“Rather than looking at a blank wall or brick or glass or concrete, they’re seeing some beautiful art, and it’s aesthetically pleasing,” Mr. Joblon said. He hopes that shoppers will stay and make purchases after admiring the art.
The art-in-development surge has ignited a boom among artists, consultants, galleries and related endeavors. A recent study by CODAworx, which works to connect artists with projects and commissioners, found that public art commissions last year totaled $4.4 billion from corporations, cities, airports, hospitals, churches and other organizations. Forty-one percent of those commissions were from government agencies, and 59 percent from commercial, nonprofit and private organizations. And more than 40 percent of those who commissioned art in 2023 expected to purchase even more art this year, according to the CODAworx study.
“There’s been a huge shift,” said Tze Chun, who started Uprise Art gallery in New York in 2011 and now works with at least 150 artists. “In the beginning, we would really have to convince developers that it was worth investing in original art by emerging artists.”
The trend has not only enhanced developments but also raised the fortunes of artists. “They’re giving us the means and platform to truly express our artistic vision,” said J Muzacz, an Austin mosaic artist who chronicled his city’s eclectic street art scene in the book “ATX Urban Art.”
A mural can cost building owners more than $400,000, and one-of-a-kind art objects, such as sculptures and designed light works, can push costs even higher. Chris Heimburger, executive vice president of development at Kilroy Realty, the developer behind the Indeed Tower, said each piece of art at Indeed was worth “many thousands of dollars.” And, he said, at Kilroy’s 30-story 350 Mission Street Tower in San Francisco, which opened in 2015, expenses for a 40-foot-by-70-foot digital media wall, as well as other art, ran into the millions.
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