Research and creation: Socially-engaged art in The City of Richgate Project

Combining research and art in the public sphere can have an enormous impact on urban societies. In places like Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, where over the past decades globalization has radically altered the social landscape, new approaches to public art and modes of representation can begin to reflect complex individual everyday experiences in a way that census statistics and traditional public monuments cannot. In this article, The City of Richgate, a four-year research/creation project funded by a pilot programme for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, will be described and discussed in relation to contemporary art criticism and discourse. Specifically, debates between critics Claire Bishop and Grant Kester will be used to reflect on Richgate, and how aesthetics play a part in socially-engaged public art projects such as this one.