Katriina Campitelli: What a Public Art Curator Actually Does

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Katriina Campitelli is a Toronto-based public art curator with Finnish and Italian roots who has spent over five years commissioning permanent and temporary public art across Canada. She started during the pandemic by creating a projection mapping festival when galleries shut down, and hasn't stopped since. This is a conversation from the other side of the public art table: what do public art curators actually do, what they are looking for and what many artists get wrong.

Katriina's work spans permanent commissions to ephemeral festivals, sculpture gardens and community engagement programs.

This episode is essential listening for any artist thinking about making the jump into public art. But it's equally fascinating for anyone who's ever walked past a sculpture and wondered how it got there.

What we cover:

• The percent-for-art funding model and why most permanent public art is tied to infrastructure budgets

• What a public art curator actually does start to finish

• Why the only way to learn public art is to make public art and why that's a genuine problem given that public art cannot fail

• The Drunk Frat Boy test: what your work needs before it can be installed in a public space

• The giant chrome cow that led to two years of community backlash

• Why Maurizio Cattelan's middle finger outside the Milan stock exchange became a permanent installation

• What selection panelists notice (and remember) about artists and why being kind is a strategic career choice

• Why public art matters beyond aesthetics: as a tool for economic development, wayfinding, community belonging and joy

05:40 Growing Up Between Cultures

07:20 Master's in Italy

10:23 What a Public Art Curator Does

17:19 Finding Artists

19:16 How to Start in Public Art

30:00 Community Buy-In and Cautionary Tales

37:14 Temporary vs Permanent Public Art

38:24 Design Longevity Rules

47:30 Community Engagement Wins

57:36 Advice for Applicants

01:03:46 Career Highlights

Katriina Campitelli is based in Toronto, Canada.

Find out more about Katriina’s work on her website https://katcampitelli.ca/ and follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katcampitelli/

Also mentioned in this episode:

JR: https://www.jr-art.net/ | https://www.instagram.com/jr/

Percent For Public Art: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/design-guidelines/percent-for-public-art-inventory/

Ron Baird: https://ronbairdartist.com/

National Film Board of Canada: https://www.nfb.ca/ | https://www.instagram.com/onf_nfb/ | @nfb

Maurizio Cattelan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cattelan | https://www.instagram.com/mauriziocattelan/

Francesco Perilli: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Perilli_(artista)

Joel Sears: https://joelsears.com/about-joel/

Alex Seton episode: https://installationartpodcast.com/alex-seton-024

The High Line: https://www.thehighline.org/ | https://www.instagram.com/highlinenyc

Fourth Plinth: https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/arts-and-culture/current-culture-projects/fourth-plinth-trafalgar-square

Anish Kapoor: https://anishkapoor.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/dirty_corner

Claes Oldenburg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claes_Oldenburg

Myfanwy MacLeod: https://www.myfanwymacleod.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/mittens_macleod_again/

Pasi Rauhala: https://pasirauhala.fi/ | https://www.instagram.com/pasirauhala/

Korkeasaari Zoo: https://korkeasaari.fi/en/ | https://www.instagram.com/korkeasaari/ | @Korkeasaareneläintarha

Amos Rex Museum: https://amosrex.fi/en/ | https://www.instagram.com/amoskonst/

Toronto Sculpture Garden: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/public-art/public-art-monuments-collection/comp-sculpture-garden/

National Gallery of Canada: https://www.gallery.ca/ | https://www.instagram.com/NatGalleryCan/ | @ngcmedia

The Installation Art Podcast is a show about people who love and work with the contemporary art medium of installation. The host Anastasia Parmson, an artist herself, interviews internationally renowned artists and arts workers about the intricacies and behind-the-scenes stories of creating and showing work that is site-specific, ephemeral, large scale or immersive.

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