Public Art Policies

Pictured: Singing Beach Chairs by Douglas Hollis, 1987

Cultural Policies

The City's Cultural Policies exist to support our artistic legacy, while creating space for new voices to flourish. Santa Monica Cultural Affairs helps shape those policies through listening to our community. Policies are set by the Santa Monica Arts Commission and City Council.

Leadership - Public Art Committee

The Public Art Committee is a standing committee of the Arts Commission, consisting of three Arts Commissioners and four community members that possess a variety of expertise related to public art. The Public Art Committee provides recommendations to the Arts Commission on artist selection for Percent for Art Commissions and the Percent for Art Budget. It meets on the third Monday of each month at 5:25pm before the monthly Arts Commission meeting. The current default location is the Santa Monica Main Library Community Meeting Room, 601 Santa Monica Blvd. Check the Arts Commission agenda page for updates.

Percent for Art

Santa Monica Cultural Affairs manages the City’s public art program and its Percent for Art requirement in both public and private development.

Public: The Percent for Art Program embodies the City’s commitment to sustainable funding for the arts, setting aside 1% percent of the total budget of all eligible public capital improvement projects for art projects. 

Private: In 2006, Santa Monica passed a Private Percent for Art Ordinance that required private developers of projects at a certain threshold to either contribute to a City-administered Cultural Trust Fund or to provide onsite cultural artwork or facilities. This is termed the Cultural Arts Requirement and details are recorded in the Municipal Code.

Public Art Map

City-owned Public Art