Public Art Conference Archive—2004

Concurrent Session: Visual Artists Rights Act: Boston Case Study

Presenters:             

Ricardo Barreto, Director, UrbanArt Institute, Boston, MA
David Phillips, Artist, Cambridge, MA
Andrew D. Epstein, Esq., Barker, Epstein & Loscocco, Boston, MA

The Visual Artists Rights Act recognizes that visual art plays an important role in our cultural life, and that artists who have put their hearts and souls into their creations deserve protection for their efforts.

– Representative Robert  Kastenmeier, D-Wisconsin, June 5, 1990

The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) is federal legislation that gives artists rights with respect to the creation of their work. This panel discussed how VARA and the Massachusetts Art Preservation Act came into play during a recent court case in Boston.

Artist David Phillips was commissioned by Fidelity Investments to create a park outside of the offices of Pembroke Real Estate, owned by Fidelity, on the Boston Waterfront in Eastport Park. After the park opened in 2000, Fidelity sought to remove the artists work. The panel participants detailed the case and the implications the outcome of the case will have on VARA.

Session handouts are available online.