The Public Art 360: Symposium from Seven Perspectives event attracted 200 people to Chapel Hill for 15 hours of presentations and discussion about the intersection of public art with critical discourse, government, architecture, landscape architecture, private interests and community.

These themes, and their implications for public art policy and design, will be continued and advanced in a new online initiative called Second Life -- a virtual, educational portal for teaching and learning.

Public Art 360/Second Life is a real-time platform for peer-to-peer interactions. It is an environment where people from across the globe can connect and share knowledge and resources.

In Public Art360/Second Life we will host seminars, discussion groups, classes and help sessions; provide resources for people interested in public art programs and projects; showcase contemporary works of public art; provide listings of public art events and artist calls; and offer access to blogs, Web sites and listservs.

The first seminar, scheduled for early December, will address the history and role of government in commissioning public art. Charlotte Cohen, New York regional fine arts manager for the Federal General Services Administration, and Harriet Senie, director of museum studies and professor of art history at City College in New York, will present the seminar.

They will dicsuss how and why governments commit to the funding of public art, the breadth of such projects and administrative procedures for artist selection and management. Their talk will be followed by questions and answers.

In March 2009, Public Art 360/Second Life will sponsor a class for artists new to the field of public art to provide direct experience in developing a work of art on a historically complex and potentially controversial site.

Artists interested in the public art will work with Juan Logan, associate professor of studio art at UNC, and Susan Harbage Page, instructor and director of UNC's Allcott Gallery.

To sustain the dialogue begun in April about how to work strategically together across professional disciplines, we will also maintain and update the Public Art 360 Web site (www.publicartcollaborative.org).

In a few weeks, look for video of each of the seven themed sessions. Public Art 360 organizers are also establishing a regional resource network for the Southeastern states.