The Importance of Public Art

We believe that The Arts are an essential part of any community as the cultural expression of society. Certainly a community may “survive” with only the barest essentials; commerce, education, food, housing, and the like, but it can only truly “thrive” in an environment rich in culture.

Longevity and Quality

The company has always strived to work with artists individually to help them with fabrication issues (sculptors needing stone polishing, making bases, etc…). Additionally, since its beginning, Steward-Mellon has worked on site-specific mosaics and terrazzo installations such as the terrazzo floor mural at the Hillsborough County Court House, completed 1952. In the more contemporary sense, where an artist or team is commissioned to provide a work to satisfy an art in public places ordinance, one of our earliest was Concourse “H” at Miami International Airport, completed in 1997.

Our Process - ensuring a phenomenal result

Often we are contacted by artists or teams of artists early on in the process. These artists want the commissioning body to be aware that they intend to partner with Steward-Mellon if they are awarded the project. Certainly by the issuance of the short list we will be involved for budget numbers, etc… The artists provide us sketches, plans and renderings to convey their concept. We would want an idea of the recipes involved as well. “We have helped transform many ordinary spaces into lasting artwork... With these in hand, we can price the job. Recipes and/or complexity may need to be tweaked to hit the budget numbers. Once an artist is awarded the commission, our planning and speccing begins in earnest. We work on precise recipes, often going through several color strikes to confer the artist’s idea. During installation, we encourage the artists to work with us in the field.