Students have recently come back to campus, and a big draw for students choosing a school is how the campus makes them feel. The architecture of the buildings, the layout of the campus, the green spaces. And an element that is increasingly being brought to more campus spaces - public art. Americans for the Arts, an organization that builds recognition and support for the arts, says that “public art instills meaning—a greater sense of identity and understandings of where we live, work, and visit — creating memorable experiences for all. It humanizes the built environment, provides an intersection between past, present, and future, and can help communities thrive.” Public art provides a distinctive and unique identity for colleges, allowing them to enrich the campus culture with specifically curated works.

Universities have been a forum for public art for decades, and universities have been investing more in creating public art committees and public art policies to make this process more formalized. Art & Object’s article about university public art said, “Public art on university campuses are the physical embodiment of institutional missions, and help to contribute to the creation and maintenance of the places where the community can learn, live, and dialogue, within an environment that is rich in meaning.” This has a twofold effect of allowing universities to find more opportunities to seek out public art pieces that provide students, staff, and faculty to be exposed to art, and also allows more direction in providing strategic oversight of how that public art is being selected.

Virginia Tech has had a public art policy since 2023, and Arts@Virginia Tech provides an excellent guide to the public art offerings available on campus. There are numerous locations where art and sculpture are accessible on the Virginia Tech campus, from locations as prominent as the Pylons to the recently added works, Thresholds: Understanding Our Complicated Past and Reconnecting Our Layered Histories by Carrie Gault and Think on These Things by Charlie Brouwer. These artworks fit seamlessly into the landscape of campus, providing students with an opportunity to engage with the works to whatever degree they want at that moment.

Outdoor sculpture of a stylized human figure made from segmented stone or concrete blocks, with another smaller abstract statue on a bench nearby, set in a park with trees and autumn sunlight.
Think on These Things by Charlie Brower

Virginia Tech is in good company with these efforts.

Wesleyan University recently unveiled a new public art collection - and launched a digital guide this past spring. “Associate Director of Visual Arts Benjamin Chaffee '00 said ‘Contemporary art, as another form of intellectual research, can reveal to us so much about our world today,’”

Drexel University is another space that has recently invested in public art. They’ve activated spaces in Philadelphia with a number of installations, including 12 murals in a tiny alleyway and another mural incorporating interactive lighting elements by local artist David Guinn.

Florida Gulf Coast University highlighted ten public artworks that capture the culture on campus, showing that even in environments where the arts face challenges from state leadership, they are still valued by their campus communities.

Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, located in the heart of New York City, has also invested in outdoor sculptures to help highlight Fordham’s identity, which features a free walking tour and QR codes to learn more about the artworks.

Concordia University recently established a public art policy running from 2025 to 2028 that “proposes a vision to improve the integration of public art on both Sir George Williams and Loyola campuses situated in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal on the unceded Indigenous lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. The strategy encourages the development of public art programs and internal and external partnerships that support the goals of the University and align with its current and future vision of pedagogy.”

Entrance of a building with green lockers inside, flanked by two large colorful murals of human side profiles—one in shades of green and one in shades of blue with underwater imagery. A weathered wooden abstract statue stands in the center foreground.
At Florida Gulf Coast University, Untitled by Dennis Gallagher stands at the back entrance to the Arts Complex, where FGCU alum Paul Firmin's mural, Heart and Soul, is installed.

Including public art on campus isn’t just for university administrators - students are also actively thinking about ways to impact how they envision public spaces when it comes to public art and creating new ways for students and the community to engage with art. At the University of Chicago, the Harris School of Public Policy students won the 2024-2025 Innovation Policy Challenge to build culture and connection by closing a street to create a pedestrian friendly space in their art and culture district that would also provide housing for artists. Their ambitious proposal sought to take advantage of the deep wealth of cultural offerings Chicago has available: “Presented at a Shark-Tank-style pitch event on April 16, the students’ proposal called to make a stretch of Michigan Avenue more pedestrian-friendly by closing it to car traffic between Monroe Street and Wacker Drive, while also creating affordable housing for artists and revamping the city’s 40-block Pedway system with shopping options and other enrichment.”

Students are also contributing to the works that are being presented on campuses. At Carnegie Mellon University, ‘Bella Alt was a first-year art student when the campus-wide call for submissions went out in September 2023, inviting students to propose pieces for various public spaces. Wean Hall, the only indoor site among the five proposed, offered a central location and an ideal backdrop. The student committee selected ‘Four Birds’ from among 37 submissions for how it would enliven architect Dahlen Ritchey’s Brutalist design.” Carnegie Mellon also recently received a $10 million dollar gift given by alumni Cindy and Tod Johnson, specifically to support public art, emphasizing the impact this work can have on a campus long after students have left that space.

Students sit studying beneath four colorful bird murals on a concrete wall, with a clock showing 11:23.
"Four Birds" installed in the entrance to Wean Hall at Carnegie Mellon

The benefits of public art for students, staff, faculty and guests to campus can’t be underestimated. Virginia Tech students take photos at the Pylons because they resonate with our campus values and have a historical meaning for our graduates. Students are also taking photos and videos at the art installations found on the Turner Street side of the Center for the Arts, which has recently begun showcasing the works of artists on the outside of the building to provide another opportunity to engage the campus and the local community.

Public art helps us reimagine spaces that can be used by students and local community members. It provides a chance for a dialogue with colleagues, a quiet moment of reflection, an opportunity to feel pride and connection with that space. It’s a chance to take a photo and make a memory, to keep returning to a location because that artwork becomes a symbol, a representative, of the campus community.

Laine Goerner is the Production & Rentals Manager at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech and is working towards an MFA in Theatre in Arts Leadership.