Exploring Ronan’s conceptual, methodological and substantive innovations: Ronan on public art

ABSTRACT

As the academic field of study into public art, particularly within regeneration contexts, was emerging, Ronan Paddison brought his interests in quality of life, culture-led regeneration, community and public spaces, and the broader processes of urban change to the discipline. This paper briefly outlines how these conversations developed and can be seen reflected in current thinking around the role of art, particularly in urban regeneration.

KEYWORDS:

• Public art
• urban regeneration
• inclusion
• policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Venda Louise Pollock is Dean of Culture and Creative Arts at Newcastle University. After graduating with her PhD from the University of St Andrews and teaching at the University of Central Lancashire, she began her research career as an Urban Studies Research Fellow in Urban Cultural Regeneration at Glasgow University under the mentorship of Ronan Paddison. From the geography department at Glasgow she moved to Fine Art at Newcastle where she is now Professor of Public Art. Vee researches the relationship between art and the urban environment, and broader public art practices, with particular interests in heritage, narratives and memory.

Notes

1 New Labour refers to a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid 1990s to the general election of 2010 when the Party, through the leadership of Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown, sought to forge a ‘third way’ in politics that reached beyond capitalism and socialism with an emphasis on social justice. The Coalition Government was formed in 2010 between the Conservative Party led by David Cameron and the Liberal Democrats led by Nick Clegg. It was in power from 2010 to 2015.