Project Overview

‘Public Art and its Role in Connecting People and Place' evaluates the commissioning of public artworks within Sydney Metro and Train stations. Led by a team of interdisciplinary researchers at RMIT University, the project is supported by iMOVE, the national centre for transport and mobility Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). The research project employs a holistic approach to understand value and impact in relation to user experience and wellbeing, placemaking and environmental value, education and cultural engagement, and economic vitality. The study examines everyday metro user experience and local perceptions of these public artworks to inform best practice for future public art investment in the context of major infrastructure. Our expert interdisciplinary research team has developed a unique methodology to enable a deeper understanding of how public art contributes to the social, cultural, environmental, and economic objectives of the Sydney Metro project. Our research will result in the rigorous evaluation framework with a robust evidence from multi-stakeholder engagement which can be applied to measuring the impact of future significant public art, major infrastructure, and new metro rail projects. With senior Indigenous cultural leadership, seasoned public art practitioners, and significant industry partnership research experience, our multi disciplinary research team brings experience and expertise working across arts policy, impact analysis, urban design and placemaking, and human-centred design. The team has been assembled to offer a unique mix of skills across public art, service design, arts policy evaluation, community and stakeholder engagement, economics, and urban data innovation, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.