What do public sculptures and murals have in common with sidewalks and trash cans? In New York, none of them can occupy city property without the approval of a single municipal agency. This colorful history of that agency, the Art Commission of the City of New York, tells the century-long story—involving artists, architects, business leaders, activists, and politicians—of how it shaped the way the entire city looks today. A former vice president of the ACNY, Michele Bogart narrates its history from an insider’s perspective, tracing the commission’s activities from its 1898 founding as an outgrowth of progressive reform to its role in New York’s reconstruction after 9/11.
Drawing readers into the center of an art world that paralleled—and sometimes unpredictably intersected with—the more familiar realm of prominent architects, painters, galleries, and museums, The Politics of Urban Beauty tells a quintessentially New York tale that’s of utmost relevance to cities everywhere.
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