Landmarks grew out of a 2005 policy, Art in Public Spaces, that was approved by The University of Texas System Office of the General Counsel and the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The policy set a goal of one to two percent of the capital cost of new construction and major renovations of main campus buildings for the acquisition of public art. Following the adoption of the policy, Landmarks was established to develop a campus public art collection. Peter Walker Partners Landscape Architects created a Public Art Master Plan in 2007. This plan corresponds to the 1999 César Pelli Campus Master Plan and serves to guide overall public art acquisition and placement. Among many considerations, it proposes the best locations for installations of public art to provide visual anchors at gateways, to accentuate main axis corridors, and to clarify patchy architectural edges. To establish the program, Landmarks undertook a partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It negotiated a long-term loan of twenty-eight sculptures from the mid– to late–twentieth century, including works by Louise Bourgeois, Tony Smith, and Ursula von Rydingsvard. The Metropolitan sculptures were installed in 2008 and located throughout the university's main campus. Landmarks was founded by Andrée Bober who leads the program as curator and director. At the official launch in 2008, The New York Times described Landmarks as "poised to become a destination for modern sculpture." The Metropolitan loan established an art historical foundation upon which the university would build its own collection.
Among Landmarks’ most recognized installations is James Turrell’s Skyspace, The Color Inside. Commissioned by Landmarks in 2013, The Color Inside is a naked-eye observatory sited on the rooftop of the William C. Powers Student Activity Center. Distinctive for its intimate proportions, elegant palette, and brilliant washes of color, the installation can be experienced during specialized light sequences at sunrise and sunset. During these times the sky appears in unimaginable hues. Also available for observation during the day, the Skyspace offers a quiet, contemplative space for the campus and community. The Color Inside is the eighty-fourth Skyspace created by Turrell and one of twelve open to the public in the United States. It is visited by some 60,000 people each year.
Ann Hamilton's ''O N E E V E R Y O N E''
Commissioned by Landmarks in 2017 for the Dell Medical School, Ann Hamilton's O N E E V E R Y O N E features portraits of more than five hundred members of the Austin community. Rooted in the idea that human touch and intimacy are the most essential means of contact and the fundamental expression of physical care, the project welcomed the participation of all who had either provided or received care. O N E E V E R Y O N E took many forms, including photographic enamel panels, a digital image library of 21,000 images, a 2017 exhibition hosted in collaboration with the university's Visual Arts Center, a dedicated , 900-page publication, and a newspaper with scholarly essays on the project.
Landmarks Video
Landmarks Video presents some of the most highly regarded and influential works of video art from the past six decades. Each month, the work of one artist is featured in the ART building atrium, located on the corner of East 23rd Street and San Jacinto Boulevard, Austin, Texas. The series aims to familiarize the university community with important titles, stimulate conversation and research, and situate the genre of video art alongside the presentation of more traditional works. Each video presentation is accompanied by an entry published in the . The program was inaugurated in 2010 with the commission of David Ellis' Animal, a motion painting composed of more than 65 thousand still images made by the artist during a six-week residency. Landmarks Video has featured more than one hundred artists, including: Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Lynda Benglis, Chris Burden, Patty Chang, Cheryl Donegan, Cao Fei, Douglas Gordon, Miranda July, Joan Jonas, Kalup Linzy, Bruce Nauman, Migel Angel Rios, Pipilotti Rist, Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, and Kara Walker.
Landmarks Collection Guide
To further understanding and engagement, Landmarks produces a guide to its collection. The first edition was published in 2015 and an updated and expanded version in 2018 published by The books were widely distributed to schools, across campus, and in the community. Included are entries for the collection, a public art map, and information about Landmarks programs.
