering place where residents would come together to share news and connect with one another.
Playing Through
Playing Through is an interactive street piano and original piece of public art enhanced with a golf-inspired theme. This public artwork was created by ALTernative, a Columbus-based artist collaborative led by Tim Lai and Eliza Ho during the summer of 2013.
The Simulation of George M. Karrer’s Workshop
The Simulation of George M. Karrer’s Workshop by artist Brower Hatcher is designed to conjure a memory of Karrer’s blacksmith shop, which once stood on the project’s site in the late 1800s.
Sanguine Standing Stone & Jaunty Hornbeam
Sanguine Standing Stone and Jaunty Hornbeam were acquired through Titration3: Rock, Paper, Sculpture, a one year, solo on-loan outdoor sculpture exhibition on the grounds of the Dublin Arts Council October 2009 through September 2010.
One Scene & Untitled
“One Scene” is installed on the expansive Dublin Recreation Center wall that serves as a backdrop to the entryway pond. “Untitled” is installed in the entryway of the City of Dublin Development Building.
Modified Social Benches
Hein’s work focuses on problemetizing the traditional relationships between sculpture, viewer and the environment.
Exuvia
Cicadas, who must climb trees to exist, have directly influenced Smith’s Exuvia series, which include the three sculptures in Dublin’s Coffman Park.
Injection
Middlebrook’s Injection is a majestic bronze and stone sculpture that was installed at the pond’s edge near the Dublin Community Recreation Center in Coffman Park as part of the original Titration exhibition series in 2007.
Narrow #5
The grand arch serves as the gateway to the exhibition and provides wayfinding through sight lines to the other Titration sculptures in the park.
One Step at a Time
Candyce J. Garrett of Galisteo, New Mexico is a noted stone carver with artworks in private collections and galleries throughout the United States.
Ascension
Brian Russell’s sculpture “Ascension” was installed as part of the original Titration series in 2007. The sculpture is 114 x 26 x 18” in size and is created with cast glass and forged aluminum.
Going, Going… Gone!
Going, Going…Gone! is a bronze sculpture marking the passage of time through the imagery of baseball.
Watch House
Watch House was designed and situated on its site so that it would reveal different aspects of itself slowly as the viewer moves toward the site.
Jack Nicklaus Tribute Sculpture
In their representational sculpture, Mr. Nicklaus is shown not only as the senior master of golf, but also as a paternal mentor, teacher and role model.
Rec Center Relief Sculptures
These relief sculptures were created by Columbus artists David Bamber and Andrew Scott in 1996.
Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees)
The installation symbolizes the history of the community’s farming legacy and serves as a memorial to rural landscapes.
Out of Bounds
Out of Bounds is comprised of seven, ten-foot high independent modular forms representing soccer balls.
Leatherlips
The sculpture, a 12-foot high portrait of the Wyandot Native American Chief Leatherlips, was installed in Scioto Park in 1990.
Current and previous temporary public art projects
Sense of Place 2.0: Dublin City Schools Public Art Challenge
Artists: Dublin City Schools Middle and High School students Project date: May 20 - Aug. 31, 2022 Location: Scioto Park 7377 Riverside Dr. Dublin, Ohio 43016 The project was part [...]
Sense of Place: A Fieldbook for Dublin’s Public Art
Join the public art conversation with your Sense of Place Fieldbook Have you ever wondered why there are 6-foot-tall ears of corn in Dublin? Or imagined that there must be a story behind the “cicada [...]
Fractals – Patterns in Nature
artists: Jonah Jacobs, Noor Murteza, Andrea Myers, Karen Snouffer project date: launched September 2021 location: three Dublin parks (see map below) Scale the map by pinching and move the map [...]
6-ft gallery: Irish Showcase
The 6-ft. gallery project is a collaboration between Dublin Arts Council and Visit Dublin Ohio, designed to showcase Dublin's resident artists while providing physical distancing guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Connect: Public Art & Wellness Challenge
artists: 20 participating artists project date: Sept. 26 - Dec. 26, 2020 (some artworks still on view) location: 16 new artworks in nine Dublin, Ohio parks Can you find them all? You can [...]
6-ft gallery project 2020
The 6-ft gallery project is a collaboration between Dublin Arts Council and the Dublin Convention & Visitors Bureau, designed to showcase Dublin's resident artists while providing physical distancing guidance during the 2020 pandemic.