The Southern Taiwan Science Park was honored with the "Outstanding Award” of the fourth Public Art Awards on Nov. 6 for its long-term efforts in creating a beautiful environment and integrating art with daily life for local residents through an annual art festival.
The fourth Public Art Awards ceremony recognizes local public art projects installed between 2011 and 2012. Twenty out of 130 applications went through three stages of review, in which the judges even visited the outlying Kinmen Islands to inspect a project there.
Among the other award recipients this year is the art installation at the Taipei Rapid Transportation System's Luzhou Station, which won one of the three Best Creativity Awards. The project includes a huge feather-shaped glass-and-stainless steel installation that is suspended in the air from the rooftop of the underground metro station.
Ching Gou Elementary School in Yilan County won the Best Education Promotion Award with three gift box-shaped stone installations decorated with mosaic tiles, while the Kinmen art project won the Best Environmental Integration Award for its ceramic chair-like installations, which are a re-making of "Xioudun,” a piece of ancient furniture in the Ming Dynasty.
The Ministry of Culture, which organizes the award, also launched an online voting system for the "Popularity Award,” adding two more spots this year. The final winners were two separate art projects spearheaded by the National Taichung Public Library the Taiwan Power Company's Pingtung branch.
The Public Art Awards recognizes local public art projects that are creative, environmentally compatible, and involved with public participation.Conferred every two years since 2007, the awards include Outstanding Award, Best Planning Award, Best Creativity Award, Best Environmental Integration Award, Best Public Participation Award, Best Education Promotion Award, and Popularity Award.
More information can be found at: www.publicartaward.com.tw