This classic text, reissued to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the City of Liverpool, was originally published in 1967. It is a milestone in the examination of urban arts movements and also provides the starting point for looking at art in Liverpool from the 1960s to the present day and beyond. Based on a survey commissioned by the Bluecoat Society of Arts, the author did something that had never before been done for a single city, and arguably has never been done since. He surveyed the history of the visual arts in ...
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This classic text, reissued to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the City of Liverpool, was originally published in 1967. It is a milestone in the examination of urban arts movements and also provides the starting point for looking at art in Liverpool from the 1960s to the present day and beyond. Based on a survey commissioned by the Bluecoat Society of Arts, the author did something that had never before been done for a single city, and arguably has never been done since. He surveyed the history of the visual arts in the city, looked at the cultural and institutional environment in which they developed, and asked the people of Liverpool how they viewed the visual arts in Liverpool - both in terms of public art and art in enclosed spaces. Willett saw a place with strong traditions in the visual arts, with new developments associated with the city's emergence in the 1960s as a centre for music and poetry. Willett concluded with an agenda for the development of art in Liverpool, and the spirit of
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Seller's Description:
New. Drawing its inspiration from the ground-breaking book Art in a City by John Willett, which surveyed the condition of the visual arts in Liverpool in 1967, this collection of essays explores the art scene in contemporary Liverpool, engaging with views from within and beyond the city. Contributors examine the often made claim that Liverpool is 'the most significant UK centre for art outside London', and look at the key institutional players, those that existed at the time Willett wrote such as the Bluecoat and the Walker Art Gallery, as well as later developments such as Tate Liverpool, Open Eye, FACT, and Liverpool Biennial. There are discussions of Liverpool as an art city from the perspective of key artists who have worked there; of patronage in the arts, including the extent and role of public funding; of the changing nature of public art; of art's social role and the connection between the local and the international; and the shift in emphasis from education to participation in the arts. The book evaluates the role of art in city regeneration and the more general concept of 'the creative industries', and it closes with a gathering of opinions about what the future holds for art in Liverpool following the city's year as European Capital of Culture.
