Manifesto For Public Art

This is written as a baseline for how I approach public art initiatives.

Emotional Resonance

Art becomes a language of empathy, capable of bridging difference and evoking shared emotion. Each drawing aims to create a moment of connection, inviting viewers into reflection and dialogue. Through stillness and precision, the work holds space for feeling, reminding us that beauty can move quietly but deeply within public and private experience alike.

Versatility

Adaptability is a guiding principle. The practice moves fluidly between pencil, charcoal, paint, and abstraction, allowing form to follow meaning. Portraits and still lifes are treated as parallel expressions, each an inquiry into perception, time, and gesture. This range of approaches allows the work to exist in varied contexts, from intimate study to large-scale installation.

Symbolism and Storytelling

Objects, gestures, and fragments of the familiar serve as symbolic vessels. Within them, meaning accumulates—folded, mirrored, or displaced. Through abstraction and repetition, the work becomes a site of narrative possibility, where personal memory and collective history intertwine. The image is not an endpoint but an unfolding, where viewers complete the story through their gaze.

Engagement with Community

Art belongs to its audience. Each piece extends beyond the studio, inviting participation, interpretation, and conversation. The work seeks not only to be seen, but to see with others, to cultivate empathy through shared observation. This approach reflects a belief that creative engagement strengthens communities by opening new ways of understanding ourselves and one another.

Aesthetic Presence

Beauty functions here as both threshold and invitation. The meticulous detail and layered compositions draw viewers in, encouraging sustained looking and quiet attention. Aesthetic refinement is not ornament but devotion, a practice of care that transforms the ordinary into the profound and affirms the enduring relevance of art in the fabric of daily life.

Thank you! I you hope enjoyed this list.
Yours Truly,
Julianne Chladny