Public art is complicated. It can be official – a mural, monument, or other installation. The creation and placement of official public art is not cheap and is usually handled with significant deliberation or decided by social and/or political forces. The removal of official public art is also usually a significant event, showing shifts or conflicts within the values and character of a society.
Public art can also be unofficial – such as graffiti.
Public art often commemorates a person, event, or idea or might simply add to the aesthetics of an area. Always, however, public art is a deliberate act that communicates something about the society around it.
In Warsaw, large, elegant, and beautiful willow trees grace many of the parks within the city. These are the same willow trees that inspired many of the outstanding musical pieces of prodigy composer and native Pole, Frédéric Chopin. Signs of Chopin’s legacy, like the willows that inspired him, can also be seen across the city. […]