The City of Norwalk takes pride in the variety and quality of services offered to the community. From the award winning public safety programs to the vast array of recreation classes and events, the City of Norwalk offers the services and programming that make Norwalk a great place to live and work.


Art In Public Places Program

The intent of the Art in Public Places Program is to provide a collection of nationally recognized, permanent outdoor sculpture throughout the City, to be of public benefit. The program is designed to present the community with a variety of sculpture styles and themes, all of the highest possible quality.

The Art in Public Places program is entirely funded by contractor/developer contributions. Generally speaking, contractors contribute 1% of the project cost toward the Art in Public Places fund for commercial or industrial developments, having a project cost in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) or residential development of more than four lots or units, including single-family residential structures, condominiums, apartments, townhouses or other dwelling units, if the aggregate project costs exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00). The other option is for the contractor to install a public art piece near or around the vicinity, subject to City Council approval.

All of the public art projects funded by the Art in Public Places program are not subsidized by General Funds.

Here are some previously completed public art projects:







CURRENT PUBLIC ART PROJECT - SOCIAL SERVICES CENTER

The City is pleased to announce that the newest public art piece has been installed at the Norwalk Social Services Center. Themed "Embracing the Community," artist John Fisher was selected to design and carve a life-size marble sculpture depicting a set of hands supporting a family. Mr. Fisher was selected for this project because of his talent and extensive knowledge doing public carvings. He has done public carving projects in Santa Barbara, Mendocino, and Yucca Valley.

Mr. Fisher personally selected the marble from the Italian quarries and completed some of the sculpture work overseas.

The sculpture arrived in Norwalk on February 2, 2011. It was temporarily housed at the Norwalk Arts & Sports Complex courtyard, where the artist continued to work on the piece and the public was invited to see a piece of marble transformed to a wonderful art piece.

Community Engagement is Key
What made this project unique from previous city public art projects is the public carving experience and the artist's emphasis in reaching out to the community. During the artist's two month stay in Norwalk, the public had the chance to interact and see an artist at work. Mr. Fisher gave a talk about the project and sculpting to students visiting from local schools, and gave a talk about the art of public carving and his experience working on the project at an artist reception.
See photos of the artist's progress from Italy to Norwalk, by clicking here

Watch a video of the arrival of the sculpture in Norwalk and Mr. Fisher working on it by clicking here.




The sculpture was transported to its permanent location at the Social Services Center on March 30, 2011. The second phase of this project is constructing a natural looking water feature that will surround the piece. Construction is currently on-going at this time.

For photos on the sculpture's journey from the Arts & Sports Complex to the Social Services Center, click here

You can get the latest information about this project by calling (562) 929-5964.