10 Places to See Public Art in 2017

By Alina Cohen

Throughout this year, ambitious projects will be unveiled all over America — from an artistic jungle gym in Miami to a pirate ship docking in Northern California — and they don’t cost anything to see. One of them is the installation by world famous artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, “Pirate Ship.”

Redwood City, California.

A benevolent pirate ship is about to settle in Redwood City, thanks to the curator Lance Fung. Instead of looters, the artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s large-scale boat installation (with the word “IMAGINE” nearby) will bring a new emphasis on public art to the area. Fung — who is best known for curating a show of snow-based installations at the 2006 Olympics in Turin — is working on many public projects for the Bay Area with his partner, John Talley. Within the next year, he hopes to commission works from the artists Kiki Smith, Daniel Buren and Robert Barry, and continue his “Migrations” project, a series of ongoing exhibitions along the San Francisco Bay Trail.