Newport News Public Art Foundation

Educate-Transform-Inspire

The Newport News Public Art Foundation is dedicated to helping make Newport News an appealing place to live, work, visit and do business by placing monumental-scale works of art by respected sculptors throughout the city, where people can enjoy art as they go about their daily lives. The Foundation also works to encourage and help the public enjoy, appreciate and engage with the sculpture around them, through outreach and education programs.

Our work doesn’t end with installation. Through outreach and education, we engage the community with the collection so that it serves as part of Newport News’ ongoing cultural life. We strive to stimulate deeper connections with the collection by encouraging people to notice, study, and find meaning in and inspiration from the art that is all around them. This is achieved through educational and interpretive materials we develop and distribute as well as in-person engagement.

For more information on the Newport News Public Art Foundation and our upcoming projects, visit our website at www.nnpaf.org, email info@nnpaf.org, or call 757- 369-3014.

Who We Are

The Newport News Public Art Foundation provides art every day for everyone. Public art is always open, always free, and always ready to bring beauty, inspiration, meaning, and connection to our lives. It enlivens our public spaces and creates a meaningful sense of place and a sense of identity for Newport News. Public art is a tangible sign of investment in the community.

Like the city they serve, the 20 sculptures of the Newport News Public Art Foundation are diverse. Some are figurative, some are abstract, some pieces evoke classical forms, others feel very contemporary, and some bridge the territory in between.

We have three major programs:

We commission and install a diverse collection of monumental-scale sculpture by respected artists from around the world. The goal is a collection so varied that everyone finds pieces they like and some that challenge them. The resulting collection is remarkable in its size and quality.

We conserve the collection. While the sculptures are designed for the outdoors, they need regular attention to stay as beautiful as they were on the day they were installed.

We reach out to the public so they can enjoy, appreciate, and engage with the collection. We have an informative website and free audio tour app. We bring sculptors into schools. Our activity book "Explore Art in Our Community" is distributed to Newport News Public Schools, libraries, and is downloadable from our website. We attend community events and speak at community groups.

By supporting our Foundation, you make it possible to bring more art like "Whitetail Crossing" to places like Deer Park. Wendy Klemperer, the sculptor, spoke at Deer Park Elementary about the art and science connection when she traveled to Newport News to install the deer. "Man and Crocodile," by Girolamo Ciulla, will be our 21st sculpture when it is installed in 2020, and more of his work was exhibited at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, so the community could get to know this artist’s work.

Your support replaced "Selene"’s lights in Kettle Pond, and cleaned and repaired "Build a Dream" at 31st and Jefferson. New bases for "Melpomene" and "Natural" in Port Warwick, some of our oldest pieces, will be installed in May 2020. Your support will make possible the conservation of "Carambola," so that future generations of library patrons can enjoy the artwork the neighborhood made possible.