18.5.2007

Per Cent for Art in the City of Turku

Carried out twice in Turku

The per-cent-for-art scheme means that 1% of the building grants of the city is reserved for art acquisitions. So far, the City of Turku has followed the scheme twice: three works of art by Ann Sundholm, Reima Nurmikko ja Simo Helenius were acquired to the Turun Lyseo School in 1994, and works of art from a total of fifteen artists were acquired to the new Turku Main Library opened in 2007. For the time being, the next object for the per-cent-for-art scheme remains unknown.

History of per-cent-for-art in Finland

The per-cent-for-art scheme was first considered by the Finnish Parliament in 1939. In the following year, it approved a resolution that 1-2% of the building costs would be used to enhance the artistic appearance of buildings and environment. This development ended with the Second World War. In 1981, the City Union recommended the implementation of the per-cent-for-art scheme in all municipalities. Many municipalities indeed implemented the scheme, until it died down with the recession in the early 1990's. Besides Turku, at least the cities of Oulu, Helsinki, Vantaa and Salo have implemented the per-cent-for-art scheme during the last few years.